9 Wis. 2d 32 | Wis. | 1960
The question presented is whether the city of Oshkosh is a person aggrieved under sec. 40.03 (5), Stats., 5 W. S. A., p. 286.
The city of Oshkosh being a city of the second class and operating under the city school plan, the land sought to be
Under the city school plan a city of the second class is vested with the powers and interests of the school district. There is no separate municipal school-district entity for school purposes. The city itself owns the school property, determines the budget, and operates and administers the school affairs of its school system through a school board as provided in the city school plan. In Board of Education v. Racine (1931), 205 Wis. 489, 238 N. W. 413, this court held because the city of Racine was a city of the second class its common council had the ultimate control of tax property matters relating to the schools. We stated (p. 492) : “It is our conclusion that where schools are operating under the city school plan the city owns the funds and property used in connection with its school system.” That same year this court held that the school board of the city of Racine was not a body corporate and was without capacity to sue or be sued. State ex rel. Board of Education v. Racine (1931), 205 Wis. 389, 236 N. W. 553.
A city of the second class, as Oshkosh, must be treated as having the same interest in its school district as a school district has. The respondent contends that a school district has no legal interest in the changes of its boundaries and relies on State ex rel. Geneva School Dist. v. Mitchell (1933), 210 Wis. 381, 245 N. W. 640. In that case it was stated that the boundaries of a school district did not constitute any part of the affairs of the school district, and because no property of the district was involved, the school
However, in Brown Deer v. Milwaukee (1956), 274 Wis. 50, 68, 79 N. W. (2d) 340, this court decided that a high-school district could test by declaratory judgment whether the consolidation of part of its territory with the city of Milwaukee had the effect of annexing that part of its territory to Milwaukee for school purposes. In State ex rel. West Allis v. Dieringer (1957), 275 Wis. 208, 81 N. W. (2d) 533, we observed a city school district was not a separate governmental unit in the city of West Allis and assumed, although the question was not raised, that the city of West Allis as a city school district possessed sufficient interest in its schools to maintain certiorari to review the action of two municipal boards in detaching territory from the city. Recently, in Joint School Dist. v. Sosalla (1958), 3 Wis. (2d) 410, 88 N. W. (2d) 357, we considered the question of whether a school district had the right to test the validity of annexation orders by certiorari and held that the school district did have a right to petition for certiorari. In view of the decisions in the Brown Deer, West Allis, and Sosalla Cases, supra, the holding in the Geneva Case, supra, to the effect that a school district is not legally interested in the detachment of its territory and its boundaries, was overruled sub silentio and is now expressly overruled.
Under sec. 40.801 (1), Stats., 5 W. S. A., p. 497, the territory here in question is a part of the city of Oshkosh school district because the territory, although outside of the municipal corporate limits, was joined to the city for school purposes and constitutes a part of its school district. Although at the present time there is no school building in the territory sought to be detached, the city of Oshkosh does have such a legal interest in the determination of its school-
By the Court. — Order appealed from is reversed.