Case Information
*1 Gerald C. Mann
Honorable R. C. Xusslewhite ~
District Attorney
L&kin, Texas Opinion No. O-1087
Dear Sir; ,Rer Essential elements of contraclt between trus- tees and teachers.
Ue are in reoeipt of your letter of June 30, 1939,,which reads, in part, as followsi of 8even
"The school board, canposed members oft a consolidated school district ~. --.. ~~~ in,b@y of this year, eleoted a,sahool teaoh- er,,and entered,the majoiity vote for the teaoher in the minutes; Two weeks later the same board rescinded its aotioa in electing the school teaaher and voted to deolare the place vaoant and release the teaoher. No contract was exeouted between the school teacher and the school board and no contract has been approved by the County School Supsr- intendent of this aounty.
"Please advise me at your earliest oon- vsnienoe if the teacher referred to has an en- foroeable contract or if he can oompel the school trustees and County School Superinten- dent to recognize and approve his emploJrment under the ciroumstanaes for the following school year."
Article 2809, Revised Civil Statutes, 1925, relating to cqmeon consolidated school districts, contains the following provisionr
I( . . . Contra&s between the trustees and t,he district superintendent and teachers shall be in writing and subject to the approv- al of the county superintendent of the county wherein such distriot is situated." *2 Honorable B. C. Musslewhite, Rage 2 (o-1087)
It is essential to the oonsummation of any oontrad, either oral or written, that there bs an offer and an acae@r~ce. There must bs mutual assent of the parties with respsot to the subject matter of the agreement and its essential terms. 10 Tex. Jur., p. 12, et seq.
56 C.J., p. 386, Section 315 (3) oontains the following statementa
"The mere vote of a sohool board in favor of employing a certain person as teacher does not aonstitute a contract of employment of such person, but amounts only to an offer of smploy- ment which the board may revoke or oanoel at any time before acceptance."
.In quoting the foregoing ws are not to bs understood as hold- ing that under certain oircumstances such action of the board might or mightnot constitute au aaceptanoe of sn offer.
It is our opinion that a mere eleation of ateaoher at a sohool board meeting, and entr$ of theeleotion in the minutes, is not enough, standing alone, to constitute a eontract, whether written or oral, sinoe this,. tithin itself, is laoking in the essential elements of a oontraot. &der the facts stated, no oontraot of employment was ever entered into between the sohool board and the teacher, and, there- fore, there is no contrad to be approved by the oounty superintendent.
Yours very truly * By -~ s/Ceciii 6. C*maak Cecil c. Cemmack Assistant Ccc:FGregw JUL 8, 1939
APPROVED
s/W.F. Moore
FIRST ASSISTAN!!
ATTORNEY GNNERAL
hpprqed,Opinion Comnnittee ByRWFChairman