Case Information
*1 IY OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS .’
‘: r’ AUSTIN ..:. GROVER SELLERS
ci ATTORNEY GENERAL
Honorable C. C. iiandle county ,ttorney, Ellle county
tiaxahachie, Texas
Dear sir:
to operate a II sohool district?
ty Board of SGh001 the right to ohange atioo of an elementary y claesirle8 to a olaselrlaetlon?
0 get an opinion rr0a you on aa (1) : Does the County Board of ve the right and authority to de- of eoholaatlo pupils neoeesary to in a Common 3ohool District?
*~uaetlon Two (2): Does the county Bonrd 0r $ahool Trustees hcivo the right to than@ the olassl- fiaation of an elementtlry school already classified, to a school OS no olaseitiaatlon? “8~ will appreolats your oplnlon on thuse tw0 as the parties desire your opinion and not
questions the Opinion Of this OffiOe.” *2
In answer to your flret question, you are advised that we have been unable to find any law authorlzlng the County Board of School Trustees to determine the number of scholastia pupils neoessary to operate a sohaol in a oommon school district. If any board has such authority it wouLd be the district trustees.
Article 2749, Vernon's Annotated Clvll Statutes, provides that:
*Bald trustees shall have the management and oontrol of the public sohools and pub110 sohool grounds; and they shall de~termlne how many aohools shall be maintained in their school dlstrlot, and at what points they shall be located; provided, that not more than one 8ohool for white ohlldrsn and one eohool fcr oolored ohlldren shall be established for saah sixteen 8quare miles of territory or major por- tion thereof, within suoh dlstrlot; and they shall determine when the schools shall be opened and c1osed.v This quertlon 1s answered in the negative.
Article 267Ba, mads, in part, as follows: *The county board of sohool truateea,at the regular meeting In May of eaoh year or aa soon there- after as praatiaable, shall olasaify the schools of the oouhty, lnaluding those in independent school districts, in aouordanoe with auah regulations as the state superintendent may presoribs into elemen- tary sohools and high schools for the purpose of promoting the effloienoy of the elemsntary eahools and OS establishing and prom@lng high eohools at convenient and suitable places. h cladrying
the sahools and in e8tabllshihg high schools, said . . shall give due regard to schools already trustees located, to the distribution of population, an8 to
i? ~$mceaent of the student.6 in their studies.
The above is the only authority we flnd~ with reference to the authority of the County Board to classify sohools and It 1s rather vague since it is qualified by the phrase 43 ao- oordanoe with suoh ~regulations as the State Superintendent may prescribe."
We have been advised by Mr. Robinson of the Department of Education that when the dietrlct tSusteeS of a COrrUDn SOho dlstriat deterudne that thsy do not wiehto transfer the entire enrollment to another dlstrlot and do hot wish to oonduct a school in thslr own distrlot, it la the pollay of the Department of Eduoatlon to advise such dlstrlat trustees to reqosst the . County Board of Trustees to olasslfy their sohool as "no grade olasslflcation." Ne find no law authorizing suoh "no grade / olasslflcation" onless this policy of tbs Departvent oonstitutea
a Wregulationa of the State Superintendent.
It i8 OUT opinion that the Couoty Board of Sohool Trusteee ,' does hot have the authority to change the elasslflaatiOh Of an ele- y mentary aohhool akeady alasslfled to a soho of vn0 classlflcatlonv unless Sllah aotlon 1s requested by the trustees of the 0O-n school $ dietriot. 2
yours very truly ATTORREYGRNERAI,OFTEXZS C. F. Gibson Aeelstant