OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AlJSTtN 

c. 

@b&D c. MANN 

-” .UU-. 

Honorable X. E. Griffin 

county iLttornsp 

Young Co-Q 

Graharc, iexas 

Dear sir: 

*e ere in reoeipt ot 

aieb you request the opinion 

of whether a board of aonmon 

oontraote with three tea&a 

87erage dally attendanoe 18 You &ate thnt the 

~%ehool does not have any ne e atate aid in.my 

nnnner.* 

ing such oontraets will 

not create a &eSici 

0, Betised Civil Statutea, 

make croatract~ with 

la or their dlatriot, but 

they may hare settled 

in such dietriot ainee the seholaafie aenaue was taken, 

shall be entitled to receive all the benefits oi the aehool~ 

or such dietriot. Ia a diet-riot that levies a spedal 

sohool tax the truetees sh&l hare the right to fnorease 

the aalariee of tea&em and the scholaatle age, an(l map 

also have the dohoole taught longer than six aotlths, if 

it is deemad advisable.* 
Eon. '. i;:. Griffin, key 2, 1939, &ge 2 

IX ;in&etou v. wmtin,.,jT.C.k. 1901) 65 :~. :.. 606, the 

court had th:s statute before it?or consideration j.z e case in 

which three teaci.uro tea bee- hired bi:L the avera;e daily attendar,ce 

was kss than G5 pupils. Tke contract of e&ploy:.ent bad been 

approved by the; county superictendent, but he refused to approve 

certain salary vouchers issued tc tbe teaaher. In holding the 

contract binding On the district, the court stated: 

"Construing together articles 3946, 3559, 3959a and 

3961,,R. i:. 1895 (ocw contained 10 articles 2750 k 2749, 

R. C. S. 3.9251, we are of opinion that the trustees are 

therein empowered to ascertain the existenae of the 

$aats rendering the employment ot assistants neoessary; 

that the exeroise or this power is Judicial, not ministerial, rests solely woith them, and Is a matter with whlah 

the teaahers hate nothing to do. having exeralsed the 

power by appointing the tsaoher, the disoretlon thus 

.axaraiBeb oannot be disturbed or inquired into %a prooe&lng of thls'aort, espeol~lly 5.n view of the raot that 

the oouaty.superintsndent approved their aotion in this 

ease, ana approved the teaoher*s oontraot so made.* The 

governing xule on this question is analogous to that 

nhioh controls where the legislaturs is required to pa68 

no speoial law until notioe iCgiren a6 r%quir+d by the 

oonetitPtion. If such a law is passed the oourts will 

oonolu~i~elp presume that they, la the exercise of the 

jadloial power thus oonferred, hare founA the preeeaee 

OS the Zaets whloh authorired them to ast. Of oourse; we 

do not mesh to say that the judloial powers of sohtil 

trastees is In any sense so absolute. Xi this riew of the 

law is aorreot, then appellaat~s wife, the teaoher Ia this 

oase, hail the right to aooapt the employment tendered~ and, 

having bouad themselves by a legal eontraot, the oounty 

authorltlea cannot and ought not to be heard to qusstion 

the ralidlty of the oontraet so made. To hold othenrlse 

would be to seriously oripple our publfa suhool Bydam, 

for teaohers would then have to asoertain at their psril 

the existence of the faots authorizing their appointment. 

Suppose the trustees hail aotuslly met and deter&ned that 

the average dally attendanoe had reached 85, and had 

oontracted with plaintiff' as they did, ana suppose she 

had thereafter actually taught,, but the average attendanoe 

of 85 had not been maintaineg.':after she began, end suppose 

it was aftexwards ascertainah that the average baily 

attendance had never at any time reaohed eight+five, and 

that the trustees had made an honest mistake in so finding; 
EOZ . &_. I:. Griffin, Ay 2, 1939, Pape 3 

couid it be held, 6.s ar,y sound principle, ibat x.iie teacher 

mist lace tke mward for--Ler services because of this 

zistake?~ Lr silppose the teacher seekinp empioymtint should 

differ iith the trustees as to Che facts, and should refuse 

to coiltract'c 2'he trustees ro,xid then be robbed Or this 

necessary discrntiou, and it would be transferred to 

teachers not yet in any way connected with the school. 

This necessary discretion n;ust be placed soltewhere, in 

order to render the system efficient, and it has been 

distinctly placed in the board of trustees. ;$a bold, 

thereiore, that ii:e attendance was a matter with which the 

teacher had nothing to do, and that the contraot made with 

her by the board and approved by the auperfntendent wa6 

ralid." 

In riew of the conetruotl.on plaoed upon Article Z78Q by 

the oourt in the foregoing aam; you ar6 advised that valid 

tsaohere' contracrts may be eseouted ~by the board of trustsas of 

a 00m-m school district under the faote 6tated, pmPia6a. however, 

that such contraots are approved by the oounty.6UpOr~t6ndant. 

ATTOI2MEYGEREIULOFTEXAS 

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