April 7. 1987 xi? + ,+ffirmed by .._...._._..__..................... t _-’

EonorableBill Haley OpinionNo. JR-670 Chairman Public EducationCommittee Re: Applicabilityof section 19.022 TexasHouse of Representatives of the Texas Education Code to a P. 0. Box 2910 proposal to transfer 1200 resideuAustin,Texas 78769 tialunits from one schooldistrict to another

Dear RepresentativeRaley:

Your inquiry as to the applicability of section 19.022 of the Texas Education Code is prompted by a proposal to transfer 1200 residential units from the Dallas Independent School District [D.I.S.D.] to the Richardson Independent School District [R.I.S.D.]. Section 19.022.subchapterB, 'Detachment;Annexation."provides:

(a) In accordancewith this section, territory may be detached from a school district and annexed to another school district that is contiguous to the detached territory. A petition requesting the detachment and annexationmust be presented to the commissioners court of the county to which the receiving district is assigned for administration purposesby theCentral EducationAgency and to the cmissioners court of the county to which the district fromwhich the territorytobe detached is assigned for administration purposea. Each commissionerscourt towhich a petition is required tobe presentedmust conductahearing and enter an order as provided by this section for the annexation to be effective.
(b) The petition requesting detachment and annexationmust:
(1) be signed by a majority of the registered voters residing in the territory to be detached from one district and added to the other; and
(2) give the metes and bounds of the rerritory co be detached from one district and added to the other.

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(c) The proposed annexationmust be approvedby
a majority of the board of trustees of the receivingdistrict.
(d) Unless thepetition is signedby amajority of the trustees of the district from which the territory is to be detached, territorymay not be detached from a school district under this section ifdetachmentwould reduce that district's taxbase by d ratio at least twice as large as the ratioby vhich it would reduce its membership. The first ratio is determinedby dividing the assessedvalue of taxable property in the affected territory by the assessed value of all taxable property in the district, both figures according to the preceding year’s tax rolls. The second ratio is determined by dividing the number of students residing in the affected territory by the number of students residing iu the district as a whole, using membership 0x1the last day of the preceding school year sod the students' places of residence as of that date.
(a) A school districtmay not be reduced to an area of less than nine squaremiles.
(f) Immediately folloving receipt of the petition and notice of the approvalas requiredby this section, the commissioners court shall give uocice of the contemplated change by publishing and posting a notice in the manner required for an election order under Section 19.003 of this code. In addition. the commissioners court shall give written notice to the trustees of each affected district. The notlce must specify the place and date at which a hearing on the matter shall be held. At the hearing, affected persons, including the trusteesof affecteddistricts,are entitled to an opportunity tobe heard.
(g) AC the hearing, the commissioners court shall consider the social, economic, and educational effects of the proposed annexation. After the conclusion of the hearing, the commissioners court shall make findings as to the social, economic, and educational effects and shall, on the basis of those findings. adopt an order rejecting the petition or transferring the territory and redefining theboundaries of thedistricts affected

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by the transfer. The findings and order shall be recorded in theminutes of the court.
(h) Title to all real property of the annexed districtwithin the territory annexedvests in the receiving district, and the receiving district
assumes and is liable for any portion of the annexed district's indebtedness that is allocated to the receiving district under Section 19.004 of this code.

Factual information accompanying your inquiry reflects that the petitionersare residentsof a "relativelysmall isolatedarea" in the D.I.S.D. It is the "only [area] in the entire D.I.S.D. in which children in kindergarten up to the 4th grade are bused over crowded streets to schoolswhich are locatedmore than 7miles from our area. Yet, next door to our area are ample R.I.S.D. schools which are not being fully urilised, and R.I.S.D. officials have indicated their willingness to have our area annexed to theirdistrict." Petitioners. pursuant to the provisions of section 19.022.prepared and presented their petition to the Dallas County ColmmissionersCourt asking that the area in question be annexed to the Richardson Independent School District. Upon approval of the petition, the Commissioners Court of Dallas County. in accordancewith the requirements of section 19.022, gavenotice of the contemplatedchange to the trustees of the affected districts. Subsequently. "a representative of D.I.S.D. informed us and others inwriting that inhis opinion section 19.022did not apply but rather section 19.008which requiresD.I.S.D. as well as R.I.S.D. approval,and that suchwas not likely."

You state that the receiving district had originally indicated its approval, but in light of the action by D.I.S.D. trustees, the trusteesof theR.I.S.D.havebecome reluctantto consider sanebefore the "approvalby D.I.S.D."
Section 19.008. subchapter A, "General Provisions," provides in pertinentpart:

(a) & change in the boundaries of an independent school district governed by an elective board of nine members and located in a county having a population of 100.000 or more is not effective unless approved by a majority of the board of trustees of the district. (Emphasis added).
Chapter 19 of the Texas Education Code was amendedby Eouse Bill No. 634, Acts 1983. 68th Leg., ch. 285. at 1380. eff. Sept. 1. 1983. The bill stated that chapter 19. as amended,was to be "a substantive

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revision of the laws concerning creation, consolidation and abolition of schooldistricts." Included therein are sections 19.022 and 19.008 which give rise to the issue addressed inyour inquiry.
Sections 19.022 and 19.008, being part of the same act by the Sixty-eighthLegislature, a well knowo rule of construction set forth in Attorney General OpinionM-650 (1970) is applicable. There itwas stated:

'Another fundamental rule requires that a

statute be construed as a whole and that all of itspartsbe harmonized if possible, so as to give effect to the entire act according to the evident iutention of the legislature.

. . . [T]he Court will endeavor to reconcile the various provisions of the act, insofar as they may appear to be conflicting or inconsistent, to the end that the enactment and every word, phrase, clause, and sentence may have itsproper effect.

Each part of the statute is tobe considered in connection tith every other part and with the entire enactment, in order toproduce a harmonious whole and to reach the true legislative intent. Thus, in case of doubt as to the meaning of a particular word, clause, provisions, or section, it is to be viewed in the light of all the language employed. It follows that a provision will not be given a meaning out of harmony with otherprovisions and tnconsistentwith thepurpose of the act, although it would be susceptible of such construction standing alone.' 53 Tex. hr. 2d 229-32, Statutes, Sec. 160.

In an attempt toharmonize the two sections,we must construe chapter 19 as awhole in arriving at the intent of the legislature. Applying this analysis, it is our opinion that section 19.008 provides an exception to section 19.022 in thatbefore any changes can be made in the boundaries of a school district coming withiu the provisions of section 19.008.a majority of the trustees of chat districtmust give its approval. An exception, as a general rule, is strictly construed and applied. Sea Attorney General OpinionM-507 (1969).

The territory sought to be detached under section 19.022 is in the Dallas Independent School District. This is a school district governed by a board of nine electivemembers and located in a county having a population of more than 100,000. Thus, the Dallas Independent SchoolDistrict comeswithin the provision of section 19.008 and

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a majority 'of its board of trustees must approve any action which results in any change in theboundariesof the district.

SUMMARY
Before a transferof "1200 residentialunits"
can be made from the Dallas Independent School District to the Richardson Independent School Districtby detachmentand annexationof territory under section 19.022 of the Texas Education Code,
a majority of theboard of trustees of theDallas Independent School District, in accordance with the provisions of section 19.008 of the Texas EducationCode,must give its approval.
J:$(&@

JIM MATTOX AttorneyGeneral ofTexas
JACREIGRTOWgR First AssistantAttorney General

MARY KELLER ExecutiveAssistantAttorneyGeneral

JUDGE ZOLLIE ST'EARLgT SpecialAssistantAttorneyGeneral

RICK GILPIN Chairman,Opinion Committee
Preparedby Tom G.Davis Assistant Attorney General

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