OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

+ \ 

Eonorsble Joe J. Zieher 

District Attorney 

San Augustine, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

.oontraat wi 

schooldiet 

yees herein mefitloned shall begin on July 1st 

epd end on June 30th of the year terminating the contract.* From 

your letter we gather that the district to which rou refer Is 

governed not by Article 2781, but by Artiole 2809, Revised Civil 

Statutes, the applicable parts of whfch read as follcws: 

"The board of trustees so eleoted shall employ a 

superintendent for the district, who shall be cleated for 

one ~yet%r or for two. years as the trudees may determine, 
fan. Joe. I. Yisher, r;)rii 3, 1939, Psge 2 

and wko , Iri eddltiun tc i.is duties as Superintendent, 

stieii be a Leacher in one of the elementary schools or 

t!ic t:i& schocl of the district. . . . Ccntracts between 

the trustees axt tlio district euperintendent and teachers 

s.Safl Lc in wriiing and subject to the approval of the 

county superinteodent of the county wherein Such dietrict 

is situated." 

Referring briefly to Artiolt~ 2781, you will notice that 

88108 does not in its terms authorize the making of twelve months 

aontracts by trustees of independent school districts, but rather 

proceeds upon the assumption that such contracts could be aade, 

nnd rightly so we think. Article es00 provides for the amploymnt 

ofamxperlntendentiora temoi one yearorfot two year8a8 the . 

truataes amy determine. The statute does not undsrtake to set out 

lndet%lljustwhatthe contractsballoontaln. It&oes notre@Ue ' .- 

JG that the teacher or snperlntend~t still be paid monthiy ior twelm : 

aonths or monthly r0r nine axmths only. Xi the parties should agree 

I- tc it, tharc is nothing to prevent their aontraat b&kg for the 

.' 

r ouperlntandent to receive his ycas*s sslary in trelva monthly .:.y. 

i.i lxu$tallment5. It is lmmaterlal that he may be In aetlmsenioi'~~ ' 

:, 

6. anlynjnesmnthsd~theyear. Eren thou& he were o$hersW ::: 

? 

r-; entitlsd to receive the.whole year*6 pay during the nine months of. 1 

aotlre sonice, nevertheless, it would bq-within his pouer to post-'~ 

. ,;tr 

' pow the aaorualota part oftbatsalary 8otbat6arae skalltall : A' 

due dutlng the three auwmer months that he is not in active SorTiQa. 

:.Thae superlntemdenthavlng ~edtothat,itwculd be amatterof' i,,. 

.. whlah the sahooldistriat hating so aontraoted could not oo@aln. 

f Our auswer to your first question, +hsrerorti, 5.5 ia the afflxmatirqt 

It has already been noted that Article 89Bl.does not apply 

to ths'dkstrict under consldsratlon. Even if it did, it has been 

held In the ease of Smith v. lllilrtln Independent School Distrlot, 

8S 5. W. (I?) 855, that a superintendsat would not be precluded frosi 

reco~erlne on a twelve months contract, notwIthstanding the begdate is fired at a date other than July lst. Our answer to yorrr 

second question, therefore, is that it Is not neoessary to the 

validity of the contract that the beginning date of the ssms shall 

be Julylst. In view of the above snswer to your llrst two questiOns, 

there is no need to answer the third. 

Yours very truly 

AkZI?EYGlWUL OFTEXAS 

BY-du 

Glenn B. Lewla 

Assistant