THE 

## A AL

**AUSTIN. TEXAS** 



### October19r 1949

Hon. L. A. Woods State Superintendent Department of Musatlon Au&In, Texas OpinionRoe v-930.

Bes The legality of an independent rahool dlstriet whtoti

la not participating

in the FoundationSohiil Program purahaaingaohool buses direot rather

Bear Sir2 than through the Board of Control.

We refer to your inquiry attaohed to which is a letter addressedto you irom the Superintendent o? the Odessa Pub110 Sohools, whioh reads In parts

"The Boald of'

Truateees OS the Eotor County Independent

Sohool Dlatrlot of Oderra, Texaa, haa requestedme to write you ~ugardlng the pumhase of buses, tlrsa and tuber which the Board of Trustees is presentlyoontemplatlng. D 0 D The Board does not derive to make these purohases through the Board of Control and feels that O .,

O Artlole 634 (B) la applioable only to sehool distriotspaptiefpatlng In the FoundationSehool Program. As Lou Imow, the I!@xP Couuty Independent Bohool Diatrlot has bden dealerednot eligible for such aid and la not paptlolpatlngin this program.

'In view of these faots, the Board of True- ::; desires an opinfon f'~om the AttorneyGenaa to vhethep OF not it Ir mandatory for tie'B&@d of TPuatees of Eotor County Independent Sohool Distpiot to purchase all buaea, tlma and tubes used by ft through ths Board of Contrcil

of the State of Texas."

It is our undewtanding tha%the amount of loeel funds to be charged to the Eotor County Independent Sohool Dlsttiot (S.B.116,Art.VI, Sec,5) toward flIia8iOing its mlnlmw foundationprogram,vhen added to theHon. L. A. Woods, page 2 (v-938)

amount of the State end County AvailableSchool Funds to be realizedby the distrlot,produoes a sum sufficient to finanoe the entire oost of its FoundationSohool PPOgram folr%he 1949-1950aohoolyear. This suffloienayof the distriotta looal fund assignmentooupledwith its State and County AvailableFunds (Art.VI,Seo.lb) renders the distlriot

Ineligiblethis year for any State money appropriated for purposes of benate Bill 116. It %s clear, therefore,that the Eotor distrlotwill not partioipatein the FoundationQchool Fund appropriated by the 51st Legislature in Senate Bill 117 to f%nanoe the minlmum foundation sohool program.

Section 3 of Artiole V Senate Bill 11.6, 51st Leglslatura, (oodifiedas Art.634 (B) In Vernon's Civil Statutes)provides in part in paragraph 1:

“All motor vehicles used for transporting school ohlldren, inoludFngbuses, bus chassis. and bus bodies. tires and tubes. ;z;;;d for or by any-school dlstrlotpal'- P
Ehall be

r~ in the FoundationSchool Program,

Burahased of Contra

. . .n by and through the Board

Paragraph 2 provides in part:
"Suoh motor vehicles, inoludlngbuses, bus ohessis,bus bodies, tires and tubes, shall be puzwhaaed on oompetitlvebids under suoh rules and regulationsas may be made by the Board of Control

. a ." Paragraph 3 provides: "Auy suoh buses, owned by any county or school district,which ars to be sold, traded in, or otherwisedisposed of, must be disposed of either by the Board of Control, or by the County School Board of the sohool distrlot under suoh rules and regulationsas the Board of Controlmay provide, and the sale prioe or trade-invalue of 6ny such buses shall be oonsidered in determiningeligibllltsfor transportationnrants." Paragraph 4 provides: "Complianae

with this Seotlon shall beEon. L. A. Woods, page 3 (v-938)

a oonditlonpreoedent to partloipatlonIn the Foundation $ohool Fund, and any aohool dlatrfot lliog or refusing to comply with the terns atd oondltlonaof this Se&Ion shall ba lnsllglble to ahara in the FoundationSohool Fuitd for one year fram tie date of l uoh failure **or** refusal OF awh violation of the terns hereof." (Emphasisadded throughout)
That part of poregraph 1 requiringocmplianae by all dlatrlcta "partiolpating in the FoundationSohool Program,"when oonslderedapart fraa other 9~ovialonsia Seotlon 3, would perhaps warrant the constructionthat Section 3 was meant to apply to every aohool diatriot in Texas. FOP in a real aenae every school dlatr1ot,by virtue of the provisions of Senate Bill 116, is required to expend its efforts toward providing at leust the ntinlmum foundationprogram established by that Aot. AiG. Opinion v-921.

But consideringthat olauae, in its relation to the spirit and purpose of the other quoted provisions of Seotion 3, we think Seotion 3 (Art..634(B) V.C.8.) mm Intended to apply only to sohool districtswhioh ore participatingin the FoundationSchool Ppogrcm in both a cooperativeand monetary aenae. It applies only to those distriotawhloh are participetlngin the FoundationSchool Fund promised in Senete Bill 116 end provided in Senete Bill 117. Had the Legialeturemeant Seotion 3 to apply to every school district in Texas, it could hove ao provided ~o~letlng from paragraph 1 the modifying clenae in ques-

. Tim spirit and purpose of 8eOtion 3 as 6 whole, ve think, la to require every school districtpartioipat7 at In FoundationSchool Funds (part of its ooata ofaperon involvingtransportation granta) to puruhaae Its school buses, tiwea end tubes, et cetera, through one agenoy, the State Board of Control, on a oom9etltivebid basis, to the end that auoh distriata shall mallae full value for the money they aoqulre through FoundationS&otil Fund participation. The Legialature@s prlmary oonoern in Its enectment of Section 3 is that ooata of tranaportatlon of public aohool aoholestios be minlmiaedby purchase of neoesserybus equipmentand repairs at the lowest coat whenever the diattict la finonoed in part by Foundation School Fund moneys.

The bus pumhaaiug provisionsof Howe BillHon. L. A. Woods, page 4 (V-938)

295, the Stete Bquallaationlsw for the 1947-1949biennium, were made epplioebleonly to State eld diatriota under that law. In similar but leas oartaln language, the bus purahaaingprovisions in Senate Bill" 

### 116 are made appllaebleand aze mandatory only as to sohool districts receivingState aid from FoundationSahool Funds.

But all aahool districts,whether they are to receive FoundationSchool Funds or not, may avail themselves of aevlnga afforded through purohase of their school buses, eto ., through the feollitleaof the Boanl of Contml In the manner set out in Seation 

### 3 of Artiale v of senate ~~11 

### 116.

Under Section 

### 3 of Artlole V of Senete Bill 

### 1.16,

slat Leglalatnre,a aohool dlatrPiot whioh is not eligtble to paptioipate in FoundationProgrem Funds provided in Senote Bill 

### 117, slat Legislature,ia not nqulred to purohaae its aohool buses, bus equipment,tires, and tubes thrm the State Board of Control. Ati. 

### 634 (B), V.C. S., as amended.

Pours very truly,

ATTOlBiRY GEWERAL OF TEXAS

CR0tmtr 

# BY Cheater B. olllaoa Aaafrtant

-IRST ASSIS'J?A~ ATTORWEXGlBBRA&