### August15, 1957

Honorable James A, Giddfngs Opinion No.

### W&2%9 Acting Executive Dfrector Board for Texas State Hospi,- Re: Can the Comptrollerapprove tals and Special Schools payroi,ls submittedby the Box S, Capitol Station Board for ‘Texas State HosAIrstin,

Texas pftals and Spe&al Schools which include salaries for ‘lteachers~~%

and related Dear Mr, Glddfngs: question,

Your request for an Opfnfon,dated July 

### 30s 1957$ states in substance that the budgets submfttedby the various institutionsunder the jnrfsdfct:,on and control of yoo,r agency provide for the payment of teachers employed by said insti.tutions durir,gLb? ens,nfng biennium from funcl? approprfated for tiedica:~

care and treatment, You further state that the Comptrollerof Public Accountshas rai.sedthe question as towtlsth~r ?he s,ppropri,ation. to said fnstituti,ons for the ensuing Men,- ni~urn authorizes the employment and, payment af personne:wi,i-h the posl.tion,titl~e of “teachers”,

tiofl You h,ave, accnrdfnglyD propounded for 011sconsiderathe f”ollowi,n.g

ques,t%ons

: ‘I,, 0 Can the ComptroXLerapp;‘ove payrolls sub-, mitted bljthn Boa,rd, for Texas State Hospftals and Special Se!?,o&l.s

wnich ,Snclude

salaries fo:r “teacherslqY 2, If the answer to the above ques,tfon is in the affi,rsatlve,

may ,thesalaries fourthe-9 aositions be paid from the appropriations fur meiica’l care and treatment?

,Articlti 11 of Il;.~asr :;ill, Ns. ;.:yr:s .$c,ts Turk, Reqular Session, 

### 1957$ page 

### 915, ‘5 ,,th Legi,,sla.= so~~rnnrS,ates

,flinds to theB(~ar*d

for Texas State Hospitals atid Fr‘:ti;,i;.

~3hnt&sa,ndti?e respective Institutionsunder Its jurisalctlonand control, and Section 2b (1)of said Article reads In part as fol”,ows:. --

-- -

Honorable James A, Gfddfngs,page 2 

### (W-2299

"SPECIAL PROVISIONSRELATING TO ALL HOSPITALS, HOMES, SPECIAL SCHOOLS AND AGENCIES OR

OFFICES INARTICLE II
"See. 2. Salary provfsfons, a, All annual salaries shall be paid in 12 equalmonthly %nstallments except as otherwiseprov%dedherefn, "b, Salary rates, (1) The Board for Texas Hospitals and Specfal Schoolsmay employ personnel fn hosp%tals and fnstftutions only w%th%n the position titles shown and at an annual salary rate not to exceed those speefffedbelow! except for teachers, temporary labor, and certlf%ed specialfsts as prov%ded for %n thfs Article: (Emphas%s added)
II II 0 0 0
"Teacher" %s not lfsted as an author%zed posftion tftle, It fs noted that the only reference to "teachers" in the foregofng sectron %s contained %n the underl%ned portfons thereof, However, subsectfon (3)dwhich follows, states:

'sd 0 Each classroom teacher or teacher of exceptional children fn each State School or Home specified in thisArtfcle shall receive as a m%nimum salary the classroom or exceptional teacher#s monthly salary rate spec%f%ed in S.B, No. 116 Acts of the 

### 51.st

Leg%slature,

### 1949,as amended, The governingboard of each such State School or Home may recommend salary rates at amounts that wfll not exceed the salar%es for Mke posftions paid in the publfc schools fn the city in which such State School or Home fs located,
"However3 such recommended salary rates in excess of them%nimum amounts speeffied in S,B, 116, as amended, and the salary rates of principalsp supervfsors,and coaches in the specfal schools and homes specified in thisArticle, may not be paid wfthout the advancewrftten approval of the Governor after obtaining the advfce of the Leg%slat%ve Budget Board; but such approved rates shall never exceed the rates of pay for lfke positfons pafd in the public schools of the city in whfch the State School or home fs located,"Honorable James A. Gfddfngs, Page 3 (WW-229)

Article II of House Bill 133e page 917, also contains a reserve appropriation for special school teachers’ salaries “to implement any Increase in pay for schoolpersonnel granted by the 55th Legislatureby amendment to S.B. 116, as amended”0 Specfffed sums? for the foregoing purpose, are appropriated to various schools and fnstitutfonsunder the control of the Board for State Hospitals and Special Schools,

At the outsetwe are confrontedby the fact that “teachers”are not Ii--ted as one of the authorized position Mtles in Section 2 b (1)of Article II0 Admittedly, the language of said Section,when viewed alone, is sufficient to exclude the employment of personnelwith posi~tiontitles other than those specified therein, However, in resolving the answer to the first questionpropoundedwe are of the opinion that our attentionmust be focused upon all the pertinentprovisions of Article II of House Bill 133 and not upon said Section alone, Only by so doing can the intention of the Legislaturebe reasonably ascertained and effectuated,

The rule of constructionby which we are guided En such cases is aptly statedby 39 Tex.Jur. 168, in the following terms: II

0 0 0 when it fs necessary to construe an Act in order to determine its propermeanfng, it is settled by a host of decfsions that the court should first endeavor to ascertain the Pegfslative intent, from a generalview of the whole enactment, Such intenthaving been ascertained, the courtwill then seek to construe the statute so as to gfve effect to the purpose of the legislature, as ,tothe whole and each material part of the law, even though thismay Involve a departure from the strict letter of the law as written by the legislature,”
The Supreme Gourt of Texas in the case of Wood v. State ex rel Lee, 126 S.W.2d 4, stated the rule as follows:

“It is the settled law that statutes shqyT’?d be construed so as to carry out the legislative intent, and when $tich fr5ent is once ascertained, ft should be gfven effect, even though the literal meaning of thewords used therein is not fcllowed. Also, statutes shouldnever be given a construction that leads to uncertainty, fnjustice or confusion if it is possible to construe them otherwise, .,

D o1vHonorable James A0 Giddings, Page 4 (W-229)

Viewing the provisions of Article II of House Bill 133 in their entirety,we think that the Legislaturehas manffested a clear intent that personnel should be employedby the Board for State Hospitals and Special Schools in the position title of teachers. To hold otherwisewould be .toignore the above cited provisions of said Article which, among other things9appropriates a reserve fund for teacherpay increases and sets forth the formula to be followed by the Board in setting ,thesalaries for teachers,

You are accordingly advised that in our opinion the Comptrollerof PublicAccounts is authorized to approve payrolls submittedby the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schoolswhich include salaries for “teacherswO

It is also our opinion that said salariesmay be paid from the appropriations for medical care and treatmentmade to the various schools and institutionsunder the jurisdictionof said Board, The items covering appropriations for medical care and treatment are generally phrased as follows:

l’Medfcal

Treatment Salaries and Wages (nontransferable) including the following series: medical, laboratory,x-ray, caseworker,rehabilitation,medical records, psychology,pharmacy, chaplain,nursing and attendants (Includesprofesslonal fees and services)” (Emphasfsadded)

The instructional servicesand educational guidance afforded by the teachers is clearly an integral part of the rehabilitat~ion

program for each patient or student, For thi,s ‘easonwe believe that “teachers”are properly a part of the -ehabflitation series,

SUMMARY

The Comptrollerof PublicAccounts is authorfzed to approve payrolls submittedby the Board for Texas Statt H;,,j.,<tals and Speci,al Schools, durfng the ensuing biennium,which include saLaries for “teachersnOHonora!zle James A. Gfddfngs, page 5 (WW-229)



### The salariesforteachersmaybepaid Promtheappropriations ITOP 

### medicalcare and treatment. Very trulyyours,
WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas

LP:jl:wb 

### BY Leonard Passmore Assistant

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE H, Grady Chandler, Chairman J, W. Wheeler Mark McLaughUn
Z'VIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: Gee, P. Blackburn