OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Traylor Ruesell 

County Attorney 

Titur Count? 

Ht. Flearant, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

b'e are In reoel 

1941 requesting an oplnio 

in part 88 r0il0w88 

er of January 24, 

tment whleh reulr 

elementary sohoolr. 

o rahool (Ilrtrlct 13. 

Vhe queetlonr are as r0mm: 

::?Flret: Can oohoolr A an% 5 be aoneoll%ate% 

with aahool D for elementary sohool purpose89 

fJ&ggg: In the event sahoole A and B oan 

be oomoli%ate% with rohool D for elsesentary sohool 

ptlrpoctea, what eifeHi, If any, would thita have on 
gonorable TreyLor Rt~eeell, peg8 2 

the prerlouely fore~ed rural high eohool dirtrlct, If any, and what erreot would l uoh a 

ooneolldation have on the eohool funds of eohoole 

A an% Bt 

w: In the event A and B may be ooneolldated with eohool D oan thle be done by the 

County Board of Trustee8 without an election or 

shell an election be’had by the quellfled reeldent voter8 of dirtMote A, B end Dt 

“In oonneotlon with the flrrt queotion I 

alte you Art. 29&2f, R.C.S., 1926, whloh portion 

of the artlole applying to this requeet read8 ae 

r0il0we : 

“The County Board of Sohool Tr ueteee l hall 

not have the authority to abolleh or ooneoll%ate 

an7 elesentarr eohool dletrlot already eetabllehed 

exoept upon the vote or a saJority or the qortified 

l leotore lrlng in euoh elementary &l&riot; prorid* 

,e% that when ennf eohool withln anr elementary dletriot ralle to have an average daily attendemoe 

the preoeding year of at least. twenty pupil8 lt 

mar be dieoontinued b 

f 

the Board of Trueteee o? 

aal& rural high l ohoo dletrlot, ma eald dletrlot 

may be ooneoltdated by the Qounty Bowd of Sohool 

Trueteee with eoe18 athor dietrlot or dletrlote ior 

elementary l ohool purpoeee; provldeti that 21 there 

18 more then one white or one oolored eohool In 

enoh elementary eohool dletrlot the board of truetbee of the l a,ld rural high eohool dletrlote or an 

lndepenbent dletrlot, a8 the oaee may be, may ooneolidete euoh white or solored l ohoolr of the elementary dietrlot; and provided that the board of 

trueteee of a rural high l ahool dletrlot may tranrfer the pup118 of one elementary dletriot to another 

within the rural high eohool %letrloD, when the 

tranefer ie made fraa en 8lementa.r~ dietriot of lower olaeelrloa.tlon to one or higher olaeelfloatlon; 

and provided further that the boar% of trustee8 of 

a rural hlgh l ohool dietriot may tranefer pupiZ8 

from en elementary dletriot to MI other elementary 

dletrlot within the rural high eohool dletriot upon 

applioatton of the parents or guar%lan of the eal% 

puplle.'* 
Honorable Traylor Rueeell, page S 

We also 01311 attentlon to that part 0r Artiole 

Bega, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, reaalng as follower 

*Provided that the county eohool trumteee 

shall have the authorltg to abolleh a rurel high 

school dietrict on a petItion elgne% by a majorltJr of the votere of each elementary dletrlot oomposing the rural high school aletrlot and when 

euah dletrlot has been abollehe% the elementary 

dletrlote shell automatlorlly revert baok to their 

orlglnal etatue, with the exoeptlon that In the event there are any outstanding Indebtedness agalnet 

the raid rural eohool dietrlot l aoh elementary dtetrlot shell assume Its proportlonal part of the 

debts. ” 

It la noted from your rtatemsnt of faote that the 

l ohoole A, 13, and C were grouped under Arttale 2922a, Vernon’s 

Texas Clrll Strtutre, Into a rural high eohool %letrlot, and 

br virtue of the terme of Artlole 2922b, Vernon’s Texas Civil 

Statutes, ebPoh of eald dietrlote oomooelng the rural high 

eohool dletriat beoame elementary eohool %letrlote wlthin the 

rural hlgh l ohool dIetrIot feeMy. Sohool District D I8 entire17 separate and her no relatlonehlp whatever to the rural 

high l ohool dletrlot or any of lte oomponent parts. 

There may be 8-c question or oomfllot as to whether 

a rural high school dietrlot may be dlememberea by removing an 

elementary Qletrlot, exoept by dieeolutlon as provide% la Artlole 29228, quote% above, Elliott Qoeueon Sohool Dletrlot No. 

48 vs. County Board or Sohool Trustees, (T.C.A. 1934, writ dlea~eeeU) 5’6 S.W. tea) 786; Willow Role Independent Sohool Dletrlot vs. smith, (T.C.A. 1938, writ refused), 125 S.W. (2%) 708; 

but aeeumlng that an eleaentarf l ohool aletrZot may be *ungrouped’ or *dieannexeda rrom the rural hlgb eohool al8trlot 

without the rursl high wahoo1 %letrlot being dleeoloed aa a 

whole ae provided in Artlole 29228, eupra, it doe8 not neoeeeerily follow that the aotlon mentioned tn your first question 

would be authcricea. In that question you wleh to know whether 

the elementary dletrlot may be ooneolldated with en unrelated 

Qletr;ot *for elementary school purpoeee.N No etatute expreeel~ 

authorlrlng this aotlon has some to our attention unless Artlole 2922f, quoted in your letter of request, may be so oonetrued. 

ConeolldatIone are provl%e% for In Artlalee 2806 %- 

riee,d Civil Statutes, 1926 and 2742b, ‘Uernon’e Teur Cld 

Statutes, but these statutes oontaln no express mention of 

, 
Bonorable Traylor Fluesell, page 4 

*elementary dletrlcte.* When a ooneolldatlon under either of 

there statutes Is effected, a new and dtetlnot entity oomee 

into exletenoe and the ioreier %letrIots’~loee their ldentlty. 

Zhe new ooneolidated dletrlot la governed by Its board of 

trustees with authorltr to eetablleh, maintain and oontrol all 

eohoole, both high l ohool and grade eohool, wlthln the 

llmlte of the bounderlee of the dietriot. Authority la oon- 

*._- ferred to vote, levy and oolleot trxee whioh a,re uniform over 

the entire %l#trlOt. It la oontemplated that all resident I eoholaetloe of the ooneolldated %ietrIot shall attend the 

l ohoole thereln unleee transferred to another aletriot under 

the provleIone of the applioable transfer etatutee. 

A rural high eohool dietriot la a grouping or annexation for high l ohool purposes only, and unlere oertaln oon%Itione exist, elementery eohoole must be maintained in eaoh of 

the elementary %latrlote. Phle I8 not true of ooneolidated 

dletrlote. For oertaln purpoee8, In the aotlve operatloa 0r 

the grouped dletrlot, the orlglnal dletrlote brought vlthln 

the group retain their Identity. The rural high l ohool dletrlot la governed by a board of trustees eleoted from the 

grouped aietriot as a whole, with authority to lerr an% oollest taxer over euoh dletrlot as a whole, and the elementary 

l ohoole for eaoh of the underlying dIetrlote are governed by 

the oentral board of trustees, 

Nauldln, 32 S.W. (2d), 235; 

As pointed out In Chaetaln vs. 

** l l & e grouping provided for doe8 not have 

the efieot of abollehlng the several dletrlote In 

the group. * l * It merely groups them for high 

l ohaol txmpoeee and plaoee the grouprd board ln 

oharge of all the eohoole in the aietrlot, thus 

abolishing the several dletrlot boards. l l l The 

trustees of the grouped dletrlot were Invested with 

the power and oharged with the duty of oonduotlng 

eohoole and tilnleterlng all l ohool property and 

runde of all bhe dletrlote within the boun%arlee 

of the ooneolIdate% dletrIote.* (The oourt In epeakIng of eooneolI%ate% dietrIots* had reference to the 

rural high wahoo1 grouping.) 

The taxes and runde oolleoted over the rural high eohaol 

%Ietriot are managed by the rural high eohool board for the maintenanae and eupbort, not only of the oentral hlgh l ohool ror the 

benerlt of all thoee within the unit but also the varlo;; ;;mentary eohoole wIthin eaoh of the elementary UIrtrlote. 

readily be eeen that an attempt to leave an elementary dIetrIOt 

grouped with others ln the rural high eohool district for high 

wahoo2 purposes, and at the l LpLe time ooneolldate it with another 

district outride the group ror elementary purposes, woulh neoee- 
genorabl8 Troylor kreoll, page 6 

raIly lead to numerous oonfllotr In authority between the 

verlou8 governing boardo; an overlapplng of taxing authorltr 

rlth no eeanr for dividing or 8egregatIng the dlrtrlot for 

tax PUrPO8.8, oonfurlon In election8 and ths right to vote, 

and many other queetlonr whlsh would neoe88arlly arise. 

The lcglrleture ha8 not attempted to make my provlrlon for any of there oontlngenoler, nor ha8 It oloarly provlded that an elementary dirtriot may be detaohed from the 

Ural high rohool dirtrlot from the ravonth grade down and 

oonrolldated wlth an adJoIning dlrtrlot outride the group. 

It I8 our oplnlon that the r8a8onab1e and prop8r 

OOn8tNOtiOn Of Artlolo 2922f, Vernon’8 ToXa8 Civil 8tBtUt88, 

rhould be that the OOUnty board of 8OhOO1 tN8t.88 8ay, when 

the oondltlon8 therein provided 8xl8t, aon8Olidat8 or oollblnr 

an elementary dirtrlct with another e18mentary dl8trl6t withlath8 high 8ohool group for 0188l8nta~ rohool ~0lp08.8, but 

ur not oon8olldate ruoh 8lsIaentary rohool dlrtrlot for *lo88ntary rohool purporer only with another dI8tPlOt oUtrid th8 

Rural High Sohool DI8trIot. Your flr8t qur86lon 18 therefore 

l n8UOmd ln th8 n8gatlve and it beOOme8 unneoe88uy to anlwer 

tour reoond and third que8tlons. 

YOUI’8 V8m 6NlJ 

ATTORHEX OEWERAL OF TIEA% 

Dix: Jr 

B’ -4idti 

i88i8tMt 

I,PPROVEDm I, 1941