OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF l’&ZXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable X. 3. kuxm 

county Attorney 

UcCulloch Countg 

Drady, Texas L 

Dear Sir; 

..r\,. '. 

ate08 of.the K'oldrig 

01 District aUthGZizcd 

8X the buildi.!?? k.llGWIl 

erage or the land Gpon 

a locat0d at private nale 

Ith or wlthout the con8 oounty trusteee? 

for an opinion of thts.nspsrtIon has been reo0loed. 

the mldrip Conmon School 

ountpt dosire to sell th0 teachern the echooi kind haretofore dsedsd to 

of the %%ldrip School. DfKtrict for school 

ordur to obtain filnns vflih MhlCh to a0 

~ditionol bukl~iog on the school b,uilda uchool building is not new being: used I'cr 

school g~~-poms fi~o to tix? fact; that the student3 w-6 

011 ott.oading school in another district. xt in not now." 

th8 1ntenttc.n of the trustsa $3 wmr 2i.9~3 school ut 

thu %ldrlp 8ahool hollae. Xt 13 the dooira of the truat- 
honorable 1. J. Burns, Psse 2 

em, however, to -sell the -teachersgo end ap;lly the 

money $0 lwxovements on the school hcuse in order 

to use the EChGOl house as a co.mq;nity center, and 

else save insurance that they are now pspiq on the 

teacherage. 

~"Pleaae advise me whether or notthe trustees of 

the 'Caldrip Co.mmon bohool Diatrict are authorized to 

sell either the baiLdin known as the taacherage or 

the building known as thexthe teaoherage an6 the land 

upon which it is located at private sale for cash, 

with or ~witbout the consent of the oounty trustees. 

Ir they are authcrized to sell this buildiqi, either 

with or .without the consent of the Cbunty trustees, 

then ecPfi,se mo whether or not the money derived therefrom can lawfully be applied to repair the existing: 

sohool buildina,, which iB thereafter $0 be used for 

.oommualty >urposea, such aa relipious eatharin&s, 

pol$.tioal meetings, social functions, eto., under tha 

direction of the Board of Trustees of ibuoh dfstrict.W 

Two nttttutas in Terns provide for tho sole of sohool 

property. They are Artioles 2753 and 2773, Vernon*s Annotated 

Civil Gtatutes. The former statute read8 as followa: 

"The trustees of any echool diat~ict, upon the 

order of ths county trustees preccrlbl~ the terns 

thereof, when deemod ad*Iseble, may make ~6x10 of 

any prrpertj belongins, to 6eia school district, and 

a,7pl.g the prooeeile to the puchsse of necessary @xunds 

or to tha bulLdinji or repa$.rir& of' school hcuoes, or 

place ths proceeds to the credit of the available sohool 

runi? of the district.* 

) ‘An 

to iion. 
_.,~ ~.~ ., ,.... .~ A .-. .._ ----------alll_ \ 

_ ~., .,.., ~- .,.. ^-- -_.-.,. ;._ .-... ~.. ._.. ~_~ ._ ._ ~.. ~~, ~~, .~ ,,..., ,~~ 

:.. ,: 502 

f!onorabfe i. J. ?3wns, Pegcr 3 

f&tie. K; Wilson; -County Attorney, Bey 'City, 33~88, &ate& 

geptanber 10, 195%; (2) .Gur Dpfnion Ho. O-450. 

Numroua d.ecM.ons both in Texas and In other juriaulotiona point out that sohool tliatrlctg am corporations with 

very Ur.ited pawera. 

W.?bool. districts am Dublie quasi-cxuiclyal 

oorporati&, 635etluea termd involuntary corporatiOAS They w&e contracts, levy texes, and 

pom3e;l &&rtg. They are orgehized not for the 

pu?ipue of prcii.t or gain, but solely for the public 

benefit, and have only such limlteO powera aa nay 

be necessary for that pur~%ee. They havo thersfore 

been aaia to bo corpomtlons OS the nest limited 

powers ]rnowR ta the wOXld.P86%hi8AR Sohool District 

Y. Pasadena, lG6 Cal. 7, 134 Rec. 985, LSUL Gas, 1015-Y, 

1039, 47 L. R. A, (ES) -.692. They are ,but the egsnta 

of the state for the sole purpose of adtnlnisterlng 

*the state ogqten of gublio eduostion end hsvs only 

6UOh pOW8XB ,RS Ql'% OGnferr%d tXQX83fdy Or by ABCCaSsary i~pllaation.~ 24 Rcl. 864, Sec. 7, (Op~nlon No. 

.o-lwO~~*~ 

as quote Pron the case of IZarlfngen Zmiapartdant sahool 

Distrfct 'v. Pa@ Rroa., 48 6. w. (zd) 983 628 r0lmt3; 

~~ "T!qboerrd of trustees @f6@36586 powers expresnly aoaferred upon, it by law or neoeaearily iri- 

;il.ied firm the pwm3re so aonferred.* 

Corpue Jur3.s points out that progsxty Cevotec¶ to a 

public WM cm only be d2apoeed of by exsross authority, and 

a pmernl gave of dinpasition h&in baen held to be restricted 

to property not nesdad for the use of public schools. 55 Cm. 

Jur. 437, sec. 417. This authority stateo t!zmF the sale mat 

be mde ir. ccm~linnce with the term cif the statute, authoriziq it, but that substantial procedure:l ccm~llnncs io sut'ficiarlt. 

7% iheh to atreas the ,faitt that ~111 of those authorit10s !xlb t&t oohool. bow&a hnva oniy the ezpraea authority 

~;iv6t3 th= IR th6 otatut9 aei ~n2.y p:h 3.wliad wma a8 km-4 

neocssary to oxeoute suoh siwr?PasE goawera. 
via 

a0 followsr 

"A 

only in 

eohool dlstrict~can convey its property 

the mnncr providad by law. 11, by lar, an 

~--order of th0 ocmieaioner8~ CGurt, tha oonsont of the 

county suparintendent, of the state suporintondont 

or the State Board ol.~LdusetiGn, Is nocassarg tG the 

validity of a aale, such ordar or oonsantnust bo 

obtained." 

quote from Texa0 Jurlsprudenoe, Vol. 37, page 960 

blso see the ceee cf Crouch v. komy, 69 S. I?. 1001. 

Zf the provisions of ,"trtSclo 2753, sups, are folLied, as8wdng; of courno, tbnt fee simple title is in the 

boerd, sllch title racy bs oonvoywd to a person who is not a 

mabar of the school board. Said Article Ijrovidss, in effect, that the .trustses of any~school district in rsaking a 

.aale af any property belon@g to said aohoo1 district mat 

obtain an order of tbo c,ounty trunteob pzssorlbing the terns 

of such sale end also p~ovidas t*t tha ~roceadn of mob sale 

shall be applied to the purc>aao of necessary grounds or to 

the building or repairing of achooL houaas, or such proceeds 

nay be placed to the oredit of the available aohool fund of 

the dietriot. 

In viovi of the fcroF,cing .&uthoritisa you are respaatfully advised that it is the opiriion Gf this Department that 

the truoteas of tba Xaldrip ComGn School Dfstriot are authorized to sell either tho buildis@ knowi RS the teacheraCe or 

the land u?nn ;s!iah it Is located, or both, In cosi~llanoe with 

Article 2753, SUJDX. Eoowever, it is our further opinion that 

tho p20tmae3 of CIUD~ ad,0 0~ not be used to inprovo or x0- 

pair R school house Y;?tsn the school house is hot used for 

school pux~oeee or %sre it is t;ha intention of the trustees 

that the school house aba1i naver be used again for school purp0f30Et. The proceeds cf‘ such sala mst be ap:>15.ed to the purposts specifically provided for in Arttole 2753, oupra. 

Trustin that the foregoir~ fully an&v&r's your inquiry, we ar_e 

Tour8 vary truly~