OFFICE OF THE A7TORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

: -’ ,i. 

lionorable T.%. Trimble, Fir&t Assistant 

State kkqerintendent OF ;'2bllc 38 tructfoL 

Austin, T e x a 8 

Opinion %m.S& O-4953 

(1) Lerudh of contract betwe 

(2) methar~iala of SCSCiOl jus 

by common school dlstric~t iast 

be approved by cmnty board. 

(3) iaQ~er~paylAaat8 for.&~'.,. 

ChaSO Of bU8 3iltLy sXthti>'pa8t 

prosent school gear. 

,*-. . .- 

We.have r8ceiV9d @ii latter of 3otuber YS, 1342, in 

which you'enciosa a'lettcr TIWBi I&r, li tci H&Son, i;ouatg Cuperintendent-,oi iCl Paso Couxlw. We quote the folloxing fro= 

m?. mntoil's letter? 

*ri; 

"2. The school EOarci OWIIS the yrosent YCLi;;Cil 

bus and desires to sell it to tile co:ltlwctor. 

, 
Zonorable T. L Trimble, page #2 

18 it necessary to ma-me the approval of the 

County Board in accordance with Artkle 27534 

"S. Can we sell the bus to him on credit 

even thou#.k the fIna papnte will not be 

made during the present s&o01 yearTn 

The only statutes, which we have been able to find, 

autlxirinlng the board of trustees of a sczlool llstrict to 

employ or contract with a parson or firm for the transportation o,C its pupils, am Articles 2G87a ami 2e13, ?'ernon:s 

Annotated civil statutes. 'Art1cl.e ~2687a prOVid8S as follows: 

nTranaportatfon of pupils. -The trustees of 

any oohool dlatrict, immon or lndepondent, makLng provl8loE for the *ansportation of pUpi 

ta and from eabocl, ,a?~+ for such purpose employ or aontract witka'rospoqsible peraon'or 

fbm: -It&i parson shalIl be employed.to tramport 

pupils, who Is not at least twenty-one year8 of 

age and a competent driver of motor VehiOl8S and 

sound in body and mind. All motor vehicles operated by school bistriats, dlreatly or by contract, 

3.n the tramportatiom 0r pupils shall bs covered 

..and so glassed OP cirrtalned at the sides and rear 

: -a8 to proteot the pup118 from tin8 lnalemenclos of 

the weather, and &al1 at all times be eq\rlpped 

with efficient lights and brakes. me dr%vors of 

all echwl txansportatlon v8hialea shall be re- 

,quf.a'& to give bondfor Such mount as the Board 

.. ~:. &-Truat88s of the dietriat may preaarlbe; not 

'loss than ~2,000,00~ WbU to the U.&riot, and 

-OoaditZon~ upn the~~fW$htbl and carehil &fsahsrge 

'of th8%~~duti88 t8r the protection of the ptlpjJ.8 

UIxl8r their cbiU?ge and faithful perforkanae ~of tn8 

contraCt with Sahool Board; and they shall, befon, 

cwaaing any railroad OF interurban railway tracks, 

bring their vehicles to a dead atop. Bai1u.m 00 

stop before croaalng such railway as proVided herein shall forfeit t;he drivers contract and, in case 
of accident to pupils or veh.Lcles the bend sba11 

bo forfeited and the amount and all H&t tkE:reunder siNll be detomAned by a court of competent 

juriediotlou. ,Acts lQ?Q, 41st Le&, .lst C.S., 

p. 96, oh:-.42, sea. Ln: 

Article 2213, relatfli# to consolidated school d%striots, 

reads 98 Zollows: 

, 

eConsoLidation:.free transportation. -I&en in 

their judgment it I.a~deemed n13oesaax-y or e,?Jedient, 

said trustees may provtie for .the transportation of; 

pupils to and fw -‘elementary school ox' hL,& 

echooX of tl;e district whereupon such pusilc may be 

in attendarica, and trustees are hereby tim:o?:ersd to 

employ transportation vehicles and drivers for suc3: i 

aervlce, paying the cost~~thareof out of the.local 

ltlaint;sna.nao fund of tJle:dIstiiot or out or Such 'others 

i- fundaas may be appropriated 'for th%s purpose. Id.' 

You will notioe &at both of these statutes are silent 

as to the term of tine employment or contract. "or that reason 

It Is our opinion that the contract my not cover a lmt;er 

period of time than a yqar. 

A cltulr analoggmay be &awn betveeti the question under 

oansldsration and the employment of tea&hers. Article Q750a 

authorizes the trustee3 of a common school district to employ 

teacher6 for a period of time not in excess of two years. Article 2781 authorimes the employment of teachars by the board 

of truateea cf 'a,indepe*ent sahool district for a teti not 

to exe884 thaws yeape, an+ by sane districts, for a term not 

.ta exceed five. yeare. If the school districts already had 

such authority, then therm would be no point in pass%q suoh 

statutee. it.has been held that 'these statutes aro a mt 

OS .power,rmtla.l~ilpitation. Pikes v. sharp (%.I?. Ref.), ll2 

s . 7;: * (ai) 774. 
Yonora~blo ii'. E. Trlmble, pase #4 

iTe quote tliu r”ollowi~ll; from the optifon aI the court 

luFike8 v. Sharp, silpra: 

Vhe raots that these common who01 dietric ta 

are supported largely by annual apportionments 

fmm the publh frea school -'unds~ that they al.130 

&rLva. their ravenw fian local taxat;lon, the 

.;rat;e of wh%ohmay be charged from year to yOar. 

bg the eleo+ate,; that they ee subject to reclassification frar;i ;sar to year by the county 

authorities; and that their scholastic population a?ay vary fram ;~e.ar to year Sz a mimer'sarioply to, offeat thqir revenuesf are~~aonsiderac, -' 

tlons vhich we belive stron&'ly point to a le$&+ ~~ 

latlve intent that oontraots binding upon their ~ 

fuw8 revenues should be ilmited to a on8-jcm 

period." 

::.. ~~~~~,-th6et:~~ovtsLo~ the boaxkof trustees of 

a schoo~'rIi&ri~t?coul.d qaplog keachers fora term no lower 

than a jEM&, than ft %S O,l.V? Q+lbIl t&tt aS theZWi8 90 provision gmini$ng the school trustees &uthority to employ or 

aontraat with a Ma .&rLvor for a period loa&sr $hs.na year, 

the same mr hot be dcqe* 

OIV? oondusion is CoMiStent~with the~weil-ostaUli8hed 

PZ'inOiplS thRt SOhO+ tl'Ut88S wnnot create a deflolency debt 

fa.ga.l.Mthe ,, diatlygt. Jwtfole 2749;,Collier- v. Peacock, 93 

Tex. 2fi5;.T!empleman Gozmon SctuJol Dietriot Ho. l.of.Waeos 

County V. Boy-d B. Elead Co., 101 5. E. i2d) 3S2. 

Your flret question is ape~if:loaUy::anaw8~ed as fool- 

&ma;: The be&&of tmstces of a mmnon scboot.distrlct may 

tit 'make a aontraot-for tnb trauspoxtation ol .4.te,puplle r0r 

a lgnger terg then 5 year. A contract ~may bs. made for i&to . 

reiuaindar of the current sohool yq* but it marmot aover both 

the remainder of this school~yearand the following school 

year. Our conolusion i3 strerithened by tne fact that the 
State Department of Zducation has long construec?~tLc statutes 

as authotiaing ti board of truatess to make a trallsportatlon 

~ccnt%ot for zm longer period of time than one yemx. 

We wish to dFrect your attention to the cur&at rur& 

aid bill (Acts lSkl, 47th L6g., B.S., Ii. B. 884, c& 549, p. 

E@O) wheraln it is provided that the county.bc&rda bf trustees 

may employ bus drivers.. Section 4 of Article V ~@ranspo$%ation 

Aid) reads an follows: 

"county Boards of Trustees are hereby authorised to employ bus drfvers Sor one year and the 

salary of no bus driver may be paid out of the 

county Board Transportation Fund created herein 

unhss such bus driver is so employed. iyrovided 

furt??6r, that only pctpils or perEons directly 

conmeted with the school system shall be Wasported.on aahool buses while in the ?rocoos of I 

tqxnaporting ?u~ila to and from th6 school.and. .~ 

zany bus driver violating the forego- prcvieiona 

shall forfeit his contraat and ehall.be imiwdiate1s discharged by the County.Board of Trustees. 

HQweve~r) aubjeot to the provisions h6rein, bus 

drivers who own their om~buses and are so employed may be given a contract for nst to exceed 

two (2) Fears conditioned that said ka drivers 

agme.to make Improvements on their buses, eo as 

to more adequateky~fsaure safer transportation 

for the 6ohelastlcs, and the rout6 of euih bus 

16 not changed for the seoond y6'epr of the aou- 

'. tract2 

-. ::., ., 

>.' : 

liou~~rill notloe that the oounty board may employ-bus 

drivers for one year, or if the bus driven3 own their- own 

bused;, l'or.two years if said drivers "agree to make lmprtbvements on their inme@, so ae to .aore, adequately insure safer 

transportation for the scholaatioa , and the route of au& hue 

is not ahanged for the second year of the aontraat.w However, 
Nonorahle 'i'. 12. Trlmble, page $6 

the point about which youiingtire~is the authority of the 

board of ~trustees of the school distriot to make suah a 

oontraot, not the aouuty board. We wish to point out, however, that under Seation 4 above quoted the SalaIry of a bus 

driver gaay not be paid with rural aid funds unless the driver 

is exaployed .by the county.board, assuming, of cours6, the 

school district is eligible and entitled to participate in 

the rural aid benel’its. 

Ye now will consider the.seaond qu6stion. It is etated.that the school district owns the present school bus and 

desires to sell the ssm6. ,You rlsh to knoq whether the approval of the county board must be secured,under the provisions of 

Article 2753, whiah reads as followst 

"Sale of 8ChOol property.- The trustees of 

any school district, upon the order of the county 

trustees prescribing the terms thereof, vhen deemed advkeable, may make sale of any property be-, .'~ 

longing to said school district, and apply th6 

proceeds to the purchase of necessary g~?ouuds, 

or to the building or repatiw of .schoolhous6s, 

or place the proceeds to the credit of t.h6 available sahool fund of E-m d1strict.e 

Althou& this article does not apply to independent 

sohool distriota, it does apply to aonmon school dlstriots. 

R. B. SpenceP& Co., v.. Brown, 198 s. w. 1129. Though th6 word 

"property" in Its broad sense would include both real and personal property, it Is our opinion that wpropertye as used in 

Artiale 2755is limited in its application to real~property. 

!Chle conclusion is reached b6caus6 of sev6ral reasavl. First, 

tb$s artlale 1s ,placed among those statutes dealing with the 

land and achoolhous6s of distriots. (See Article 2752, relating to the construction of buildings; Article 2754, d8ckWiII43 

that tho sahoolhousea and grounds shall be under tke control 

of the district trustees; Article 2756, relating to the ua6 of 
schoolhouses by white azJ colored students). Second, none 

of the cases Fn whiok thik artiale has been constru6d involved.the eale of personal groper@?, but OXJ the contrary, 

dealt only w%m conveyances of real eatate. Tnlrd, ths ~886 

for whluh the money derived from a aale under Article 2755 

msy be applied are cleazzly indlcatfve iA-&: a sale of realty 

was contemplatad. fourth, tL6lere is much rcoro reascu to reqUrre tko approval of the county board on a salo of realty 

thau there is in the case of prsonal proparty, for the value I

of the personal property of a district is usually neglL&ble i 

as compared to its real property value. Until tile LegJ.slature 

authoriaed the purohase of buses, the only peroonal property 

that a district could acquire consisted only of supplies aad . 

equIpmenti and we thLnk that at the time Article 2753 was 1 

orIgInally enacted (lQO5), the Legislature had Fn mind only 

real property. j 

The question now arises as to t-m ati;&zit; i;rrder 

which th6 board of trustees may sell tl:6 ~erso:lal property of i 

the district. The trustees of a common school district are a 

body corporate and ar6 given the right to mana& and control 5 

the school distriat and its pro;Jerty. Sf3C iirticids 2740 Qtld 

2749, Revised Civil Statutes. They ara zutilorizod to purahase /

supplies and equipmnt. See Article 20127, Revised Clril Statutea . It is ,true that a board of trustees pos36sses only the I 

powers expressly conferred upon it by law or necessarily im- I 

plied from such poFero. Zarlingen Independent Zchool i)fatriot 

v. Pa&e Bras., 48 s. 3. (26) 983; 24 R.C.L.; 564. However, we I 

believe that 8s tile board 0: trustees of a common school distrlst ia a body oorporate authorized to acquire equipment and 

I 

supplies, it' has the authosTt3. to dispose of 3uch property b 

sale Prhcn ths board in its disaretion determines that the in - f 1 crest of the school district would be best semcd by the same, 

and if this power is not an expressed power, it ;Ls certainly I 

an implied one. conpsro vestal et al., v. flc&rlL~ at al., 

(sup. ct. orekon), 26 Fat. 821. IIl hi6 lilSLilIACt3 U.t’ ‘tii6 sale 

of realty, an~~additional requirement is added; ~u-i~~ly~, the act 

of the county board in joinins with the loctii b~nr*2. ?;ut this 

requirement is uot prasei& in th6 sale of ;>or30:.~Lt;;. 'Your 

second question is, tharefom, mlswered in 3x3 r;~~:;::tive. 
Eonorable T. E. 4rhble, pa@3 $8 

If the board of trustaes ha13 authority to sell the 

parsopal property of the district, then as the terns JLI such 

8ki.e me Xl& Set OUt by StotUt6Q it i8 OUP O&-dIli.iX~ k&t tC6 

&o6i~d.w detenaine such ~W?IILS, provided, of aourse, tat 

they are reasonable. 

Your thXrd question is, thea?efore, answered as follows: 

If the board of tmrrtees in its di8oZWkiOI2 determines to sell 

the bus on credit and suoh aotion la seasonable in v&en of all 

the facts SWXOUlldil3& tz1.e transaotion,~ then it may do SO even 

tho&zh Lie final payments are,not to be made dur%ng tie present 

school year. 1% ia our furtiier opinion that the zsoney received 

from the sale ol” the bum would be local funds under Sect&on 8 

OS Artiole 2827 an& coti.3 be used only for those puIposes whkh 

are set out in mm:? prorision.