OFFICE OFTHE AmORNEY GENERALOFTeXAS ' AUSTIN

HonorableFhelburneH. Glover County Attorney Marion. County Jerrert3on,

Texas

Dear Sir: opinloli No. O-&O,099 Rer Employmentand aalary of'sohool bus drlrar and route of opera-. tion or hi8 bus. 5. Fe hare reoeived your letter or Ootokr 6, 1941, In whioh bou ask the opinion of thls,department on the rollowlng queatlone~ivhfoh we quote trOm y&r letter1

"1. Where a man Itar been employed.todrive

a school bus, a&the revenues derived iron the State permit .payment to suoh driver the sum or $30.00 per month for his servloeanhioh Is admittedly Inadequate,0811 the Loos1 Trustees or a partioularalstrlot augPasnt his salary out,of the Common SohoolDlstrlot fund of auoh Dlatriot?

"2. (a) Do the Truateee 0r 8 Common SohO Distrlothare the right to employ a~bus driver,
or must suoh driver be employed by the County Fohool Board?
u(b) Is the route over whloh a sohool bus driver operatesa matterfor the Looal Trustees, or the County Sohool Board to detennlne?"

For the sake of oonvenienoe we nili answer your questionsIn reverse order.

titlole 2687a, Vernon'sAnnotatedCivil Statutes reads-inpert 8s roiiov~s:

"The trusteee of eny sohool distriot,can- ,mon-orindependent, maklngprorislon,

for the transportation

of pupils to anb from aohool shall for su& puTpOSe 8LUplOY Or COntraOtdthHonorableShelburne H. Glover, Page 2

a reaponelbleperson or firm. No person ahall be employed to tranaportpupils, who is not at least twenty-oneyears ot age and a aompetent driver or Eotor vehlolesand sound in body and mind."

However, Seotlon 4 0r ArtioleV 0r the Rural Ala Appropriation(Acts 19W, 47th Leg., R. B. 284) providesae rollowez
wCountyBoard6 of Trustee8 ere hereby author- &d to employ bus drivers for one year and the salary or no bus driver may be paid, out of the County Board Transportation Fund oreatedherein unlees euoh hue driver la so employ+ Provided further, that only puplla or parsons dlreotly oonneoted dth the sohool syaten.shall be transported
on sohool buses .Wle In the prooeea or transporting pupils to and from the q&&w1 8nd any bus driver violating the forego$ngprovisionsehall rorrelt hi6 oontraotand ahell be~lmmedlatelydieoharged by the County 3oaxd or Trustees. However, aubjeotto the provlalonsherein, bus drivers who own their own buses end are 80 employedmay be given a contreotfor not to exoead two (2) years oondltlonedthat said bue drivers agree to make.lmprovements

on their buses, so as to more adequatelyinsure safer transportation ror the aoholestlos,

and the route or suoh bus is not ohengedror the aeoond year of the oontraot."

It is elementarythat the tiglslaturein appro- ' prletlngpub110 moneys is empoweredto proride the manner of their disbursement, end as we .heldin OpinionNo. O-~$6, lt~lawlthln lta provlnoeto attaoh "oondltlonato their expenditure." Therefore,a sohool alstrlotwhloh oomea within the provisionsof the Rural Aid Appropriatlon~Blll and elects to aocept the bonerite thereof' must oom ly with the provisionsand oonditlonsof the bill before i.& ..i will be entitled to receive aid thereunder. Feation 4 quoted above provides for the ewloyment of~buo d?lvers by the oountyboard of trustees. Assuming that the sohool dlstrlot ti whloh you have ref'erenoe is eligible ior aid and intendsto,‘rcioelvi it under tho bill, it follows that the bus driver Tuust,M esployedby the oounty board of trustees.Honorable Shelw H. Olover, Page 3

Seotlon 1 of ArtioleV of the Rural Aid Bill read8 in pert a6 r0imfm

*The County Superintendent end County So&~1 Boards d the several oounties of this State, subjeot to the approval of the State Superintendent of Pub110 Instruction, are hereby authorizedto annually set up the meet eoonomloalsystem or transportation

posalble for the purpose ot transporting both grade and high aohool their dlstrlota,and wlthln their d ~uplla rrom Pstr1ot.w

It follows from the came reasoningexpressedabove that route of operationof the bua Is e matter, not for the looal board of truetees,but for the oountg superintendent and oounty boar&of trwteea, subjeot to the approval ot the State Superintendent, *a part of the authorityto set up an eoonomloal

~eyatem

or tranoportetlon.

We tura'now to your ramafn~g question, whether the loeal board oi trueteesmay supplementthe bus drlver:a 8alary 0r $30.00.

Saotlon 2 of LLrtlole I Or the Rurel Md Bill provides aa rollowsr ,

"sea. 2. Tax Levy. lo school district shall .' be ellglble to receive any type of aid authorlaed under the provlelonsor this Aot unless it shall ba providing for the annusl aupport or its sohools 'by voting, .levying and oolleotingfor the ourrent aohool fear a looal malntenanoeaohool tax of not less than ritty oente (504) on the one hundred dollara or property valuatfonin the entire dlstrlot. The propertyvaluatlone shall not be leas than said property is valued for State and oounty purposes. The~lnoomefrom suoh e malntenanoetax in exoeas or the required tlfty oenta (500 maintenance tax must firat be used to retire lndkbtedneaa, ii any, in the looal and equallzatlon (Rural Aid) sohcol funda. After the indebtedness In these funds, ii eny, has been retired the lnoome from this malntenanoetax in exoeas of the required fifty cents (504)malntenanoetax ma% be used at the dlecretlon of the looal aohoal au orltles'orthe dletrldt ior any lawf'ul school purpose. Provided thatHonorableShelburneH. Ulover, Page 4

no looal funda may be used to lnoreeseteaohers' salariesdlreotly or lndlreotly above the aalery scheduleprovided tor ln this Aot. An or all mlntenanoe tax above fifty oents (506 f may not be lnoluded in the oaloulatlon of need ror ala but shall be reported in the budget. If the lnoome from the malntenanoetax above fifty oents (50#) Is not spent as preaorlbed herein, it shall be lnoludedas reoelpts in the budget. In order to oomply with the terma oi thla aeotlon it shall be neoeasaryfor suoh aohool districtsapplying
ror any type of aid authorized under the terms or this Aot, to report all vciLuatlona wlthln auoh dlstrlotslnoludlngall oonsolldated dlstrlota and annexed dlstrlotsand failure to report all suoh valuations shall prevent suoh dlst.rlot from reoelvlngany type of aid authorized under this Aot. Provlaed that the tax provisionsand other lnhlbltlons

provided in aald Aot shall not apply to the sohool where the Alabama Indians attend eohool in Polk County, Texas."

We have been informedby the Departmentof Edu&rtlon that under the rules and regulations governing transportationIn Texas, the mexlmum expense that oan be alloror operatingany on6 bus Is as fo&lowsr an amounti not to exoeed $30.00 per month ror a driver,plus an amount not to exoeed $40iO0 per month for operationexpense of the bus plus one-fifthor the orlglnal ooet of the bus for the year.

Under the aot, dlstrlotawhloh reoelve aid ior tranaportatlon

oosts have their looal taxes restriotedand bud&eted;.tharerore, no dlstrlotpartlolpatlng in the rural aid funds la to have .any surplus funds above the $30.00per month ror the bus driver unless suoh districthas a looal nainteniinoe

tax rats above fifty oents (506) on the one hund?ed dollars of property valuation. In that ease, auoh exceaa revenue could be used to Increasethe bus driver's SShry, after retirecect of the school indebtedness, if any.
This opinion has been writteu on the assumption that the dlstrlot ie eligible for aid nnd desires to reoelve the same, snd your questionshave been answeredon that be&r. There is nothlng.lnthe bill whloh oompels sahool dlstrlots to seek its benefits. If the dlstrlot does not ohooae toBonorableShelburneB. Glcmr, Page 5

partloipate

under the sot, then~ under Artlole 26878 the looal ,boer& my erzploy

the hue driver. fir hi.% ealsry, and deter-
-e the route of operationoi! hi% bum.
Very truly youre

BIRST AC ATTOi'JW

c . AmORi4EY G.F:T"NERAL

OF TEXAS