The Attorney General of Texas 

September 11, 1980 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General 

Willie L. Scott 

Major General, TexARNG 

The Adjutant General 

Adjutant General’s Department 

Austin, Texas 78783 

Opinion No. MW-240 

Re: Whether the pay of a teacher 

may be docked to cover the cost of 

a stistitute when. he is absent 

performing military &ty as a 

member of the National Guard or 

the armed forces reserves 

Dear Mr. Scott: 

Ycu indicate that some Texas school districts reduce the pay of 

teachers who are absent from teaching &ties to perform Reserve cr 

National Guard &ty in a sum equal to the ~amount paid the teachers’ 

stistitutes for the period of absence. You ask whether this practice is 

permissible. 

Article 5785, V.T.C.S., provides, in pertinent part: 

Sec. 7. (a) All officers and employees of the 

State of Texas and of any. . . political subdivision. . . 

who shall be members of the State Military Forces, or 

members of ly of the Reserve Components of the 

Armed For&es, shall be entitled to leave of absence 

from their respective duties without lass of.. . salary 

on all days duriq which they shall be engaged in 

authorized trainb or &ty ordered or authorized by 

proper authority, for not to exceed fifteen (15) days in 

any one calendar year. 

School districts are political stidivisions of this state. Woodson Ind. 

School District v. State, 130 S.W. 2d 1038 (Tex. Civ. App. - Eastland 1939, 

writ dism’d, judg. corr.); 51 Tex. Jur. 2d Schools SS5,B. Accordingly, public 

school teachers are employees of a political s&division and are clearly 

governed by article 5785. 

Section 18.055 of the Education Code provides that: 

(a) A school district must pay each employee who is 

qualifi~ed for and employed in a position classified 

p. 760 
Willie L. Scott - Page Two (MW-240) 

under the Texas Public Education Compensation Plan set forth 

in Section 16.056 of this chapter not less than the minimum 

monthly base salary, plus increments for teaching experience, 

specified for the position. 

In addition to the minimum monthly base salary specified for the employee’s position 

and pay grade, which school districts are obligated to pay, districts may supplement 

their employees’ salaries from local revenue sources. An employee’s %alary,” 

therefore, is the monthly base salary prescribed in the Public Education Compensation 

Plan plus any local supplements provided by the district. 

Article 5765 unequivocally provi&s that employees may not lose any salary during 

the time they are engaged in military trainhg or duty as specified therein, not to 

exceed fifteen days in a calendar year. Article 5765 is to be liberally construed to 

effecuate its intended purpcee, which is to prevent public employees who are 

performing military obligations from being penalized. Attorney General Opinion C-679 

(l966). The net result of a requirement that teachers pay for stistitutes necessitated 

by their absence is that the salary provided for in their employment contracts is 

effectively reduced by that amount. There is no room for doubt that this practice is 

contrary to the language and spirit of article 5765. 

SUMMARY 

Under article 5765, V.T.C.S., public school teachers may not 

be required to pay for substitutes necessitated by their absence 

while engaged in military training or duty. 

Attorney General of Texas 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by Jon Bible 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMlTTEE 

C. Robert Heath, Chairman 

Jon Bible 

Susan Bradshaw 

Susan Garrison 

Rick Gilpin 

Bruce Youngblood 

p. 7,61