OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Kay 2, 1939 

m 

-‘mate 

ustin, iexas i 

ear sir: 

se are in receipt of 

hioh 16 60 follow: 

to rural high sob 

~'l6gu.y eonst 

ry and high sohooi OS rur81 

sqrwre miles or more, that 

it sahools, entitled to 

that your ttird questiOn‘ '*cents the altixtate 

that the l!freb twa quest ? on8 are auggssted~ 

Seation 11, kcts 1950, Oh. 404, p. lE59, known ~a thi fiural 

Aid Len provides as~follows: 

Vet. il. Transportetion Aid. The Coun ~Zhaperintendents an6 County Lahool Board are hereby a:. z%ie rized 

to set up a system 0r tramtportatlon for the purpose of 
30x1. A. L. Aikin, jr., Lay 2, 1939, ?e;;e 2 

trtifX3IjOrtigg Lir:h schocl pupils fro% their di>:i.ricts, to 

the nearest convenient accredited high school. 'r'hexpense 

of SUCL trans>ortatiou s:;aLi iie gaid out of Lbe funds 

hereby provided, not to exceed 'i'wo ($2.00) Doliers per 

pupil aer a.0ot.h. Provided, further, that iu districts COD;- 

posing au enzire comity, high school transportation aid as 

authorlzeU ixi this iection my be granted for the pumose 

of transportiug high school pupils within such districts to 

the most convenient accredited high sohool. 

*It is further provided that the districts through 

whiah theee buses travel away maks pro~Ie1ons with the 

County Superintendent anti the County Sahool Board to hare 

any other ahildren not provided tar herein, tramported 

within and between their respective distriota, and said 

dlstriot amy make application for State aid thereon to an 

amount not to exaeed One (#LOO) Dollar per month per 

pupil. Provided, that where regular bneee do not run in 

sparsely settled sections of eountlea which era operating 

under a aow+y unit ayatsa, the CountyMhoolBoard and, 

County Superintendent are authorized to.make prorlalona 

for the transportation of puplla within raid dlstrlqJia, 

an&may make application for State aid thereon to en' 

amount not to exceed One ($1.001 Dollar wr month Der 

reap;otmtkvtranepo&ation aahool-dint-riot 

in wbieh there exiata two sahool planta, one or whioh ir 

a first class four (4) year high aobool and whidh aaid 

plants are separated by a distanoe of not less than two 

and one-half (2 l/2) xJ1.s." 

Article 2922a, Chapter 196, Revised Civil 8tatutea. 1926, 

B amended providea for the formation or organization of rural 

igh school districta by grouping aontigaous distrits or annexing 

&lying distriats to a aantral conmmx or independent sahool dlstriat 

3r purposes of maintaining a high sohool. Such dlstriats may be 

armed so as to aontain more than 100 aquare miles (Art. 29220). 

In Chastain v. Mauldin, (T.C.S. 1930) 52 6. W. (2d) 295, 

he aoart used the following eignifiaant language: 
"In the L~c?ha:i Caseabove, Judge iooney ix hoMinE 

constitutional the provisions of Chapter 19a, 'itlo 49, 

sets forth very clearly the purposes and effect cf that 

legislation. as there pointed out, the gr uping provided 

for does nrt have .the effect of abolishing tbe several 

districts in the group. ke also Limestone hoard v. 

V~ilson ('ier.Civ.Ap;).) 5 S. Z. (26) 605. It merely groups 

thee: Sor hl~h school purposes and places the Crouped board 

in charge of' all OS the schools in the district, thus 

abolishing the several district boards. 30 a&ion of any 

obaraoter was taken which either attempted or had the 

eifeot oi abolishing the tither Creek dlstrlot, and under 

the faots as found by the oourt (that the average dally 

attendance was 20 or more) the dlstrlot oould not have beon 

abolished or oonsolldated with~any other d%etrlat without a 

rote OS the texpayercr, which was not bad. B. 83. art. Z98SI. 

Th6 trustees of the grouped diatrlet were lnve8teb with 

the power and oharged with the duty of oonduating sohools 

and of ahinlsterlng all sohool property and fund& oi all 

the'distrfats within the boundaries of the oosmolldated distaut% But they did not have the right to divert pkoperty 

or funds of one dlstriot to &other, or to the grouped 

xW3trict. . .I 

IwCounty Board of 6obool Trustees of Limesto& County 

v. Ullaon, (T.C.A. 192S) 5 6. P. (Zd) 805, it was stated: 

(I Such authority, however, Is merely to group 

suoh &riots for the purpose of roraing a'rvlrsl high 

sohool dlstriot . . . Said artioles also provide for the 

oonttil and management or the aohoola in suah dlstilots 

end define the relatiotis between the high sohool anq::the 

elementary schools to be maJntained therein . . . vii two 

or more distrlots,are consolidated under the artlo~&3 

above re$errqd to, (arts. ZSO!?to 2815) eaohdlstrfot lose&i 

its separate ldentitg, unletis It be fpr oertaiti~Slmited 

purposes in connection with taxation, and they Fðer 

thereafter eonstltute a single district as though they 

had never had separate existenae. In saoh oases elementary 

eohools may be located by the board or trustees of the 

consolidated district as need therefor may appear. 

h. S. art. 2811. On the oontrary, when two or more oommon 

sohool districts are grouped to form a high sshool~district, 

aa above shown, each of such dlstriate retains its identity, 

and separate elementary sohools must be Mint&tied therein. 

R. 5. art. 2922r. . .* 
Hon. A. Ii. Aikin, l:,ay 2, 1939, ?are 4 

As vie lntarpret Ciia;dter 19-A sni tt:f. Scrc~cinF case*, a' 

rural Ii! [:h r;CLOOi dir-trict is essentially a zwtzol SizLrict super- 

*pored u?on sovercl col;tIcuou? districts for t!;e :xrpose cf xa:ntainlng a iJ!;-h school for their coxr~on benefit. The underlying 

districts xaintaln tt:ir separate iiientitics and separate elezectary 

schools zust be maintaIned therejn. 'ihe high school dirtrlct doea 

not accurately include the several elercentary districts as such but 

there is a horizontei severance c?f the upper grades Prorc the original 

distriCtS, so to speak, to fom the rurel hfeh school dictrfct. 

'6e are of the opinion that elementary pupils. oi underlying 

elerentaly school distrioto are not entitled to.@Z.OO per month 

.per pupil for transportation aid as pupils of a rural high sohool 

dlstriot for traneportatlon to or between their respeotive elementary districts but would be entitled to $1.00 per pupil per month 

under the first sentenoe or the second paragraph of Seotion ll, 

b&6 1957, Chapter 474, page 1259. High eohool pupils of the rural 

~.s~hool dlstrlot having 100 bquare lriles or more would be 

entitled to.#2.00 per pupil per month as transportation al&. The 

above oonoluslono are aubjeot ot oourse to the oondition .that the 

dlmtrlate am otherwire oomplylng with the provisions of the fiural 

Ai law. 

Your8 very truly 

ATTOFU4ZYGENI1JERALOFTEXAS 

BY 

APPROVED