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## EA'ITORNEY GENERAL
OF’ %-EXAS
AUSTIN ~~.‘lkxas WILL WILSON A-ORNEY GBNE-I. July 22, 1960

Honorable J. W. Edgar OpinionNO.

## W-892 Commissionerof Education Austin, Texas Re: May a junior college district legally expend localmaintenance funds when available for establishmentand operation of a television station facility (tobe locatedwithin or without the dlstrlct) as a cooperative educational projectwith other public Dear Dr. Edgar: educationalentities.
We are in receipt of your letter requestingour opinion on certain questions concerning the legality of an educational television station.
Your questions read as follows: I'May a junior college district legally expend localmaintenanc,efundswhen available: "1
. For establishmentand operation of a television station facility (tobe located within or without the district) as a cooperative educationalprojectwith other public educational entities? "2
. For the costs of providing or servicing the districtwith educational television broadcasts from a television channel or station?

“3. And/or for the costs of procurement from and televisingby a certain television station of educationalprograms or services designatedby the District for augmentation of Its educationalprogram?".. -

Honorable J. W. Edgar, Page 2 (W-892)

The authorized expendituresfor which localmaintenance fundsmay be used are set out in Article 2827, Vernon's Civil Statutes,which reads in part as follows:

"Thepublic free school funds shall not be expended except for the following purposes:

"2. Local school funds from district taxes, tuition fees of pupils not entitled to free tuition and other local sourcesmay be used for the purposes enumerated for State and county funds and for purchasing appliances and supplies, for the payment of insurancepremiums, janitors and other employees, for buying school sites,buying, building and repairing and renting school houses, and for other purposesnecessary in the conduct of the public schools to be determinedby the board of trustees
. . ." Article 2827 quoted above is applicable to Junior College Districtsby virtue of Article 2815h, Section 5, Vernon's Civil Statutes,which reads as follows:

"TheBoard of Trustees of Junior College Districts shallbe governed in the establishment,management and control of the Junior Collegeby the General Law governing the establishment,management and control of Independent School Districts insofar as the General Law is applicable." Section 20 of Article 2815h,Vernon!s Civil Statutes, reads in part as follows: Said Board of Trustees shall

. . . &l is such they shall constitute a body corporateby the name of the Junior College District , State of Texas, and in that name may acquire and hold real and personalproperty, sue and be sued,and may receivebequests and donations, or other moneys or funds coming legally into their hands, andmay perform other acts for the promotion of education in said district."- -

Honorabie J. W. Edgar, Page 3 (w-892)

It is our opinion tion quoted above does poses for which junior but rather it pertains that the language of this Secnot expand or enlarge the purcollege fundsmay be expended only to the authority of the trustees to performacts as a corporatebody in the name of the junior college, the authorization for the particular acts being elsewhere in the statutes. We believe that the answer to your first question is controlledby AttorneyGneral's Opinion O-4573 (1942),a copy of which is attached hereto, and the authorities cited therein,which hold that a junior collegedistrictmay legally expend localmaintenance funds for erection of a schoolbuilding provided that the funds used are surplus funds and that a deficiency debt is not thereby created against the district. This raises the question of whether or not a television station facility Is a schoolbuilding.
In Adams v. Miles, 300 S.W. 211 (1927),the Court of Civil Appeals in an opinion affirmedby the Commission of Appeals in 41 S.W. 2d 21 said the following:

"Weare of the opinion tha~t under the powers granted common school district trusteesby the statutesabove referred to Sec. .A 1, Art. VII, Tex. Coast.,Arts. 274 9 2749, 2827, R.C.S.j, those trustees have the authority,tobe reasonably exercised within their discretio:n, to appropriate the surplus funds in their hands to the constructi:X! of a 'schoolhouse', such as that proposedhere, to be used by them In providing "livingquarters for the teachers of sala school,and fo? such otherpurposes as to the trustees of said districtmay seem prop:r or necessary In conducting said school',
In Mosely v. City of Dallas, 17 S.W. 2d 36 (Corn. App,), the Court recogn:zedthat the board of trustees may exercise considerablediscretion as to the purposes for which the public free school fundsmay be expended due to the language of Article 2827. The case of Youn Linwood School District No. 17, 97 saw. 2d 627, iiiYo* _: the que&ion of whether or not a gymnasium buildingwith rooms for home economics andHonorable J. W. Edgar, Page 4 (W-892)

vocational agriculture was a school building under a statute authorizing the issuance bonds for building and equipping school buildings. The Supreme Court of Arkansas held that It was a school building and the following language Is from their opinion:

we think the words ‘school bulldlngs’, ‘ai ised therein, meanany such school dlatrict bulldlng as maybe needful, necessary, or proper for the conduct of a school in said district. ” Article 2815r-1 specifically authorizes the several governing boards of the Junior Colleges to enter into contracts with munlclpalltles and school districts for the joint construction of buildings and other structures, In vlew of the foregoing authorltlea It ia our opinion that a junior aollege dietriot maylegally expend local maintenanoe funds when avallable for eetabllshment and operation of a tslevlaion station faallity as a oooperative educational project with other public eduoational entltise where the trusteee determine suoh a projeot to bo neoeaaary in the oonduot of the sohool.- -

Honorable J. W. Edgar, Page 5 (w-892)

**I!**

**. .**  **. and**  the Legislaturemay au.thorlse an additional ad valorem tax to be levied and collectedwithin all schooldistrictsheretofore formed or hereafter formed, for the further maintenance of public free schools,and for the erection and e ulpment of schoolbuildings therein;

. . .' 4Emphasis added)
From the authorities cited above we conclude that the question of whether or not a junior college district may expend localmaintenance fundswhen available for either the cost of providing or servicing the district with educational television or for the costs of educational programs or services for the augmentation of its educationalprogram is a questlon that restswithin the sound discretion of the trustees of said district. Questions 2 and 3 are, therefore, answered in the affirmative, provided that the trustees in the exercise of their discretiondetermine that such activities are necessary in the conduct of the school.

SUMMARY
A **junior** college districtmay legally expend localmaintenance funds when available for establishmentand operaticn of a television station facility (locatedwithin the district) as a cooperative educationalprojectwith other public educationalentitles,provided the trustees of the district in the exercise of their discretiondetermine such a project to be necessary In the conduct of the school, and provided further that only surplus funds are used and a deficiencydebt is not thereby created against the district. Such fundsmay also be legally expended for the costs of providing the districtwith educational televisionbroadcasts or for the procurement and televising of programs to augmentHonorable J. W. Edgar, Page 6 (w-892)

the district'sprogram where the trustees in the exercise of their discretiondetermine these activities to be necessary in the conduct of the school.

Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON AttorneyGeneral of Texas

By k%J&ftLdJ Robert A. Rowland Assistant

RAR:mm

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman Martin DeStefano Riley Eugene Fletcher Howard Mays John C. Phillips
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEYGENERAL
BY: Leonard Passmore