E OF ?i?lEXAS
i?mJsTnla- 1% Texan
October 18, 1962

Hon. J. W. Edgar Commissioner of Education Texas EducationAgency Austin, Texas OpinionNo. WW-1452
Re: Whether a board of trustees of a school districtwhich teaches only elementary grades, retain any rights to control or protest and the county schoolboard has the authority to cancel applications for transfer of resident pupils who have attainedhigh school Dear Mr. Edgar: status.

Enclosed in your letter of September 20, 1962, is a copy of a rulingby your office, rendered on July 11, 1962,which holds that a resident school district that does not teach high school grades, is legally ineligible to invokeby protest or otherwise the jurisdictionof the county schoolboard to annul or cancel parental applications for transfer of residenthigh school scholastics to a school district teachinghigh school grades.

Article 2696,Vernon's Civil Statutes, reads in part: "Any child lawfully enrolled in any district or independentdistrictmay by order of the county superintendent,approved In writing, be transferred to the enrollmentof any other district or lndependent district in the same county upon a written application of the parent or guardian or person having lawful control of such child, filed with the county superintendent,not later than June 1; provided that any district or independentdistrictbeing dissatisfied with any transfersmade by approval in writing of the county superintendentmay appeal from such action to the countyboard of trustees of said countywho shallhave the right to annul and cancel the transferallowed by the county superintendent. "Theapplicant shall state In said application that It Is his bona fide intention to send said child to the school to which the transfer is asked.Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 2 (WW-1452)

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. . . Article 2697,Vernon's Civil Statutes, reads: "Any child specified in the preceding article, and its portion of the school fund,may be transferred to an adjoining district in another county, in the manner provided in said article. It must be shown to the county superintendentthat the school in the district in which such child resides on account of distance or some uncontrollableand dangerous obstacle, is inaccessible to such child." Under Article 2696, supra, it is mandatory that the county superintendentapprove an application for transferwhen said application is roperly and duly filed. Attorney General's Opinion O-1073 (19397and O-1129 (1939). In addition the Article sets forth a procedurewhereby approval of the transferby the county superintendentmay be appealed to the county board of trustees. The jurisdictionof the county board may be inroked by any school district or independent school district dissatisfied with such transfer and upon obtaining jurisdictionof the matter the board shallhave the right to cancel or annul the transfer.

The provisions for appeal contained in Article 2696, supra,have been held to apply to Article 2697, supra,Attorney General's Opinion 0-6548 (1945).

In Attorney General's Letter Opinions,Volume 382, p. 941 (1938)we find the following language:

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. . .pupilswhose grades are not taught at home are entitled to transfer to districtswhere their grades are taught,and such pupilswill be under the supervisionand control of the school district to which the pupils transfer.

.pupilswhose grades are not taught in their home districtmay transfer to any high school of higher classification,under the language of this statute. It is our opinion that the localboard of trusteeshas no authority to prescribe the district to which such pupils must transfer, this matter being within the discretion of the tranaferee.” . We are of the opinion that under the holding in Attorney General's Letter Opinions, Volume 382, p. 941 (1938), a schoolHon. J.W. Edgar, page 3 (WW-1452)

district which does not teach the high school grades, is not an interested or proper schooldistrict and has no standing to invoke the jurisdictionof the countyboard of trustees as provided in Articles 2696 and 2697, sup-a.

This is not to say that the countyboard of trustees may never exercise its discretionarypower to cancel or annul tranfers,but simplymeans that before the power can be employed, protest must be lodgedby a proper schooldistrict. In absence of jurisdictionbeing properly invoked, the cancellationby the countyboard of an application for transfer is a nullity.

Therefore, July 11, 1962. we are in full accord with your ruling of

SUMMARY
A school districtwhich does not teach the high schoolgrades has no standing to invoke jurisdiction of the countyboard of trusteesunder the provisions of Articles 2696 and 2697, Vernon's Civil Statutes, to cancel or annul the transfer of one of its resldent. scholasticsto a schooldistrict which provides high school grades and in absence of proper jurlsdiction the cancellationof such transferby the county board is a nullity. Sincerely,
WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas

0LB:mkh APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Howard W. Mays, Chairman Paul Phy L. P. Lollar Sam Stone Tom Peterson REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: Leonard Passmore