April 3, 1939
Hon. A. H. Pribble OpinionNo. C-562 CountyAttorney Gq~lthwaite,Texas Re: Validityof teach&s contracts
IMle y-letter does.not&state * so+wo*, f-the uoxdlng of your question,.m shall assmaethat. su~er%temie had not apprme&the.Cont~?aets prior;to:,+ c.gzsoJ.%da?&~.,~,Artl&.~2&, BedliieaCi'iilStattik, .. pamnons,ohopl ~~*tawith~~aas~~~~:,. RevisedClvllStatutea,,provLdes $er the,appoMdw+t of a.board of.-- tees forthe comoll~~dist~ctbythe,.~rdofc~~sch~,t~ at'itsnextmeM%ng -._.~. af%erthe oonsolldationhas.~ndeclared..-.~~~ 28~,RevisedC~crilStat&es~ amongothertbings,prtides tbat%otjmg 3.ncolla~t~onwit?lthedlst~o~ errpel%dalde*..ti?.p~*of~rustmes shall emplqfteaobhs for t&e sewral.dsment+xy .scthola in the .&stti+- ., : .orforthe~~~~thehistrschool,~teachers sballbe ele-_ i ~foroneyearortmyean.~: the tzusteesde&b, +nd they shall .serm,. underthe dSadionands~~." PeM.to the 0Ontractcmade.titbteaohersbp.trasteesof.camon &ool , pr&ides.inpart as fol:. : 1oaSZ
Vrwteas .pfa districtshallWe 'oontracts tith teachers ., to teach thepublio sohool.s.of their district,but the oaape?a-. :. tionto a teaoher,underauzLttencontractsom+e, sI+lpe approvedbgtha'c~~iluperintendentbsfore the school is t&&t; statin&~t&ttbe teacher.* teaoh such school for the time and ._. money speoLpiedinthe oontract.. . .?
A&Sole 2693, RevisedCivil Statutes,providesin part ae follows: 3; !1939, Hon. A. W. Pribble,.ApriJ. page 2 (O-s@)
"The county superintendentshallapprove allvouchers legallydrawn againstthe'schoolfund of his county. He shallexamine all the contractsbetweenthe trusteesand teachersof his couuty,and if, in his judgsent,such con- tracts are proper,he shall approvethe sane; provided,that in consideringany contractbetweena teacherand trustees he shall be authorizedto considerthe amount of salarypron- ised to the teachsr.n.. .
In the cases of~Ratliffv. Buna IndependentSchoolDistri&h6.S.W. (2) b59,'andBoylssv. PotterCounty,177 S.W. 210, it was held that such's teaoher's'contract is not a valid contractrurtiland unless approved.bythe.. c?-* "p er3idmient .. _. of sohool8: Inthe case ofHillv.SmithvilleI&epend- en% Sohoo Distriot,239 SJf.~.987r.the.SadtkI.lle IndependentSchqol. District had t&xi 6reiteilby a Spei$@lAot I$ tJ.wLegLslatnre, and ~ Its Summaries p~-~fthe~~C~ekandUptoaCcollmdnSc~ Didxicts. The %&e&Son was ytide.thatthe Aot ~~d-the.obligation.of.oontraots in that t.ke'Alus.Creekand Upton~CaarmoaSohool Dietriotshad *de contra+s with tAohers $riorko the-passa&:of~said~Aot, which tbey,wouldbepnable.to fulfill ii~thijSmitb~Dist~d-,vae pslrmittedtotake awyportionsof~theirterri- Tmy and-scholastics-.m .providedin said Act. .We,qu~e,fxa~~.t.be..oourt~s ...'-.. opinion aefol&owB~~
" sA'd'siZfioient reply to this istbatno such contracts : had-beennade prior..tothecreationofthe Smithvilledis- mi. .: &:.I$.:*e:+jh,&+,JQj t-w.af ~~e:.&trj&ts :w ..j
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. "After c'onsolidationwith the independentsohooldistrictsthe.owauon sohooldistrictuhicb yotin&tioned ceasedto exist~for'all'pwposes witli'vhich iiearehere concerned. The Board of Trusteesthereafterhad no poser to enploy teaoheh forthe consolidateddistrict. Such paver-noWresideswith of Triisteesof'theConsolidatedDistrict.' The contractnot having been.ap- proved prior tothe cbamolidationnow has no legal Cannotnow be given to it by approvalby the county superintendent.-We,are, therefore,oaapelledto answeryour questionin the negative. -. -- Yoursverytruly .. /s/ 'ATTORREYGEbEFlAL aF TRYAS. ATTORNEYGD?ESALOFTEUS' ~~ ._ :By /s/ Glenn R.;Lewi.s ' GlenuR. Ieuis&ssistant 1 ,..~_.
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