AS SET FORTH, TO BECOME AN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT BY RESOLUTION OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE'S GOVERNING BOARD. SIMILAR PROVISIONS WERE SET FORTH RELATIVE TO ENTITIES WHICH ARE TWO-YEAR COLLEGES AND PART OF THE STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 70 O.S. 4411.
IN THIS SAME VEIN, IN 1974, ALL COMMUNITY COLLEGES THEN MEETING THE STANDARDS AND CRITERIA OF THE STATE REGENTS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND RECEIVING STATE SUPPORT WERE MANDATED TO BE INCLUDED IN THE STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 70 O.S. 4423(B). ROSE STATE COLLEGE, THEN KNOWN AS OSCAR ROSE JUNIOR COLLEGE, WAS SPECIFICALLY NAMED AS SUCH AN AFFECTED INSTITUTION. 70 O.S. 4423(A). UNDER THE EXPLICIT TERMS OF SECTION 4423, SUCH INSTITUTIONS MAINTAIN THEIR DUAL ROLE IN GOVERNING THE JUNIOR COLLEGE AND ITS COORDINATE AREA VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL DISTRICT. SUBSECTION (C) STATES, IN PERTINENT PART: "WITH RESPECT TO ROSE STATE COLLEGE AND OKLAHOMA CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, IT IS FURTHER PROVIDED THAT THE COLLEGE AND ITS GOVERNING BOARD OF REGENTS SHALL CONTINUE TO OPERATE THE TECHNICAL AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT PROGRAM TO CARRY OUT THE FUNCTION FOR POSTSECONDARY TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE TECHNICAL DISTRICT AS NOW OPERATED, AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 4410 OF TITLE 70, OF THE OKLAHOMA STATUTES."
ROSE STATE COLLEGE, AND ITS COORDINATE AREA VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL DISTRICT, ARE STATUTORILY GOVERNED BY A BOARD APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR AND CONFIRMED BY THE SENATE. 70 O.S. 4423(C). FOUR OF THE SEVEN MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF ROSE STATE COLLEGE MUST BE RESIDENTS OF THE ORIGINAL DISTRICT OF THE JUNIOR COLLEGE. ID. DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE SAME PERSONS GOVERN BOTH THE COLLEGE OPERATIONS AND THE AREA VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL DISTRICT OPERATIONS, SUCH SUPERINTENDENCE BY THE SAME GROUP OF PERSONS IS PERMISSIBLE, DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST, AND DOES NOT RESULT IN A MERGER OF THE IDENTITIES OF THE TWO ENTITIES BEING GOVERNED. SHERRILL V. BD. OF TRUSTEES OF SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY JUNIOR COLLEGE, 515 P.2D 1388, AT 1390 (OKLA. 1973). TO QUOTE THE COURT:
"THE COMMUNITY JUNIOR COLLEGE IS NEITHER DISSOLVED NOR MERGED INTO THE "AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT". A COMMUNITY JUNIOR COLLEGE ESTABLISHED AND MAINTAINED IN A SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT HAS BECOME AN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT "IS A SEPARATE AND DISTINCT ENTITY FROM THE" AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT".
ID, AT P. 1390.
THAT IS NOT TO SAY THAT THE AD VALOREM MILLAGE FUNDS MAY BE USED TO SUPPORT THE OPERATIONS OF THE COLLEGE. ARTICLE X, SECTION 9A AND ARTICLE XXI, SECTION 1 TO OUR STATE CONSTITUTION CLEARLY WOULD FORBID SUCH A SCENARIO. HOWEVER, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT MANY ACTIONS TAKEN BY SUCH DUAL/ROLE BOARDS THAT MIGHT APPEAR AT FIRST BLUSH TO BE IMPROPER ACTIONS MAY, IN FACT AND AT LAW, BE COMPLETELY PERMISSIBLE. TITLE 70 O.S. 3912 (1988), ORIGINALLY A PART OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION FINANCIAL CONTROL ACT OF 1987, STATES THAT NEITHER THE AD VALOREM FUNDS RECEIVED BY A LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT WHICH OPERATES AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION, NOR SUCH FUNDS RECEIVED BY A TECHNICAL AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY BE MINGLED WITH THE FUNDS OF ANY