Opinion ID: 1868309
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: board of education liability.

Text: The very definition of local government in KRS 65.200(3), supra, excludes a board of education from the purview of CALGA. It is a general rule of statutory construction that the enumeration of particular items or categories excludes others not specifically mentioned. Commonwealth v. Harris, 59 S.W.3d at 900. A board of education is not a local government but an agency of state government. Yanero, supra note 1, at 527. As such, it enjoys governmental immunity, i.e., it can be sued for damages for the tortious performance of a proprietary function but not a governmental function. Id. at 526-27. The conduct of interscholastic athletics is a governmental function of a board of education. Id. at 527. So, too, can be the operation of a public park. KRS 97.010(2); Ky. Lake Vacation Land, Inc. v. State Prop. and Bldgs. Comm'n., Ky., 333 S.W.2d 779, 784 (1960); Baker v. City of Lexington, Ky., 310 S.W.2d 555, 555-56 (1958); City of Louisville v. Pirtle, 297 Ky. 553, 180 S.W.2d 303, 304 (1944), overruled on other grounds by Haney, 386 S.W.2d at 742; Clark v. City of Louisville, 273 Ky. 645, 117 S.W.2d 614, 616 (1938). [3] Of course, unless the Meade County Board of Education had assumed any facet of the maintenance or operation of Meade Olin Park, the fiscal court is the entity statutorily responsible for its maintenance. KRS 67.080(2)(b). The fact that an admission fee was charged or that refreshments and event programs were sold at the softball tournament did not convert this event from a governmental function into a proprietary one. Boyer v. Iowa High Sch. Athletic Ass'n, 256 Iowa 337, 127 N.W.2d 606, 608-09 (Iowa 1964); Richards v. Sch. Dist. of City of Birmingham, 348 Mich. 490, 83 N.W.2d 643, 653 (1957), overruled on other grounds by Williams v. City of Detroit, 364 Mich. 231, 111 N.W.2d 1, 9 (1961); Mokovich v. Indep. Sch. Dist. of Virginia, No. 22, 177 Minn. 446, 225 N.W. 292, 294 (1929), overruled on other grounds by Spanel v. Mounds View Sch. Dist. No. 621, 264 Minn. 279, 118 N.W.2d 795, 803 (1962); Rhoades v. Sch. Dist. No. 9, Roosevelt County, 115 Mont. 352, 142 P.2d 890, 892 (1943); Thompson v. Bd. of Educ., City of Millville, 12 N.J.Super. 92, 79 A.2d 100, 103 (Cumberland County Ct.1951); Reed v. Rhea County, 189 Tenn. 247, 225 S.W.2d 49, 51 (1949) (The mere fact that an admission fee was charged by the High School does not make the transaction an enterprise for profit.). The test for whether a government agency is performing a governmental function or a proprietary function is whether the agency is carrying out a function integral to state government, Kentucky Center for the Arts Corp. v. Berns, Ky., 801 S.W.2d 327, 332 (1990), or whether it is engaged in a business of a sort theretofore engaged in by private persons or corporations for profit. Yanero, supra note 1, at 520 (quotation omitted). Applying this test, the sponsorship and conduct of an interscholastic athletic tournament by a board of education is a governmental function. The receipt of income from admission fees and sales of refreshments and event programs to defray expenses or even to provide additional financial support for other school activities did not convert this interscholastic athletic event into a proprietary function. Richards, 83 N.W.2d at 653; Mokovich, 225 N.W. at 294. The complaints against the Meade County Board of Education were properly dismissed.