Clark v. Cline
| Decision Date | 05 August 1905 |
| Citation | 51 S.E. 617,123 Ga. 856 |
| Parties | CLARK et al. v. CLINE et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
Where a county contains a town or city having a school system sustained by local taxation for a period of five months or more, to which direct apportionments are authorized to be made, the part of the entire county fund to be so paid is determined by the proportion which the school population of the town or city bears to the school population of the county as shown by the last school census. The statute declares that the division is to be made according to school population not according to the number actually attending the schools.
The school population includes all children between the ages of 6 and 18 years.
Children of school age resident in the county attending the public schools of such town or city are to be counted in the school population of such town or city, and are entitled to have their share of such county fund paid over to the proper officer of the municipal school board.
The local system of the city of West Point (created by the act of 1877 [Laws 1877, p. 192]) falls within this rule.
The question raised as to the constitutionality of the act of 1904 (Laws 1904, p. 332), providing for the payment of the whole school fund of the county to the county commissioner of Troup county, and a payment by him to the local school system of West Point of its share, was not decided by the presiding judge, and will not be determined by this court.
If the county school fund of Troup county, in which West Point is located, has been customarily paid to the county school commissioner, and a division made, and the share of the city system of schools paid by him to it, and if the amount so paid is larger than the city system is entitled to under the law, and the county board of education and county school commissioner intend to continue such payment, citizens and taxpayers of the county outside of the city, who are also patrons of a school outside the city, have such an interest as will authorize them to proceed by application for injunction to prevent such payments.
The county board of education constitutes a tribunal for hearing and determining any matters of local controversy in reference to the construction or administration of the school law. But this does not oust a court of equity of its power to enjoin the board of education and school commissioner from making unlawful payments of part of the county school fund to a municipal school system operating independently of the county system.
Error from Superior Court, Troup County; R. W. Freeman, Judge.
Action by C. E. Cline and others against E. B. Clark and others. Judgment for plaintiffs, and defendants bring error. Affirmed.
Longley & Longley and Hatton & Lovejoy, for plaintiffs in error.
H. A Hall and D. J. Gaffney, for defendants in error.
LUMPKIN J. (after stating the facts).
1-5. On February 7, 1877 (Acts 1877, p. 192), an act of the Legislature was passed, the caption of which was, "An act to authorize the city of West Point in Troup county, to organize a public school system independent of the public school system of the state of Georgia, and for other purposes." The first section provides: "That the city of West Point, in the county of Troup, be, and is hereby, authorized to organize a public school system independent of the public school system of this state; that said organization shall draw its pro rata share of all educational funds raised by this state, and that the chief executive officer of such organization shall make the same regular reports to the state school commissioner as are required from the county school commissioner of the public school system of this state." Under this act an independent public school system was created for the city of West Point. Its chief executive officer was required to make reports to the state school commissioner similar to those required from county school commissioners; and this independent organization was to draw its pro rata share of all educational funds raised by the state. The act itself did not declare how the pro rata share was to be ascertained, but that was left for determination according to the general law. The Legislature had power to declare how the pro rata share of independent school systems should be determined, and on what basis calculated, and the West Point system under this act was entitled to its pro rata share calculated on the basis which the Legislature might fix at any time. In 1887 an act was passed revising, amending, and consolidating the school laws of the state. Acts 1887, p. 68. In 1894 an act was passed to systematize the finances and increase the efficiency of the common schools. Acts 1894, p. 60. The laws relating to the public school system will be found codified in the Political Code of 1895, § § 1338 to 1408. Several amendments to the school laws have been made since that Code but none of them are material to this controversy, and none are relied on by counsel, except a local act passed in 1904, which will be referred to hereafter. Section 1406 of the Political Code of 1895, which was codified from the act of 1894, reads as follows: "In those counties having local laws, where schools are sustained by local taxation for a period of five months or more, the state school commissioner shall, on the first day of January, April, July, and October of each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, notify the Governor of the amount of funds standing to the credit of each of such counties on the books of the treasurer on said dates, arising from the quarterly apportionments aforesaid, and thereupon the Governor shall issue his warrant for said sums, and the treasurer shall draw his checks for said sums without requiring the itemized statements as provided; and the state school commissioner shall immediately transmit said checks to the officer under the local system authorized to receive its funds, and the state school commissioner shall, in like manner, pay over to the proper officer under the school board of any town or city having a school system sustained by local taxation for a period of five months or more, and to which he is now authorized by law to make direct apportionments, such proportion of the entire county fund as shown on the books of the treasurer as the school population of the town or city bears to the population of the county, as shown by the last school census: provided, that all children of school age resident in said county, and attending the public schools of such town or city, shall be counted in the school population of such town or city and be entitled to have their share of such county fund paid over to the proper officer of the school board of such town or city." This distinctly declares that the state school commissioner shall pay over to the proper officer under the school board, in a town or city having a separate school system, "such proportion of the entire county fund as shown on the books of the treasurer as the school population of the town or city bears to the population of the county" (omitting the proviso as to children resident in the county and attending the public schools in the town or city). This language is plain and clear. It declares how the proportion or pro rata part of the entire county fund which shall be paid to the proper officer of the local school board is to be determined. The rule laid down for making the calculation is this: As the school population of the town or city is to the school population of the county, so is the proportion or share of the county fund which shall be paid to the officer of the local board to the entire county fund. Thus, if the entire school population of the county were 5,000, and the school population of the town or city were 1,000, the local system would be entitled to one-fifth of the entire county fund. In estimating the school population of the town or city, the proviso at the end of this section declares that all children of school age resident in the county, and attending the public schools of such town or city, shall be counted in the school population of such town or city, and be entitled to have their share of the school fund paid over to the proper officer of such town or city. In the illustration given the 1,000 therefore is to be considered as including the school population as thus calculated in accordance with the terms of the act.
It is contended that the act of 1894 and the section of the Code derived from it do not apply to the school system of West Point, because the act authorizes the state school commissioner to pay over to the proper officer "under the school board of any town or city having a school system sustained by local taxation for a period of five months or more, and to which he is now authorized by law to make direct apportionments." It is not denied that West Point is a city having a school system sustained by taxation for a period of five months or more; but it is contended that the act by its terms is applicable only where the state school commissioner "is now authorized by law to make direct apportionments," and that the West Point school system does not fall within this description. As has already been noted, under the act of 1877 the city of West Point was authorized to organize an independent public school system having a chief executive officer, who was required to make reports to the state school commissioner similar to those required by county school commissioners, and "said organization shall draw its pro rata share of all educational funds raised by this state." In the second section of the act, after providing for the election of a board of commissioners for the school system, it is expressly declared that "said board shall receive all...
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