Dover Town School Dist. v. Simon, No. 93-406
| Docket Nº | No. 93-406 |
| Citation | 650 A.2d 514, 162 Vt. 630 |
| Case Date | October 05, 1994 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Vermont |
Page 514
v.
Robert & Yvonne SIMON.
Page 515
Before ALLEN, C.J., and GIBSON, DOOLEY, MORSE and JOHNSON, JJ.
Defendants appeal a Windham Superior Court judgment ordering them to pay $5,800 plus interest and costs to plaintiff for nonresident tuition. We affirm.
At all relevant times defendants were residents of Wilmington, Vermont. Defendants own property and pay taxes in the towns of Wilmington and Dover, Vermont. Wilmington and Dover are separate independent school districts. In 1987, defendants represented to Frank Vara, principal of the Dover Elementary School, that they intended to make Dover their home and therefore would be enrolling their children in the Dover Elementary School. Vara informed defendants that they would not be required to pay tuition if they did in fact become Dover residents. In September 1987, defendants enrolled their two children in Dover Elementary School, but defendants never became residents of Dover.
When efforts to collect tuition from defendants failed, plaintiff brought suit in Windham Superior Court. Defendants argued that school districts have no statutory authority to demand payment of nonresident pupil tuition directly from parents. After hearing the matter on the merits, the trial court found defendants liable for nonresident tuition and ordered them to pay the school district. In reaching its conclusion, the trial court relied on 16 V.S.A. § 1093, which provides:
The board may receive into the schools under its charge nonresident pupils under such terms and restrictions as it deems best and money received for the instruction of such pupils shall be paid into the school fund of the district.
On appeal, defendants contend that the trial court's ruling allowing school districts to impose personal liability on parents of nonresident students is erroneous as a matter of law, and that school districts receiving voluntary nonresident pupils are required to collect tuition from the pupils' home school districts. See 16 V.S.A. § 823 ("[t]uition for elementary pupils shall be paid by the district in which the pupil is a resident").
Defendants have taken § 823 completely out of context. Section 823 relates only to students who attend schools in other districts because their home district has no school. It is part of Title 16, chapter 21, which requires school districts to...
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Elkins v. Microsoft Corp., No. 01-431.
...the plain meaning of the statutory language, because we presume that it reflects the Legislature's intent. Dover Town Sch. Dist. v. Simon, 162 Vt. 630, 631, 650 A.2d 514, 516 (1994) The central provision of the VCFA is 9 V.S.A. § 2453(a), which provides: (a) Unfair methods of competition in......
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Braun v. Board of Dental Examiners, No. 96-105
...we rely on the plain meaning of the words because we presume they reflect the Legislature's intent. Dover Town Sch. Dist. v. Simon, 162 Vt. 630, 631, 650 A.2d 514, 516 (1994) (mem.). The statute that regulates dentists and dental assistants provides that certain tasks may not be assigned to......
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Town of Calais v. COUNTY ROAD COM'RS, No. 00-194.
...that a statute is permissive, not mandatory. See In re D.L., 164 Vt. 223, 234, 669 A.2d 1172, 1180 (1995); Dover Town Sch. Dist. v. Simon, 162 Vt. 630, 631, 650 A.2d 514, 516 (1994) (mem.). This conclusion is reinforced when the same statute elsewhere employs the mandatory "shall,"......
-
Elkins v. Microsoft Corp., No. 01-431.
...the plain meaning of the statutory language, because we presume that it reflects the Legislature's intent. Dover Town Sch. Dist. v. Simon, 162 Vt. 630, 631, 650 A.2d 514, 516 (1994) The central provision of the VCFA is 9 V.S.A. § 2453(a), which provides: (a) Unfair methods of competition in......
-
Braun v. Board of Dental Examiners, No. 96-105
...we rely on the plain meaning of the words because we presume they reflect the Legislature's intent. Dover Town Sch. Dist. v. Simon, 162 Vt. 630, 631, 650 A.2d 514, 516 (1994) (mem.). The statute that regulates dentists and dental assistants provides that certain tasks may not be assigned to......
-
Town of Calais v. COUNTY ROAD COM'RS, No. 00-194.
...that a statute is permissive, not mandatory. See In re D.L., 164 Vt. 223, 234, 669 A.2d 1172, 1180 (1995); Dover Town Sch. Dist. v. Simon, 162 Vt. 630, 631, 650 A.2d 514, 516 (1994) (mem.). This conclusion is reinforced when the same statute elsewhere employs the mandatory "shall,"......