Dresden School Dist. v. Norwich Town School Dist., 1236

• Decision Date: 14 September 1964
• Docket Number: No. 1236,1236
• Citation: 203 A.2d 598,124 Vt. 227
• Parties: DRESDEN SCHOOL DISTRICT v. NORWICH TOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT et al.
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Page 598

203 A.2d 598

124 Vt. 227

DRESDEN SCHOOL DISTRICT v. NORWICH TOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT et al.

No. 1236.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

Sept. 14, 1964.

Black & Plante, White River Junction, for Dresden School District.

John W. Brockway, White River Junction, for Norwich School District.

C. E. Gibson, Jr., Atty. Gen., for the State.

Before HOLDEN, C. J., and SHANGRAW, BARNEY, SMITH and SYLVESTER, JJ.

BARNEY, Justice.

Counterpart legislation in Vermont and New Hampshire have authorized the creation of the plaintiff, an interstate school district. No. 240 of the Acts of 1963, as amended (Vermont); N.H.Laws 1961, ch. 116. The adjoining towns of Norwich, Vermont, and Hanover, New Hampshire, have entered into an implementing agreement as authorized by these statutes, and the citizens of these towns have confirmed the arrangement by vote. The approval of the United States Congress was sought and received for the joint plan as an interstate compact. Public Law 88-177, 88th Cong., 77 Stat. 332 (1963).

An increase in school population provided the impetus. Norwich, Vermont, and Hanover, New Hampshire, are separated only by the state boundary, the Connecticut River. Many citizens of Norwich are associated with Dartmouth College in Hanover, or with occupations there stimulated by its presence. Until now, Hanover has provided secondary education to Norwich students on a tuition basis, paid through the Norwich town school district, since in maintains no local high school. The total enrollment in Hanover high school has grown to a point where new construction is necessary if Norwich students are to continue to be accepted. About one-quarter of all the students come from Norwich. Without them, Hanover might be able to defer construction. With help from Norwich, an enlarged and improved joint high school is possible.

Direct participation by Norwich in construction financing is obstructed by the presence of the state line. Similarly, Hanover is prevented from giving Norwich citizens any voice in the operation of the school. As a result, resort was had to interstate agreement to overcome the barrier of the political boundary. The new interstate school district revived the name of 'Dresden', which belonged to Hanover at a time when it once undertook to join Vermont. See Holden, Dresden Revisited, 6 N.H.B.J. 297 (1964).

The electorate of Dresden consists of all eligible voters of Norwich and Hanover. Although authority has been given to Dresden to conduct both elementary and secondary schools on behalf of the two communities, at present it proposes to confine itself to secondary school operations. To do this, it proposes to acquire in its own name the present Hanover high school property and enlarge the plant through new construction.

Under the statutory compact arrangement, expenditures properly approved by Dresden voters become a binding charge against the regular school districts of Norwich and Hanover. The amount each is to raise and turn over to Dresden is determined by a formula incorporated in the compact agreement, based on the number of pupils attending from each town. The Norwich and Hanover school districts will continue to function for the purpose of raising tax money for Dresden and providing necessary school bus service, as well as furnishing primary education facilities for each town for the present.

Approval has been given to the total arrangement for creating and administering Dresden school district by many agencies. On the local level, it has come from both school boards. On the state level, the respective Attorneys General, Secretaries of State and Commissioners of Education have concurred. On the federal level, the Departments of Justice and of Health, Education and Welfare, as well as the United States Congress and the President, have endorsed the compact. See Senate Judiciary Report, No. 616, 88th Cong. 1st Sess. (October 29, 1963).

The people of the two towns, voting in a Dresden meeting, approved an appropriation for high school purposes. As contemplated by the statutory compact, Dresden requested both Hanover and Norwich the provide their proportionate share under the formula. First Hanover, in attempting to market its own bonds for this purpose, found counsel for the bond marketing agency unwilling to give an approving opinion as to their validity. This obstacle was overcome through a declaratory judgment proceeding in which Chief Justice Kenison, speaking for the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, assured bonding counsel that there was a legal and binding obligation on Hanover to issue the bonds at the behest of Dresden, itself a valid body politic. Dresden School District v. Hanover School District, 105 N.H. 286, 198 A.2d 656, 659.

Next, when Norwich attempted to issue its bonds based on the demand of Dresden, it was confronted with the same difficulty. As a result, these declaratory judgment proceedings were made necessary to deal again with substantially the same issues. The controversy is fundamentally concerned with the enforceability of bonds issued by Norwich to finance its obligations to Dresden, and the questions raised will be examined in that context. These questions have been sent to this Court from the tribunal below by certification, thereby confining our consideration to the issues raised by these inquiries. 12 V.S.A. § 2386; Supreme Court Rule 2A; Winter v. Unaitis, 123 Vt. 372, 375, 189 A.2d 547.

The first question certified is: 'Does No. 240 of the Public Acts of 1963 involve an unconstitutional delegation of the sovereighty of the State of Vermont?'

The propriety of giving to local municipalities the power to deal with local matters is well settled. Village of Waterbury v. Melendy, 109 Vt. 441, 448, 199 A. 236. Traditionally, this has included delegation to...