Rural Independent School Dist. No. 10 v. New Independent School Dist. of Kelley

• Decision Date: 10 April 1903
• Citation: 94 N.W. 284,120 Iowa 119
• Parties: RURAL INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER TEN, PALESTINE TOWNSHIP, STORY COUNTY, IOWA, Appellant, v. NEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT OF KELLEY et al
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

94 N.W. 284

120 Iowa 119

RURAL INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER TEN, PALESTINE TOWNSHIP, STORY COUNTY, IOWA, Appellant, v. NEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT OF KELLEY et al

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

April 10, 1903

Appeal from Story District Court.--HON. S. M. WEAVER, Judge.

SUIT for an injunction to restrain the defendant from exercising jurisdiction over any portion of the plaintiff district, as originally constituted, and to restrain the officers of the district and of the county from certifying, levying and collecting taxes for said defendant district within the limits of territory originally included in the plaintiff district. Decree for defendants. Plaintiff appeals.

Affirmed.

Thos H. Cheshire for appellant.

Ole O Roe for appellees.

OPINION

MCCLAIN, J.

Long prior to 1900 the township of Palestine, in Story county, was divided into independent school districts, of which the plaintiff is one, including within its territorial limits sections 5, 6, 7, and 8 in township 82 north, range 24 west. In the year 1900 the incorporated town of Kelley was formed in a lawful manner, including within its limits the south three-fourths of sections 31 and 32, and the west one-half of section 33, in township 83 of the same range, and the northwest quarter of section 4, and the north half of sections 5 and 6; all being in township 82. It will thus appear that the township line between Palestine township and the township north of it, to wit, Washington township, ran east and west through the new town, dividing it into two not quite equal parts. The territory included in the corporation situated in Washington township was, for school purposes, a part of the school district of Washington, that township not having been divided into independent districts. Soon after the organization of the town of Kelley, petition was made by the requisite number of electors to the board of directors of the school township of Washington to define the boundaries of a new independent district, coextensive with the limits of the town of Kelley; and action was taken, as authorized by Code, section 2794, to create such new independent district. The plaintiff independent district questions the legality of these proceedings, by which it was attempted to take a portion of the territory included within its original limits, and unite it, with the other territory included within the limits of the town of Kelley, into a new independent district.

The question is whether Code, section 2794, which provides for such a proceeding, is applicable to this case; that is, whether that section, which provides for a petition to the board of directors of the school township in which the larger number of inhabitants of the town reside, for the creation of a district at least coextensive with the town limits, and composed of territory of the school township to which the application is made and an adjoining school township, is applicable where the town includes territory which is a part of one or more independent districts.

One objection urged is that, by this severance of territory from the plaintiff district, it will be reduced in size to less than four sections of land; and counsel for plaintiff contends that it is impossible for an independent district to exist, consisting of less than four sections of land, save under the contingencies specified in Code, section 2798, which relates, however, to subdivision of an existing independent district by concurrent action of the boards of directors of the two districts, and contains the additional stipulation that, save in two contingencies there mentioned, neither resulting independent district shall be reduced in size to less than four sections of land. It is not true, however, that, as a general proposition, an independent district loses its corporate capacity if, in accordance with any lawful provision, it is reduced to less than four sections in size. Code, section 2793, provides that the boundary lines of contiguous independent districts within the same civil township may be changed by concurrent action of the respective boards of directors, provided that the independent district from which the territory is detached shall, after the change, contain not less than four government sections. Thus, in two sections of the Code it seems to be indicated that four sections of land should be the minimum size of an independent district, although in one of these sections a smaller size is authorized under certain circumstances. But the provisions of Code, section 2791, authorizes the county superintendent to attach portions of one school corporation to another where by reason of natural obstacles any portion of the inhabitants of the one cannot, with reasonable facility, attend school in their own corporation, and there is no limitation under this section to a reduction of an independent district to less than four sections. In our judgment, the reduction in size of the plaintiff independent district to less than four sections of land will not prevent its continued existence, and does not constitute any obstacle to the incorporation of the defendant district.

But perhaps a more serious difficulty in applying the provisions of Code, section 2794, to this case, results from the fact that the language of that section does not have any reference to independent districts. But if this objection is valid, then it is indeed far-reaching and necessitates the conclusion that when the Code of 1897 was adopted it was not intended that a city, town, or village embracing any portion of the territory already included in an independent district should be formed into one new independent district. There is no other provision, so far as we can discover, for forming an independent district out of a portion of a school township and a portion of an independent district already created, save...