Ryan v. Sawyer

• Decision Date: 13 January 1916
• Docket Number: 1 Div. 908
• Parties: RYAN v. SAWYER et al.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

70 So. 652

195 Ala. 69

RYAN v. SAWYER et al.

1 Div. 908

Supreme Court of Alabama

January 13, 1916

Appeal from Law and Equity Court, Monroe County; W.G. McCorvey Judge.

Proceeding by Morvell Ryan against W.D. Sawyer and others. Judgment for defendants, on demurrer, and petitioner appeals. Affirmed.

Charles Hybart, of Monroeville, for appellant.

Hare &amp Jones, of Monroeville, for appellees.

GARDNER J.

By this proceeding petitioner (appellant here), a pupil in the school of district No. 68 of Monroe county, seeks to test the validity of a requirement made by the trustees of said school district that she, or some one for her, pay an incidental fee of ten cents per month, to be used in providing fuel for said school, as a condition precedent to her receiving instruction in said school. From the judgment of the court below sustaining a demurrer to the petition, this appeal is prosecuted.

Counsel for appellant do not question that an incidental fee may be charged and assessed, if within reasonable limits, for the purpose for which this fee was fixed in the instant case, nor do they question the reasonableness of the sum here assessed. Williams v. Smith (Ala.) 68 So. 323; Roberson v Oliver (Ala.) 66 So. 645; Bryant v. Whisenant, 167 Ala. 325, 52 So. 525, 140 Am.St.Rep. 41.

The sole contention on this appeal is that the district trustees acted without authority of law, that they were not authorized or directed by the county board of education, and that without such authorization they had no right to act. The county board is not shown to have taken any action in reference to the matter, and therefore it is not insisted that the requirement of the district trustees contravenes, or conflicts in any manner with, any rule or regulation of any kind of said county board.

The question is therefore presented whether or not, in the absence of any action on the part of the county board, the district trustees had the authority to fix the assessment of ten cents per month as a reasonable incidental charge for fuel. The district trustees are elected by the qualified electors of the school district. Section 1697, Code 1907. The respective chairmen of the district trustees elect the members of the county board, with the exception, of course, of the county superintendent of education. Sections 1712, 1713, Code 1907. The district trustees are required among other things, to visit the schools in their district, to observe the management of the same, to make quarterly reports of the condition of the school to the county superintendent, and to "care for all school property." Section 1699, Code 1907. The evident purpose of providing for district trustees was to have those living in the district, and interested in the welfare of the school in that particular locality, to look after the immediate needs of that school, and thus to a degree "localize," as it were, public interest in and watchfulness over that particular school; and the provision is in entire harmony with the form of government we here enjoy. A proper care for the school property certainly can be said to include, and indeed it would seem necessarily so, care that the schoolhouse be kept in a reasonably comfortable condition. That the schoolhouse be heated in winter is, of course, necessary in order that it may be habitable. As to what are the requirements of each particular school in the matter here discussed is purely a local question, better determined by the local trustees than by the county board, as the necessities would naturally vary in different localities, depending upon different, various conditions. It is therefore entirely reasonable to conclude that it was the legislative intent, in fixing their powers, to include the authority in the district tr...