School Dist. of Murray v. Lancaster, 56

• Decision Date: 17 April 1979
• Docket Number: No. 56,No. 42131,56,42131
• Citation: 277 N.W.2d 558,203 Neb. 109
• Parties: The SCHOOL DISTRICT OF MURRAY, also known as School Districtof Cass County, Nebraska, Appellant, v. H. Neal LANCASTER, County Superintendent of Schools of Cass County, et al., Appellees.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Page 558

277 N.W.2d 558

203 Neb. 109

The SCHOOL DISTRICT OF MURRAY, also known as School District No. 56 of Cass County, Nebraska, Appellant, v. H. Neal LANCASTER, County Superintendent of Schools of Cass County, et al., Appellees.

No. 42131.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

April 17, 1979.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Statutes: Intent. Where the language used in the statute is ambiguous, recourse should be had to the legislative purposes.

2. Statutes: Intent. Where because a statute is ambiguous it is necessary to construe it, the principal objective is to determine legislative intention.

3. Statutes: Intent. Legislative intent is the cardinal rule in the construction of statutes.

4. Statutes: Intent. A fundamental principle of statutory construction is to ascertain the legislative intent and to give it effect.

5. Statutes: Intent. The reasons for the enactment of a statute and the purposes and objects of an act may be guides in an attempt to give effect to the main intent of the lawmakers.

6. Statutes: Intent: Legislature. When the literal wording of a statute leads to an absurdity or to an illogical or unjust conclusion, the intention of the Legislature, as gathered from the entire act, will prevail.

7. Statutes. In construing a statute, the court must look to the object to be accomplished, the evils and mischiefs sought to be remedied, or the purpose to be subserved, and place on it a reasonable or liberal construction which will best effect its purpose rather than one which will defeat it.

8. Statutes: Schools and School Districts. Under the provisions of section 79-4,104, R.R.S.1943, a territory's proportionate share of any balance remaining in the nonresident tuition fund is computed by determining the total amount paid into the fund by the territory and subtracting the amounts paid out of the fund on behalf of the territory. The balance, if any, constitutes the territory's proportionate share in the fund which the territory is entitled to receive.

Perry, Perry, Witthoff & Guthery, Lincoln, for appellant.

Ronald D. Moravec, Cass County Atty., Plattsmouth, for appellees.

Heard before KRIVOSHA, C. J., McCOWN, and WHITE, JJ., and KORTUM and FAHRNBRUCH, District Judges.

KRIVOSHA, Chief Justice.

Appellant herein, the School District of Murray, in the county of Cass, in the State of Nebraska, also known as School District No. 56 of Cass County, Nebraska (District 56), appeals from an order of the District Court for Cass County, Nebraska, denying District 56's prayer for an alternate writ of mandamus. For reasons more particularly set out in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the District Court.

The decision in this case turns on the interpretation of the phrase "the territory's proportionate share of any balance remaining in the nonresident tuition fund" contained in section 79-4,104, R.R.S.1943. Section 79-4,104, R.R.S.1943, reads in full as follows: "If any secretary of the school board or board of education of any school district shall fail or neglect to make report of the first semester or first half year attendance separately, he may include the same with the attendance report of the second semester or second half year, and the county treasurer shall pay for the whole attendance. In all cases where there is not sufficient money to pay the whole amount due any district or districts for the first semester or first half year, the balance due shall be included with the payment for the second semester or second half year. If there shall be any such deficiency, it shall be provided for in making the levy for the succeeding year. If a balance remains in the fund after all claims have been paid, it shall not revert to the county general fund but shall remain in the nonresident high school fund and be deducted from the amount levied for the succeeding year. When any territory not included in a school district offering secondary education becomes a part of such a district, the territory's proportionate share of any balance remaining in the nonresident tuition fund as of September 15 shall be credited to the district of which the territory has become a part."

District 56 maintains that the "territory's proportionate share" is arrived at by computing the ratio of the assessed valuation of the subject territory as it relates to the total assessed valuation of all pertinent territory times the balance in the fund as of September 15. The county, on the other hand, maintains that the "territory's proportionate share" is arrived at by determining the total amount paid into the fund by the territory and subtracting the amounts paid out of the fund on behalf of the territory. The balance, if any, constitutes the "territory's proportionate share" in the fund which the territory is entitled to receive.

Unfortunately for all concerned, the phrase "the territory's proportionate share of any balance remaining * * *" is not a classic example of legislative clarity. Therefore, its meaning cannot be determined from a simple reading of the statute. With this in mind we now examine the facts and the statutes involved in this case.

School districts in Nebraska are divided into six classes. § 79-102, R.R.S.1943. A Class I district is any school district that maintains only elementary grades under the direction of a single school board. Class I school districts do not offer high school education. The laws of Nebraska, however, require that 4 years of nonresident public high school education be secured to all children of the State of Nebraska whose parents or guardians reside in a public school district which maintains less than a 4-year high school course of study. § 79-494, R.R.S.1943. This is accomplished by contract between the Class I school district and any neighboring district offering high school education. § 79-486, R.R.S.1943.

To provide the necessary funds for this type of program, the statutes in question were enacted. The parent or guardian of a high school age child living in a school district not offering a 4-year high school education makes application for educational benefits to the county superintendent of schools of the county in which they reside before July 1 of each year. § 79-4,105, R.R.S.1943. There is no requirement that the application indicate which school district the child will attend. Such option is left to the parent or guardian and the student. Werth v. Buffalo County Board of Equalization, 187 Neb. 119, 188 N.W.2d 442. Each high school district that will receive nonresident high school students certifies to the superintendent the rate to be charged for education of nonresident high school age students. § 79-4,102(2), R.R.S.1943.

The superintendent then certifies to the county board of commissioners the following information: (1) The number of qualified pupils from all Class I school districts in the county for which application for nonresident high school education has been made; and (2) a list of school districts which have been approved by the State Board of Education as schools qualified to grant nonresident public high school education to nonresident high school age pupils. § 79-4,102(1), R.R.S.1943.

The county assessor then certifies to the county board of commissioners the current valuation of all property subject to the applicable levy in the county. § 23-927.01, R.R.S.1943.

The county board of commissioners, sitting as the county board of equalization, levies a sufficient tax to pay the nonresident high school tuition, as certified by the county superintendent of schools. § 79-436, R.R.S.1943. In so doing, the county board excludes from the levy the assessed value of all taxable property of any district in which is maintained an approved 4-year high school, and one-half of the assessed value of all taxable property of any district in which there is maintained an approved 2-year high school.

The county treasurer collects the payment of the tax levied and deposits it into a fund known as the nonresident high school tuition fund. § 79-437, R.R.S.1943.

During the school year each receiving high school district certifies to the county superintendent of schools the number of nonresident pupils enrolled and the number of days those pupils were enrolled. The superintendent certifies that information to the treasurer. Upon such order the treasurer pays to the appropriate receiving high school districts an amount sufficient to pay the nonresident high school tuition rate previously established. § 79-4,103, R.R.S.1943.

If there is not sufficient money in the fund to pay the whole amount due any district or districts for the first semester or first half year, the balance is included with the payment for the second semester or second half year. Further, if there is any deficiency, it is made up by including the deficiency in the levy for the succeeding year. Likewise, if a balance remains, the monies do not revert to the general fund but remain in the nonresident high school fund and are deducted from the amount necessary to be levied for the succeeding year. § 79-4,104, R.R.S.1943.

District 56 was a Class I school district for a number of years and, as such, maintained only elementary grades. Children residing in District 56 and enrolled in grades 9 through 12 were educated as nonresident high school students in neighboring high school districts. On March 22, 1977, an election was held in District 56 with the voters at that time voting to become a Class II school district. As a Class II school district, District 56 would maintain its own high school or would provide high school education for its students by contract with another district and not under the provisions of the nonresident high school education statutes. The vote to become a Class II school...