State ex rel. Consolidated School District Number 9 of Bates County v. Lee

• Decision Date: 13 May 1924
• Docket Number: 25344
• Citation: 262 S.W. 344,303 Mo. 641
• Parties: THE STATE ex rel. CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 9 OF BATES COUNTY et al. v. CHARLES A. LEE, State Superintendent of Public Schools
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

262 S.W. 344

303 Mo. 641

THE STATE ex rel. CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 9 OF BATES COUNTY et al. v. CHARLES A. LEE, State Superintendent of Public Schools

No. 25344

Supreme Court of Missouri

May 13, 1924

Alternative writ made peremptory.

DeArmond & Maxey for relators.

Jesse W. Barrett, Attorney-General, and Robert W Otto, Assistant Attorney-General, for respondent.

OPINION

James T. Blair, J.

This is a proceeding by mandamus to compel the Superintendent of Schools to act under Section 11181, Revised Statutes 1919, for the correction of a mistake alleged to have been made with respect to the apportionment of public school funds for the benefit of the Consolidated School District of which relators are directors. The respondent with the court's consent, waives the formal issuance of the alternative writ and demurs to the petition in its stead and the petition thereby stands in lieu of and as for that writ. The proceeding is obviously designed to secure a construction of Section 11181.

The demurrer admits the allegations of fact. In addition, certain facts are stipulated. There is also an affidavit of the district clerk and one of the county clerk. The facts are that the district clerk, in due time, made out and reported to the district board the report he is required to make under Section 11179, Revised Statutes 1919, in which he set out the number of teachers employed, the total number of days' attendance of all pupils, the length of the school term, the average attendance, the number of days taught by each teacher, the salary of each teacher, "and any other information the State Superintendent" required. It is both alleged and stipulated that the district clerk duly executed this report, placed it in an envelope properly addressed to the County Clerk of Bates County, at the county seat, Butler, Missouri, affixed thereon proper and sufficient postage and deposited it in the postoffice at Amoret, Missouri; that the district clerk's return card was on the envelope; that the letter has never been returned to him. It also is stipulated that the "county clerk does not deny that said report was received at his office, but states that he has no affirmative record showing its receipt," and his affidavit shows that at the time, and theretofore, no record or evidence of the receipt or filing of such reports was kept in the county clerk's office other than the reports themselves. The district clerk received no notice of any kind that the clerk had not received the report. It further appears that the mails are customarily used for the transmission of such reports to the clerks. A summary of such reports in each county is made out by the county clerk and transmitted by him to the State Superintendent of Schools. Upon the basis of these summaries from all the counties and the city of St. Louis the State Superintendent apportions the public school moneys to the various counties, as provided by Section 11179. That section requires the State Superintendent, annually, to "apportion the public school fund applied for the benefit of the public schools among the different counties." It requires that he "shall apportion among the various counties" designated sums for several described classes of teachers, and "after the teacher apportionments have been deducted the remainder of the state school fund to be apportioned shall be divided by the total number of days' attendance of all the pupils of the public schools of the State, and the quotient thus obtained shall be called a pupil daily apportionment. The amount apportioned to each district shall be determined by multiplying this pupil daily apportionment by the total number of days' attendance of all pupils of each district." A proviso is added. Immediately follow the provisions respecting the duty of each district clerk to report to the county clerk and the duty of the county clerk to "make a summary" of all these reports (in his county) and forward it to the State Superintendent. This summary must show the total number of days' attendance for the county and the number of teachers employed in the county and the time for which they are employed and the amount of their respective salaries, and other information. It is the duty of the State Superintendent to certify to the State Auditor and to the several county clerks the amounts apportioned and their source. It then becomes the duty of each county clerk, "according to the same provisions hereinbefore stated, for determining the apportionment of the state school fund by the State Superintendent of Public Schools" to proceed "to apportion the state school fund for their respective counties; and no district, city or town which shall have failed to make this report to the county clerk, hereinbefore required, shall be entitled to receive any portion of the public school funds." Then follow numerous provisions which do not seem to bear upon the question in this case. The section, in its present form, first appeared in the Act of April 18, 1911, and took effect September 1, 1911. Section 11181, Revised Statutes 1919, was, in substance, first enacted in 1891, and reads as follows:

"Sec 11181. Correction of error in apportionment -- distribution of funds. The state superintendent of public schools is hereby authorized to correct any error made in the apportionment of the public school funds among the various counties of this State out of the public school fund of the year next following the date when such mistake was made, and the amount set apart to any county for the purpose of correcting an error shall be by him certified to the state auditor and to the county clerk, and the state auditor shall draw a warrant on the state treasurer for the amount so certified in favor of the treasurer of said county, and the county clerk shall apportion said funds to the various districts in said county as...