State ex rel. Texas City Independent School Dist. v. La Marque Independent School Dist.

• Decision Date: 14 May 1953
• Docket Number: No. 12502,12502
• Citation: 258 S.W.2d 384
• Parties: STATE ex rel. TEXAS CITY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. et al. v. LA MARQUE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. et al.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 384

258 S.W.2d 384

STATE ex rel. TEXAS CITY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. et al. v. LA MARQUE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. et al.

No. 12502.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, Galveston.

May 14, 1953.

Rehearing Denied June 4, 1953.

Godard & Dazey and William B. Dazey, both of Texas City, for appellant.

Levy & Levy, Adrian F. Levy, Sr., and Adrian F. Levy, Jr., Galveston, for appellee Galveston Independent School District.

Vinson, Elkins, Weems & Searls, William E. Davis, Jr., and Victor W. Bouldin, all of Houston, for appellee Dickinson Independent School District.

GRAVES, Justice.

The State of Texas, on relation of the Board of Trustees of the Texas City Independent School District, and its members, filed this suit, in the nature of quo warranto to and mandamus against the La Marque, Dickinson, and Galveston Independent School Districts, and the members of their respective Boards of Trustees, in the District Court of Galveston County, Texas. The original petition was amended to include Galveston County's Board of School Trustees.

The petitioner prayed the Court to compel the County Board of School Trustees to act upon a petition offered to it, and to grant an annexation to Texas City Independent School District of certain areas, including parts of the La Marque, Dickinson, and Galveston Independent School Districts.

The La Marque Independent School District answered, and set up the fact that it had reached an agreement with the Texas City District, and took no part in the trial.

The Court held for the Defendants on all points, and denied the relief prayed for. From this decision the State of Texas, and the Texas City Independent School District, prosecute this appeal.

The trial court sat without a jury, and filed these Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, in support of its judgment:

'Findings of Fact:

'1. The Galveston Independent School District has territorial limits which are co-extensive with the corporate limits of the City of Galveston, as set out and described in the Charter of the City of Galveston which was approved by the Legislature of Texas on April 18, 1901; the northern limits of said School District are definite and certain and have long been established and recognized both as the northern limits of said School District and of the City of Galveston;

'2. The Texas City Independent School District was established by order of the Commissioners' Court of Galveston County on January 11, 1905, and its boundaries were defined by said Commissioners' Court on May 1, 1911, to include 1254.45 acres out of the S. C. Bundick League;

'3. No boundary of the Galveston Independent School District has ever been contiguous to or in conflict with any boundary of the Texas City Independent School District;

'4. At a meeting of the County Board of School Trustees of Galveston County (sometimes in the record referred to as the County School Trustees of Galveston County and as the County Board of Education of Galveston County), hereinafter called County Board, held on December 18, 1937, the said County Board adopted a resolution to extend the territorial limits of Common School District No. 9 (Port Bolivar School District); the County Board further instructed its Secretary, Mrs. Kathleen Bradford Benson, then County School Superintendent of Galveston County, 'to look into the matter of the boundaries of other districts which might also have water areas added to them, viz.: Districts Nos. 1, 6, 11, 17, 21, and Texas City, if they so desired, and to write them similar notifications' to the one to be sent to the trustees of Common School District No. 9; (Common School District No. 17 was the La Marque School District and Common School District No. 21 was the San Leon School District.);

'5. On February 1, 1938, Mrs. Kathleen Bradford Benson, then County School Superintendent of Galveston County, appeared before the Board of Trustees of the Texas City Independent School District and advised the members thereof that the County Board intended to annex submerged lands to adjacent school districts; at the conclusion of her remarks, the members of the said Texas City Board advised Mrs. Benson that the Board would check into the matter;

'6. At a meeting of the County Board held on October 15, 1938, a resolution was adopted, extending the boundaries of Districts Nos. 1, 6, 9, 11, 17 and 21 to include adjacent water areas; at that meeting, Mrs. Benson reported that all of the schools concerned, namely, Districts Nos. 1, 6, 9, 11, 17, and 21 and the Texas City Independent School District had been notified, in writing, of the County Board's contemplated action, and each, with the exception of the Texas City Independent School District, had sent in its written approval; the Texas City Independent School District made no reply; no action was taken with regard to the said Texas City District, and the water area East of the said Texas City District was left unassigned;

'7. At the meeting of the County Board, held on October 15, 1938, the County Board:

'a. Annexed to the La Marque Independent School District certain submerged lands and redefined the boundaries of said La Marque District, which order was approved by the County Commissioners' Court on February 6, 1939; and

'b. Annexed to Galveston County Common School District No. 21 (San Leon) certain submerged lands under Moses Lake, Dollar Bay, and Galveston Bay, and redefined the boundaries of said Common School District No. 21, which order was approved by the County Commissioners' Court on February 6, 1939;

'8. On January 29, 1941, Galveston County Common School District No. 7 became the Dickinson Independent School District;

'9. On August 3, 1948, as the result of an election, the County Commissioners' Court declared that Galveston County Common School District No. 21 (San Leon) was duly consolidated with the Dickinson Independent School District, after which date the Dickinson Independent School District included within its boundaries all of the territory formerly within the boundaries of said Common School District No. 21, as defined in the order of October 15, 1938, mentioned in Paragraph 7 hereinabove, and the present common boundaries between the Dickinson Independent School District and the Texas City Independent School District are those defined in said order of October 15, 1938; and that portion of Moses Lake, Dollar Bay, and Galveston Bay, which was by said order, annexed to said Common School District No. 21, is now within the duly constituted boundaries of the said Dickinson Independent School District;

'10. During the latter part of 1948, the then Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Texas City Independent School District, Mr. Edward Jaeger, after a lapse of more than ten years, first checked into the action taken by the County Board on October 15, 1938; Mr. Jaeger then took the matter before the Board of Trustees of the Texas City Independent School District; subsequently, on November 10, 1948, Mr. Jaeger appeared before the County Board, and thereafter the Texas City Independent School District placed the matter in the hands of Mr. William B. Dazey, an attorney at law;

'11. On September 30, 1949, Mr. Dazey appeared before the County Board, in behalf of the Texas City Independent School District, and the members of said County Board recommended to Mr. Dazey that he obtain agreements between the school districts involved; on December 15, 1949, Mr. Dazey again appeared before the County Board in behalf of the Texas City Independent School District;

'12. On July 10, 1950, Mr. John Shirley, an associate of Mr. Dazey, appeared before the County Board and presented a written petition, in which the Texas City Independent School District prayed that the County Board detach certain territory from the La Marque, Dickinson, and Galveston Independent School Districts, and annex the same to the said Texas City District; said petition did not give a metes-and-bounds description of the territory to be detached from the La Marque, Dickinson, and Galveston Independent School Districts, respectively, and was not signed by a majority of the qualified voters residing in the territories sought to be detached-there being, in fact, no persons residing on any of the territories sought to be detached;

'13. On September 7, 1950, the Texas City Independent School District filed an appeal with the State Commissioner of Education, Dr. J. W. Edgar, in Austin, Texas, complaining of the County Board, the La Marque Independent School District, and the members of its Board of Trustees, the Galveston Independent School District, and the members of its Board of Trustees, and the Dickinson Independent School District, and the members of its Board of Trustees, praying for redistricting and redefining of territories; this petition was set for hearing on November 20, 1950;

'14. On November 15, 1950, the County Board denied the request of the Texas City Independent School District to take the Dollar Bay and Moses Lake area from the Dickinson Independent School District and assign it to the Texas City Independent School District but did make certain changes in other boundaries, affecting the Texas City, La Marque, and Galveston Independent School Districts; the said State Commissioner of Education was advised of the action taken, and the hearing, which had been set for November 20, 1950, was postponed;

'15. On November 16 and 18, 1950, the Galveston, La Marque, and Dickinson Independent School Districts filed notice of appeal with the State Commissioner of Education from the action taken by the County Board on November 15, 1950;

'16. On December 1, 1950, the County Board held a special meeting, at which meeting approval of the action taken at the meeting of November 15, 1950, was deferred, and a public hearing was set for December 14, 1950;

'17. On December 14, 1950, the County Board held a special meeting, at which meeting the action taken at the meeting of November 15, 1950, was rescinded,...