Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1939 )

Gerald C. Mann
HonorableR. C. Xusslewhite ~
DistrictAttorney
L&kin, Texas
Dear Sir; OpinionNo. O-1087
,Rer Essentialelementsof
contracltbetweentrus-
tees and teachers.
Ue are in reoeiptof your letter of June 30, 1939,,whichreads,
in part, as followsi
"The schoolboard, canposedof 8even
members
--.. ofta consolidatedschooldistrict
``~ ~.
in,b@y of this year, eleoteda,sahoolteaoh-
er,,andentered,themajoiityvote for the
teaoher in the minutes; Two weeks later the
same board rescindedits aotioa in electing
the schoolteaaherand voted to deolarethe
place vaoant and releasethe teaoher. No
contractwas exeoutedbetweenthe school
teacherand the schoolboard and no contract
has been approvedby the CountySchoolSupsr-
intendentof this aounty.
"Pleaseadviseme at your earliestoon-
vsnienoeif the teacherreferredto has an en-
foroeablecontractor if he can oompelthe
schooltrusteesand County SchoolSuperinten-
dent to recognizeand approve his emploJrment
under the ciroumstanaesfor the following
schoolyear."
Article 2809, Revised Civil Statutes,1925, relatingto cqmeon
consolidatedschool districts,containsthe followingprovisionr
I(
. . . Contra&s betweenthe trustees
and t,hedistrictsuperintendentand teachers
shall be in writingand subjectto the approv-
al of the countysuperintendentof the county
wherein such distriotis situated."
HonorableB. C. Musslewhite,Rage 2 (o-1087)
It is essentialto the oonsummation of any oontrad, either
oral or written,that there bs an offer and an acae@r~ce. Theremust
bs mutual assent of the partieswith respsotto the subjectmatter of
the agreementand its essentialterms. 10 Tex. Jur., p. 12, et seq.
56 C.J., p. 386, Section315 (3) oontainsthe following
statementa
"The mere vote of a sohool board in favor
of employinga certainpersonas teacherdoes
not aonstitutea contractof employmentof such
person,but amountsonly to an offer of smploy-
ment which the board may revokeor oanoelat any
time before acceptance."
.In quotingthe foregoingws are not to bs understoodas hold-
ing that under certainoircumstancessuch action of the boardmight or
mightnot constituteau aaceptanoeof sn offer.
It is our opinionthat a mere eleationof ateaoher at a
sohool board meeting,and entr$ of theeleotion in the minutes,is not
enough,standingalone, to constitutea eontract,whetherwritten or
oral, sinoe this,.tithinitself,is laokingin the essentialelements
of a oontraot. &der the facts stated,no oontraotof employmentwas
ever enteredinto betweenthe sohoolboard and the teacher,and, there-
fore, there is no contrad to be approvedby the oounty superintendent.
Yours very truly *
By -~
s/Ceciii6. C*maak
Cecil c. Cemmack
Assistant
Ccc:FGregw
APPROVED JUL 8, 1939
s/W.F. Moore
FIRSTASSISTAN!!
ATTORNEY GNNERAL
hpprqed,OpinionComnnittee
ByRWFChairman