Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

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THE AITORNEY GENERAL
OFTEXAS
AUSTIN. T-s 78711
February 26, 1976
The Honorable M. L. Brockette Opinion No. H-788
Commissioner of Education
Texas Education Agency Re: Authority of State
201 East Eleventh Street Board of Education to
Austin, Texas 78701 allocate additional
professional units to
school districts contain-
ing large numbers of
children of migrant
workers.
Dear Commissioner Brockette:
you have requested our opinion regarding the authority
of the State Board of Education to allocate additional
professional units to school districts containing large
numbers of children of migrant workers.
you state that, at its June, 1975, regular meeting, the
State Board of Education adopted the following resolution:
In districts having enrollments which
include five percent (5%) or more
children of migratory agricultural
workers and fishermen the average daily
attendance utilized for Foundation
School Program purposes shall be the
average daily attendance earned during
any two six week reporting periods as
determined by the district concerned.
Such average daily attendance shall be
on a current basis.
p. 3321
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The Honorable M. L. Brockette - page 2 (H-788)
The resolution was based upon section 16.11(f) of the 1971
Texas Education Code, which provided, in pertinent part:
. . .where there is an annual fluctua-
tion in attendance in the district, or
where for any reason there is a marked
increase or decrease in the attendance
of any school district, adjustments in
professional allotments shall be made by
the state commissioner of education
subject to applicable rules and regula-
tions of the State Board of Education.
Section 16.11(f) was completely deleted from the revision of
section 16 contained in House Bill 1126 (Acts 1975, 64th Leg.,
ch. 334, at 0771, effective in pertinent part on September 1,
1975. Section 16.102(a) now provides:
Regular education program personnel units
shall be allotted to each school district
on the basis of the district's current
average daily attendance during the 180-
day school term for the 1975-1976 school
year and on the basis of the district's
current average daily attendance for the
best 170 days of the lSO-day school term
for each school year thereafter.
In our opinion, after the enactment of House Bill 1126,
neither section 16 nor any other provision of the Education
Code supports the resolution made the basis of your inquiry.
Section 16.102(a) clearly states the formula for the alloca-
tion of personnel units, and no exception to that formula is
provided. We have no authority to conclude that the deletion
of former section 16.11(f) did not indicate the intention of
the Legislature to repeal that statute. House Bill 1126
stated that one of its purposes was the "amending [of]
Chapter 16. . . Texas Education Code." Acts 1975, 64th Leg.,
ch. 334, at 077. It is well established that the latest
expression of legislative intent supersedes its predecessor.
p. 3322
The Honorable M. L. Brockette - page 3 (H-788)
State v. Easley, 404 S.W.2d 296, 300 (Tex. Sup.1966);
Commercial Standard --
Fire and Marine Co v. Commissioner of
Insurance, 429 S.W.2d 930, 933 (Tex%c App. -- Austir
1968, no writ). An amendment operates to repeal any provi-
sion of the original act or section that is omitted. State
v. Andrews, 20 Tex. 230 (Tex. Sup. 1857). While the repeal
z section 16.11(f) may have been inadvertent, we are
without power to ignore the clear and unambiguous language
of the statute. Thus, we conclude that the Legislature with-
drew the authority of the State Board of Education to allocate
additional professional units to school districts under cir-
cumstances such as you describe.
SUMMARY
By repealing section 16.11(f) of the
Education Code, the Legislature has
withdrawn the authority of the State
Board of Education to allocate additional
professional units to school districts
containing large numbers of children of
migrant workers.
-Very truly yours,
Attorney General of Texas
jwb
p. 3323