Opinion No. 52-5580
August 27, 1952
TO: Honorable T. C. Jaramillo State Senator La Joya, New Mexico
{*289} At the request of Miss Melchora Gonzales, Socorro County School Superintendent, you request opinions on the following questions:
1. Section 55-907 of the 1941, N.M.S.A., provides for joint action by both Boards of Education, the City and County, for consolidation of a rural district with a municipality. You state that the State Board of Education without giving notice of meeting for purposes of consolidation to the office of the County School Superintendent, has consolidated two rural districts with the City of Socorro in spite of a solid opposition from the County Board of Education and the majority of people of the respective rural districts. Your question is whether this action is legal or illegal.
Under Chapter 38 of the 1945 New Mexico Session Laws, the Legislature of New Mexico passed said Chapter 38 as a War Emergency measure which Act is to be in effect for the duration of the war with Germany and Japan and for one full school term thereafter, giving the State Board of Education the vested right to consolidate school districts when certain conditions are met by said Board of Education before the consolidation is effected.
(a) The State Board of Education must find that substantial economies may be effected and that the educational standards will be raised by the consolidation of the school districts:
(b) These findings can be made only after the survey provided for by Section 55-1901, as amended by Chapter 38, New Mexico Session Laws of 1945:
It is therefore my opinion that under Chapter 38, Laws of 1945 that the State Board of Education can legally order the consolidation of two rural school districts with the municipal board of the City of Socorro if they have followed the conditions herein above enumerated.
2. You state that the School budget laws require that no budget shall be changed after its original hearing unless another hearing is given to effect such change. You state that the Office of the County School Superintendent contends that no school district which was allowed a budget can later be denied of its original allowance on account of any consolidation which has taken place in its behalf unless a hearing is held for such purpose. According to the minutes of the State Board of Education, the consolidation of the two rural school districts with the City of Socorro has already been ordered and naturally the budget for the two rural school districts allowed will be transferred into the school funds of the municipality.
3. Under this question you state that since the County School Board of Socorro has already employed the teachers for the two rural districts, and that said teachers have tenure, as to whether or not by the consolidation of the two rural school districts with the municipality of Socorro, the teachers have lost tenure. The effect of consolidation of two rural school districts with a municipality does not cause a teacher or teachers who have tenure to lose the same because of consolidation, and it is therefore our opinion that teachers who have tenure do not lose their tenure because of the consolidation of their particular districts with another municipality.
4. Your question No. 4 is as to whether or not when a consolidation takes effect between one or two rural school districts with a municipality, the Municipal Board of Education is dissolved and a new {*290} one appointed by the State Board of Education. In this particular case the County Board of Education of which the two rural districts were part of, remains intact and the two rural districts become part of the municipality. The Municipal Board also remains intact and is not affected by the consolidation. The members of the Municipal Boards serving at the time of the consolidation, serve as members of the Municipal Board for the time for which they were elected.
Trusting that this fully answers your inquiry, I remain