McMahon v. School District
McMahon v. School District
Opinion of the Court
The appellant instituted this action in the district court against School District No. 66 of Antelope county and its
At its regular annual meeting, held on June 26, 1905, the following motion was carried by more than a two-thirds vote: “Moved and carried to move the site of the sehoolhouse to the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section 22.” It will be observed that no township or range is mentioned. It is conceded that the district is composed of the south half of sections 13, 14 and 15, all of sections 22, 23 and 24, and the north half of sections 25, 26 and 27, in township 27, range 5. It will be further observed that there is but one section 22 within the district. It is conceded that at the time of this annual meeting the school district had not acquired a site in section 22, and that the officers of the district were not at that meeting authorized to procure a site. The appellant contends that the designation of the location was too indefinite, because it did not fix the township and range, and that the district had no authority to move the sehoolhouse to section 22, because it had procured no site in that section on which to place the sehoolhouse. As there was but one section 22 in the school district, we think it cannot be consistently urged that the location was not sufficiently definite. It is not to be presumed that the district would contemplate locating the sehoolhouse outside of its boundaries, and, as there was but one location in the district that would correspond with that designated in the motion, it is evident that the location intended was the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section 22, of township 27, range 5 west. The fact that the district had not acquired a site would, under the rule laid down in Ladd v. School District, 70 Neb. 438, be an insuperable barrier to the right of removal, were it not for the subsequent occurrences.
This action was instituted two days after the annual meeting. Five days thereafter the officers of the defendant district received and accepted a warranty deed to one acre
The plaintiff contends that the district did not acquire any title by the first deed, because the voters of the district bad not previously directed the purchase of the site, and that, under the holding in Ladd v. School District, supra, the action of the officers in accepting said deed did not operate to vest any title in the district. That case was decided upon section 11088, Ann. St. It is in the following language: “The said qualified voters shall also have power at any annual or special meeting, to direct the purchasing or leasing of any appropriate site, and the building, hiring, or purchasing of a schoolhouse, and the amount necessary to be expended the succeeding year, and to vote a tax on the property of the district for the payment of
It Avill be observed by reading the motion passed at the special meeting held in May,' 1906, that the description locates the section in township 22, instead of in township 27. That would be 30 miles south of the point where it Avas desired to locate the schoolhouse, and not only outside of the district, but outside of Antelope county. In other words, it Avould be an impossible description. As Avas observed above, there was only one section 22 within the district, and it cannot be presumed that the voters had in mind a location outside of their district, or outside of their county. Nor can it be seriously urged that any
Appellant contends, however, that the action in May, 1906, was insufficient to authorize the removal of the schoolhouse to a new site, because such authority could only be given at the annual meeting and must be by a two-thirds vote, while the record shows that the motion only prevailed by a majority vote. We agree with the appellant upon both of these propositions.
Appellant further contends, as above stated, that'the action of the school board at its annual meeting in 1905 to, change the site of the schoolhouse was void, because a site had not been previously obtained. In this contention we cannot agree. The statute does not require that the site should be first procured before a change' of the site is authorized. The holdings of this court do require the acquisition of a site prior to the actual removal. We think it would be illogical to hold that the district should first procure the site before authorizing the removal of the schoolhouse to it. The purchase of a site may be authorized upon a majority-vote. Suppose that a majority vote authorized the purchase of a site, then it would require a two-thirds vote to authorize the change. We think it more logical to authorize the change by a two-thirds vote and thereafter to acquire the title to the proposed site by a majority vote.
In our view of the case, the action of the school district at the annual meeting in 1905 was sufficient to authorize the change in site, and that, as soon as the title was acquired to the proposed site, the removal of the schoolhouse thereto was authorized.
By the Court: For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John McMahon v. School District
- Status
- Published