Montana Attorney General Opinion 16-12

Opinion No. 12. Schools-Residence--Census. HELD: A pupil who has resided all of her life with her grandmother and gone to school at such place of residence is, for school purposes, a resident of the district where she re- sides with her grandmother and should be legally included in the school census of that district. Decembcr 26, 1934. Mr. Sherman W. Smith County Attorney Helena, Montana We acknowledge receipt of yours of December 24, requesting an opin- ion from this office on the following matter: "I have been asked for an opinion on the following question: "A young girl, approximately 11 years of age, has been living all of her life with her grandmother in Wolf Creek and has attended school- in Wolf Creek continuously and has attended no other school. Her father is a school trustee in another dis- trict and he lives in said other dis- trict. He has been receiving $15.00 per month from his school district to pay for her attendance in the school at Wolf Creek and for a pe- riod of nine months each year even though the school term in the dis- trict in which the father is a trus- tee is only for a period of seven months. "It is my opinion that this is a flagrant abuse of discretion on the part of the school board and that the child's residence is with her grandmother at Wolf Creek and that the school board of which her father is trustee is not obliged to furnish any fund whatsoever for schooling. "Will you kindly advise me your opinion on this matter and oblige?" Upon the facts stated by you and the general rule laid down in Board of Trustees, etc., v. Annie Rogers Powell, 140 S. W. 67, (Ky.) 36 L. R. A. (n.s.) 341, and the numerous cases cited in 36 L. R. A. (n.s.) it obvious· ly appears that the child ls, for 12 OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL school purposes, a resident of the dis- trict where she resides with her grandmother and should be legally included in the school census of that district. That being true the allow- ance granted the father by another school district, where he resides, for the child's schooling is without au- thority of law. See: 56 C. J., sec. 986, pages 809-810. That the power of school boards to expend school funds to provide schooling for children is confined to school children resident in the parti- cular district is too elementary to re- quire discussion or citation of author- ities. Your position in the matter is hereby confirmed.