Montana Attorney General Opinion 16-303

Opinion No. 303. Schools-High Schools-Transporta- tion-Three Mile Limit-Public School General Fund. HELD: One-half the cost of trans- portation of all pupils attending pub- lic schools and who live three or more miles distant therefrom is a proper charge against the public school gen- eral fund. June 24, 1936. Miss Elizabeth Ireland State Superintendent of Public Instruction The Capitol In your letter of June 24, you ask: "Kindly give me an opinion on the number of miles a high school stu- dent must at least be from the near- est high school if he is to be counted for transportation from the Public School General Fund." Section 1200.4, R. C. M. 1935, which creates the State Public School Gen- eral Fund, to which you refer, was enacted as Section 4 of Chapter 175, Laws of Montana, 1935. Section l(c) of said Chapter 175 (now Section 1200 R. C. M. 1935) and Section 6 of said Chapter 175 (now Section 1200.6, R. C. M. 1935) provide for the payment of one-half the cost of transportation from said fund for all attending pu- pils who reside three miles or more distant from a public school. Since this is the last legislative enactment on the subject, Section 18 of Chapter 148, Laws of Montana, 1931, and Section 1 of Chapter 156, Laws of Montana, 1933, do not affect the reply to your question (State ex reI. Esgar v. Dis- trict Court, 56 Mont. 464, 185 Pac. 157; State ex reI. Normile v. Cooney, 100 Mont. 391, 47 Pac. (2d) 637), as said Sections 1200.1 and 1200.6, R. C. M. 1935 clearly provide that one-half the cost of transportation of all pu- pils attending public schools and who live three or more miles distant therefrom shall be a proper charge against said fund.