Common School District No. 2667 v. Anderson

142 N.W.2d 269, 273 Minn. 462, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 847
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedApril 1, 1966
DocketNo. 39,935
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 142 N.W.2d 269 (Common School District No. 2667 v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Common School District No. 2667 v. Anderson, 142 N.W.2d 269, 273 Minn. 462, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 847 (Mich. 1966).

Opinion

Thomas Gallagher, Justice.

In this action plaintiffs, Common School District No. 2667 of Wright County and a member of its board, challenge the validity of certain school consolidation proceedings taken by defendant Independent School District No. 878 of Cokato pursuant to Minn. St. 122.23,1 under which District No. 2667 becomes consolidated with several other common school districts into Independent School District No. 878 of Cokato. Plaintiffs’ complaint alleged that the consolidation proceedings were defective because prior to their commencement District No. 2667 had filed a petition for dissolution under Minn. St. 122.222 which had not been acted upon at the time the consolidation petition was filed.

[464]*464Tbe present appeal is from a judgment of the District Court of Wright County dated February 18, 1965, vacating a temporary restraining order and dismissing plaintiffs’ complaint on the ground that it failed to state a cause of action. Pending this appeal, the consolidation election was held under Minn. St. 122.233 and established that the districts involved favored consolidation by a vote of 117 to 64. Likewise, pending this appeal, plaintiffs’ petition for dissolution of District No. 2667, filed prior [465]*465to the commencement of the consolidation proceedings, was granted by the Wright County Board of Commissioners.

The facts are as follows: Commencing early in 1963 the Board of Education of Independent School District No. 878 of Cokato determined that it would be for the best interests of all persons relying upon its primary or secondary educational facilities that the common school districts in the Cokato area be consolidated. On February 7, 1963, at an open meeting attended by members of the districts proposed for consolidation, the objectives of the consolidation proceedings were explained. On June 13, 1963, at a regular meeting, the board of District No. 878 adopted a resolution requesting consolidation of 14 adjacent common school districts and directing defendant Inez E. Anderson, superintendent of schools of Wright County, to prepare and submit to the commissioner of education a consolidation plat. Before this was done, at the suggestion of a common school district, a new plat was proposed by resolution of the board of District No. 878 which provided for the consolidation of 17 districts. This plan was later abandoned when it was found impossible to procure the required petitions from 3 of the districts to be included. On November 14, 1963, a resolution was passed by the board of District No. 878 directing the county superintendent to prepare and submit a plat for its consolidation with 3 other common school districts, including plaintiff Common School District No. 2667.

On December 3, 1963, plaintiff Common School District No. 2667 and Common School District No. 2709 filed with the board of county commissioners petitions calling for the dissolution of District No. 2667 and No. 2709. The date for hearing on these petitions was fixed by the board of county commissioners for January 9, 1964, but on that date the hearing was continued to February 4, 1964.

Before the plat for consolidation of 13 common school districts was prepared and submitted to the commissioner of education, the county superintendent of schools was advised by Mr. Robert Bakke, counsel for plaintiffs herein, that he represented District No. 2697, included in the consolidation plat, and that he desired the consolidation proceedings to be delayed until an opinion of the attorney general had been received with respect to the validity thereof, particularly in view of § 122.23, [466]*466subd. 3(c), which provides that any petition for proposed consolidation shall set forth “[t]he reasons for the proposed consolidation, ‘including a statement that at the time the plat is submitted to the commissioner of education, no proceedings are pending to dissolve any district involved in the plat * * *.’ ” (Italics supplied.)

On January 8, 1964, in a letter to the county attorney of Wright County, the attorney general expressed his opinion on this claim as follows:

“ ‘The plat proposed by the resolution of such School Board will include, among other areas, the areas of the three districts [seeking dissolution] above referred to * * *.
“‘In Section 122.23, Subdivision 3(c), it provides that the superintendent shall submit a supporting statement * * *
“ ‘* * * “including a statement that at the time the plat is submitted to the commissioner of education, no proceedings are pending to dissolve any district involved in the plat unless all of the district to be dissolved and all of each district to which attachment is proposed is included in the plat.”
“ ‘The County Superintendent cannot include a statement as so provided. The reason, of course, is that such a statement would not be true.’
‡ ‡ ‡ $
“Questions:
“ ‘(A) Is the County Superintendent required by law (that is, is it mandatory) to complete such a plat and forward it to the Commissioner of Education, reciting the actual facts in lieu of making the precise statement referred to by Section 122.23, Subdivision 3(c)?’
“Opinion
$ ‡ * ^ *

“(A) In our opinion the aforesaid statutory provisions make it a mandatory requirement for the county superintendent to prepare the plat and forward the plat to the commissioner of education, reciting therein, in the supporting narrative statement, the facts prescribed in Subd. 3. As to the facts required by Subd. 2(c), the actual facts should be stated of the pendency of the petitions before the Wright County [467]*467Board of Commissioners for the dissolution of the particular common school districts.” (Italics supplied.)

On February 3, 1964, following this opinion, the superintendent of schools forwarded to the commissioner of education the plat for proposed consolidation. With respect to the dissolution proceedings still pending, the petition stated:

“There are at the present time dissolutions pending before the Wright County Board of County Commissioners in districts Nos. 2667, 2709, and 2697. In the petitions for dissolution parts of each one of these districts, 2667, 2709, and 2697, are requesting to be attached to districts not included in the plat. We are enclosing certified copies from the office of the Wright County Auditor describing these proceedings as of this date, February 3, 1964.”

On February 24, 1964, the commissioner of education approved the plat submitted with modifications, and on that date mailed to the superintendent of schools of Wright County a copy of the modified plat with his approval and directed her to proceed with the election pursuant to § 122.23. The election was set for March 30, 1964, but on March 25, 1964, plaintiffs instituted the present action. At the outset plaintiffs obtained the order temporarily restraining defendants from proceeding with the consolidation proceedings. On April 13, 1964, defendants moved for an order vacating the temporary restraining order and for summary judgment on the grounds that the complaint failed to state a cause of action. This motion was granted on June 15, 1964.

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Independent School District No. 438 v. Engelstad
150 N.W.2d 563 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
142 N.W.2d 269, 273 Minn. 462, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 847, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/common-school-district-no-2667-v-anderson-minn-1966.