Texas Advisory Opinions December 29, 1972: AGO M-1290 (December 29, 1972)

No. M-1290 (1972).

Your request for an opinion asks the following questions:

" (1) Legally, may the candidate-elect from District 20 qualify as a member and serve on the State Board of Education beginning January 1, 1973, whether or not s(he) continues to be employed by a Texas school district?

" (2) If the answer to (1) is in the negative: Does there come into existence a vacancy beginning January 1, 1973 to be filled in the manner set out in Code Section 11.22(k)?"

You state in your request that the candidate-elect in Congressional District 20 was employed as a teacher in the Edgewood Independent School District prior to the 1972 general election and is still so employed.

Our answer to question (1) is "no".

Section 11.22 of the Texas Education Code provides the qualifications for membership on the State Board of Education. Subdivision (b) of Section 11.22 reads as follows:

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"(b). No person shall be eligible for election to or serve on the board if he holds an office with the State of Texas or any political subdivision thereof, or holds employment with or receives any compensation for services from the State or any political subdivision thereof (except retirement benefits paid by the State of Texas or the federal government), or engages in organized public educational activity." (Emphasis added.)

The language of the foregoing statute is clear. Under its terms the individual in question may not serve on the State Board of Education.

Our answer to question 2 is "yes". Since the candidate-elect is ineligible to serve, then a vacancy exists and Section 11.22 (k), Texas Education Code, provides the method of filling vacancies on the Board.

A candidate-elect who is employed as a teacher is ineligible to serve on the State Board of Education under Section 11.22(b) of the Texas Education Code. The vacant position on the Board is to be filled in accordance with the provisions of Section 11.22(k) of the Texas Education Code.