STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
OFFICE OF
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
October 29, 1975
Mr. Thomas C. Todd
State Superintendent
Division of Elementary and
Secondary Education
State Capitol Building
Pierre, South Dakota 57501
OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 75-184
Authority of multidistrict centers to offer special education and adult education programs
Dear Mr. Todd:
You have requested an opinion based on the following factual situation:
The Northwest Area Schools is a multi district created under the provisions of SDCL 13-39-40, et seq., and offers vocational educational programs for the school districts who are members of the multi district. The same school districts offer special education and adult education services for the same area under agreements authorized pursuant to SDCL 13-15.
Based on the above factual situation you have asked the following question:
May the multi district enter into agreements with the member school districts for the purpose of offering special education and adult education services for such member school districts?
As you have stated in your request, the provisions for multi district secondary occupational-vocational education are found in SDCL 13-39-40 to 13-39-64, inclusive.
The function of a multidistrict center, under the direction of a center board, is as follows:
13-39-52. It shall be the duty and function of a center board to provide vocational education in no less than five different occupational fields as approved by the state board to be available to all secondary school students residing in the participating school districts.
SDCL 13-39-53 then states, in part:
13-39-53. Multidistrict secondary occupational-vocational education centers shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the state board and to the same statutory requirements as school districts. A center board shall have the same power, authority, responsibility, and obligations as a school district board, except for the authority to levy taxes and issue bonds ....
It is my opinion that the second sentence of SDCL 13-39-53 authorizes the center board to enter into agreements with individual school districts to provide special education and adult education services.
The Legislature has provided for joint cooperative agreements between school districts for furnishing other educational opportunities. School districts are included as a "public agency" as that term is used in the Joint Powers Act (SDCL 1-24). Further, SDCL 13-15 authorizes school districts to enter into contracts and agreements with other political subdivisions for educational purposes and services. Thus, SDCL 13-39-53 must be interpreted as granting similar powers, except with regard to taxation and bonding, to the center boards.
If the Legislature had intended to restrict the authority of the center board strictly to the administration of vocational education programs within the multidistrict, it would not have enacted SDCL 13-39-53 in the form in which it did.
The answer to your question is YES.
Respectfully submitted,
William Janklow
Attorney General
WJJ:LLV:dk
