Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-529 Page: 2 of 6
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Mr. William N. Kirby - Page 2
personal improvement, except as hereinafter
excluded. (Emphasis added).
Educ. Code 532.11(1). This, the definition of "proprietary school"
expressly includes an organization that teaches courses for the
purpose of "avocational or personal improvement." However, the act
specifically exempts from the definition of "proprietary school"
a school or training program which offers
instruction of purely avocational or recreational
subjects as determined by the administrator.
Educ. Code $32.12(a)(3)..
Although there are slight differences in wording, the exemption
in section 32.12(a)(3) appears to negate the specific inclusion in the
definition of "proprietary school" of courses taught for purposes of
"avocational or personal improvement." Statutes apparently in
conflict should be given the most reasonable construction that can be
placed on them consistent with the intent of the legislature. State
v. Jackson, 370 S.W.2d 797, 800 (Tex. Civ. App. - Houston 1963) aff'd,
376 S.W.2d 341 (Tex. 1964)
A committee report to the Sixty-second Legislature and a law
review article both show that the concerns that gave rise to the
Proprietary School Act were focused on regulation of vocational
education in Texas. The Report of the Senate Committee on Vocational-
Technical Education to the 62nd Leg., January 1971; Comment, The
Proprietary Vocational School: The Need for Regulation in Texas, 49
Tex. L. Rev. 69 (1970). Also, the act exempts schools that teach
subjects that are "purely" avocational or recreational. Subjects are
not inherently avocational or recreational. Rather, a subject such as
cooking may be vocational or avocational depending on a particular
person's relationship to the subject. We assume that the legislature
intended to exempt schools that teach subjects that are avocational or
recreational for most people and that do not claim to be offering
vocational training. Therefore, we conclude that the most reasonable
reading of section 32.11(1) together with section 32.12(a)(3) is that
a school that teaches court ses primarily for vocational training is a
proprietary school, even if the purpose of some of its courses is
merely "avocational or personal improvement." On the other hand, if a
school teaches subject matter that is primarily considered to be
recreational or avocational and if it does not hold itself out to be
offering vocational training, then it is exempted from the provisions
of the Proprietary Schcol Act under section 32.12(a) (3). The
legislature left it to the discretion of the commissioner of education
to determine which subjects are primarily avocational or recreational.
Educ. Code 32.12(a)(3).p. 2435
(JM-529)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-529, text, August 7, 1986; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth272969/m1/2/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.