School District of Borough v. School District

Citations

• 77 Pa. Super. 75
• 1921 Pa. Super. LEXIS 211

Syllabus

<p>School code — Act of May 18,1911, P. L. 809, sections 1401,1402, and 1412 — Act of May 6, 1918, P. L. 192 — Residence of children— Districts — Liability for tuition.</p> <p>' Under the provisions of sections 1401, 1402 and 1412, of the Act of May 18, 1911, P. L. 309, (School Code) as amended by the Act of May 6, 1913, P. L. 192, a child who is an inmate of a charitable institution may attend the public school wherein the institution is situated, and the cost of his education must be paid by the district of which the child is a legal resident. “Residence” and “domicile” are not convertible terms and are not always equivalent. “Residence” is a word whose statutory meaning depends upon the legislative purpose, as well as the context of the statute. A child’s right to attend school in a district is not dependent on his parents’ or guardian’s right to vote therein or being taxed therein, or having acquired a legal domicile there, but only upon their residing in the district.</p> <p>In construing the school laws, the interpretation will he adopted which will be more likely to carry into effect the purpose of these laws, to provide all of the children residing within the Commonwealth with a good, common school education. The child is the paramount object of the school law and his education and not the exact apportionment of its cost among the various subdivisions of the Commonwealth, is its chief concern. A child whose parents reside in the district may go to school there whether or not his parents are legally domiciled there, or are entitled to vote there, or are taxed there, and the cost thereof may not be shifted to the district of his parents’ domicile.</p>