MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Representative McCoy

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-201, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE FUTURE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS TO POSSESS A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION OR GED EQUIVALENCY; TO AMEND SECTION 37-6-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE FOR THE REMOVAL FROM OFFICE OR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS MISSING FOUR OR MORE CONSECUTIVE BOARD MEETINGS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 37-7-201, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-7-201. In order for a person to be eligible to hold the office of trustee of any school district, such person must be a bona fide resident and a qualified elector of such school district, and, in the case of a school district lying in two (2) or more counties, but not including municipal separate school districts, such person must be a bona fide resident and a qualified elector of the territory entitled to such representation on the board. Beginning on the effective date of House Bill

SECTION 2. Section 37-6-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-6-11. (1) The school boards of all school districts shall meet regularly at such time and at such place as shall be designated by an order entered upon the minutes of the board. Special meetings of such boards shall be held upon the call of the president * * *, or upon the call of a majority of the members of the school board.

(2) Any school board member who is absent from four (4) or more consecutive meetings of the board for reasons other than illness of the member or a death in the member's family shall be removed from office in the following manner:

(a) If the school board member is holding office in an appointive position, the president of the school board shall certify to the appointing authority that the member is subject to removal from office. The appointing authority, by resolution duly adopted and spread upon its minutes, shall remove the school board member from office. The recovery created by the member's removal shall be filled in the same manner that other vacancies ont he board are filled.

(b) If the school board member is holding elective office, the president of the school board shall take such action as may be required by law to effectuate the person's removal from office. The vacancy created by the member's removal shall be filled in the same manner that other vacancies on the board are filled.

(3) For purposes of this subsection only, the term "family" means spouse, parent, stepparent, sibling, child or stepchild.

SECTION 3. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.