Senate Bill 2713

AN ACT TO REQUIRE A REFERENDUM ON THE QUESTION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION OF THE EXISTING PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN CERTAIN COUNTIES BORDERING THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST INTO ONE COUNTYWIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO PROVIDE THAT ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN SUCH COUNTY SHALL BE ABOLISHED AND MERGED INTO A COUNTYWIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH ONE NEWLY ELECTED COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION AND ONE APPOINTED COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION IN THE EVENT THE REFERENDUM IS APPROVED; TO REQUIRE ALL SUCH SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO COMPLY WITH ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION ORDERS ISSUED BY THE SUCCESSOR COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION IN SUCH COUNTIES; TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER OF REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY OF AFFECTED SCHOOL DISTRICTS; TO PROVIDE FOR EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUBJECT TO SUCH ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION; TO PROVIDE FOR THE DUTY TO PAY THE OUTSTANDING DEBT OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS AFFECTED BY SUCH CONSOLIDATION; TO PROVIDE THAT SUCH ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION SHALL NOT REQUIRE THE CLOSING OF ANY SCHOOL OR FACILITY EXCEPT FOR ABOLISHED ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES; TO REQUIRE THE CONTINUED FUNDING OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS FROM LOCAL AD VALOREM AND GAMING SOURCES IN THE ABOLISHED DISTRICTS IN SUCH COUNTIES AT THE SAME LEVEL AS PRIOR TO THE REQUIRED CONSOLIDATION; TO PROVIDE FOR THE RULEMAKING AUTHORITY OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION REGARDING SUCH CONSOLIDATION AND THE SUBMISSION OF THE REORGANIZATION TO THE UNITED STATES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-103, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; TO AMEND SECTION 37-5-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE FOR THE NEW ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF THE REFERENDUM; TO AMEND SECTION 37-5-67, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE FOR AN APPOINTED COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION IN SUCH ADMINISTRATIVELY CONSOLIDATED COUNTY; TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT NO CHANGE IN THE ATTENDANCE ZONE OF ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL BE MADE BY A NEWLY ELECTED COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WHICH SUCCEEDS TO THE TERRITORY OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT WHICH IS ADMINISTRATIVELY CONSOLIDATED; TO AMEND SECTION 37-57-105, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) Referendum. In any Mississippi county bordering the Gulf of Mexico having a population in excess of one hundred eighty-nine thousand (189,000) according to the latest federal decennial census, in which is located a countywide school district and at least four (4) municipal separate school districts, there shall be held a referendum on the question of the administrative consolidation of all of the school districts in the county into a single countywide school district with one (1) administrative unit and one (1) school board, that is not required to close school facilities. The date of the referendum shall be on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2005. Notice of such referendum shall be published by the board of supervisors of such county once each week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the county, with the first publication of such notice to be made not less than twenty-one (21) days before the date fixed for the referendum and the last publication to be made not more than seven (7) days before the referendum. At the referendum, all qualified electors of such county may vote, and the ballots used in such referendum shall have printed thereon the words "FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION OF ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN ______________ COUNTY INTO ONE (1) COUNTYWIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT", and, on a separate line, "AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION OF ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN ______________ COUNTY INTO ONE (1) COUNTYWIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT", and the voters shall vote by placing a cross (X) or check (√) opposite their choice on the proposition. When the results of any such referendum shall have been canvassed by the county election commission and certified, the school districts in the county shall be administratively consolidated under the procedures specified in subsection (3) of this section, only if a majority of the qualified electors who vote in the election vote in favor of the proposition. In the event that a majority of the qualified electors who vote at the referendum vote in opposition to the proposition, a subsequent referendum on the issue of administrative consolidation shall be held within two (2) years from the date of the first referendum on a date to be established by the board of supervisors of such county. If the proposition is denied at the second referendum, no further referendum may be held on the question for a period of five (5) years. No public funds shall be used for the purpose of promoting the adoption of the referendum.

(2) Definitions. As used in this section:

(a) "Administrative annexation" means the joining of an affected school district or a part of the school district with a receiving district;

(b) "Administrative consolidation" means the joining of two (2) or more school districts to create a new single countywide school district with one (1) administrative unit pursuant to referendum, and one (1) school board that is not required to close school facilities;

(c) "Affected district" means a school district that loses territory or students as a result of administrative annexation or consolidation;

(d) "Resulting district" means the new countywide school district created from an affected district or districts as a result of administrative consolidation required pursuant to referendum.

(3) Administrative consolidation.

(a) There shall be an administrative consolidation of all school districts located in the county affected by the referendum required under subsection (1) if a majority of the qualified electors who vote in the election vote in favor of the proposition, as provided in this subsection (3). There shall be a new county board of education elected in the November general or special elections following the date of the referendum, which shall be elected as provided in Section 37-5-7, Mississippi Code of 1972. The new county board of education shall provide for the administrative consolidation of all school districts in the county into one (1) countywide school district embracing the entire county on or before July 1 next following the November election. Any school district affected by the required administrative consolidation that does not voluntarily consolidate with the countywide school district shall be administratively consolidated by the State Board of Education with the countywide school district in which such district is located, to be effective on July 1 following the election of the new county board of education. The State Board of Education shall promptly move on its own motion to administratively consolidate a school district which does not voluntarily consolidate in order to enable the affected school districts to reasonably accomplish the resulting administrative consolidation into one (1) countywide school district by July 1 following the election of the new county board of education. All affected school districts shall comply with any consolidation order issued by the county board of education or the State Board of Education, as the case may be, on or before July 1 following the election of the new county board of education.

(b) On July 1 following the election of the new county board of education, the former county board of education, the board of trustees of any municipal separate, special municipal separate, consolidated or line consolidated school district located in such county shall be abolished. All real and personal property which is owned or titled in the name of a school district located in such county shall be transferred to the countywide school district of the county in which such school district is located. Each affected school board shall be responsible for establishing the contracts for teachers and principals for the next school year following the required administrative consolidation with the consultation of the newly elected successor county board of education. The selection of the appointed county superintendent of education and the assistant superintendent of education in the central administration office of the successor countywide school district shall be the responsibility of the successor county board of education. No such administratively consolidated countywide school district shall have more than one (1) assistant county superintendent of education. It shall be the responsibility of the successor county board of education to prepare and approve the budget of the new countywide district, and the county board of education may use staff from the former school districts to prepare the budget. Any proposed order of the successor county board of education directing the transfer of the assets, real or personal property of an affected school district in the county, shall be submitted and approved by the State Board of Education. The finding of the State Board of Education shall be final and conclusive for the purposes of the transfer of property required by such administrative consolidation. Any person or school district aggrieved by an order of the successor county school board of education pursuant to the required administrative consolidation may appeal therefrom to the State Board of Education within ten (10) days from the date of the adjournment of the meeting at which such order is entered. Such appeal shall be de novo, and the finding of the State Board of Education upon such question shall be final and conclusive for the purpose of the approval or disapproval of the action by said county board of education.

(c) When any school district in such county is abolished under the provisions of this section, the abolition thereof shall not impair or release the property of such former school district from liability for the payment of the bonds or other indebtedness of such district and it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of said county to levy taxes on the property of said district so abolished from year to year according to the terms of such indebtedness until same shall be fully paid.

(d) In the administratively consolidated countywide school district created under this section, the ad valorem tax rate shall be determined as set forth under Section 37-57-1 et seq. When any school district in such county is abolished under the provisions of this section, the successor county board of education and the levying authority for the county shall levy a local ad valorem tax effort in dollars pursuant to the authority of Sections 37-57-1 et seq., which shall be sufficient to produce no less than the same amount provided by the abolished school districts in the county to the schools in such former districts for instructional purposes in the school year prior to such consolidation. Monies from gross revenue fee and license tax collections on legal gaming activities, which are allocated by local and private law to the schools located within school districts in the county which have been abolished under the provisions of this section, shall continue to receive the same allocations of funds according to the provisions of said local and private laws.

(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the closing of any school or school facility, unless such facility is an unneeded administrative office located within a school district which has been abolished under the provisions of this section. All administrative consolidations under this section shall be accomplished so as not to delay or in any manner negatively affect the desegregation of another school district in the county pursuant to court order. Individual schools and attendance centers in operation and located within a school district which has been abolished under the provisions of this section may continue to operate under the same name for a period of ten (10) years following such administrative consolidation, but may be merged or consolidated with other school facilities in the discretion of the successor county board of education pursuant to law following such ten-year period.

(f) The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations to facilitate the administrative consolidation of the school districts in a county pursuant to this section. When the orders of the successor county board of education adopting the boundaries of the successor countywide school district have been entered and are final, as approved by the State Board of Education, the new district lines shall be submitted by the State Board of Education with the assistance of the Attorney General to the Attorney General of the United States for preclearance or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended. In the event the change in the school district lines are precleared or approved, the State Board of Education shall formally declare the new lines as the new boundaries of the consolidated countywide school district.

SECTION 2. Section 37-7-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-7-103. From and after July 1, 1987, the school board of any school district shall have full jurisdiction, power and authority, at any regular meeting thereof or at any special meeting called for that purpose, to abolish such existing district, or to reorganize, change or alter the boundaries of any such district. In addition thereto, with the consent of the school board of the school district involved, the school board may add to such school district any part of the school district adjoining same, and with the consent of the school board of the school district involved, may detach territory from such school district and annex same to an adjoining district. Provided, however, that in any county having a referendum on the question of the administrative consolidation of the existing public school districts in the county into one (1) countywide school district as provided in Senate Bill No. 2713, 2005 Regular Session, the reorganization of such school districts shall follow the procedures specified in Section 1 thereof.

SECTION 3. Section 37-5-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-5-7. (1) On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May 1954, an election shall be held in each county in this state in the same manner as general state and county elections are held and conducted, which election shall be held for the purpose of electing the county boards of education established under the provisions of this chapter. At such election, the members of the said board from Supervisors Districts One and Two shall be elected for the term expiring on the first Monday of January 1957; members of the board from Supervisors Districts Three and Four shall be elected for a term expiring on the first Monday of January 1959; and the member of the board from Supervisors District Five shall be elected for a term expiring on the first Monday of January 1955. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), all subsequent members of the board shall be elected for a term of six (6) years at the regular general election held on the first Monday in November next preceding the expiration of the term of office of the respective member or members of such board. All members of the county board of education as herein constituted, shall take office on the first Monday of January following the date of their election.

(2) On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in any year in which any county shall elect to utilize the authority contained in Section 37-5-1(2), an election shall be held in each such county in this state for the purpose of electing the county boards of education in such counties. At said election the members of the said county board of education from Districts One and Two shall be elected for a term of four (4) years, the members from Districts Three and Four shall be elected for a term of six (6) years, and the member from District Five shall be elected for a term of (2) years. Thereafter, members shall be elected at general elections as vacancies occur for terms of six (6) years each. All members of the county board of education shall take office on the first Monday of January following the date of their election.

(3) Provided, however, that if a majority of the qualified electors vote in favor of the administrative consolidation of all school districts located in the county affected in Section 1 of Senate Bill No. 2713, 2005 Regular Session, there shall be a new county board of education elected in the November general or special election following the date of the referendum. The new county board of education shall be elected in the manner provided in Section 37-5-1 et seq., and shall be elected for terms of office consistent with the provisions of this section.

SECTION 4. Section 37-5-67, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-5-67. The county superintendent of education shall be appointed by the county board of education:

(a) In any county of the first class lying wholly within a levee district and within which there is situated a city of more than forty thousand (40,000) population according to the last federal decennial census;

(b) In any county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or Mississippi Sound, having therein a test facility operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;

(c) In any county bordering on the Alabama state line, traversed by the Tombigbee River, and in which is situated a senior institution of higher learning;

(d) In any county of the second class wherein Interstate Highway 55 and State Highway 22 intersect and which is also traversed in whole or in part by U.S. Highways 49 and 51, and State Highways 16, 17 and 43 and the Natchez Trace;

(e) In any Class 4 county having population in excess of twenty-five thousand (25,000) according to the 1960 federal census, traversed by U.S. Highway 55 and wherein State Highways 12 and 17 intersect;

(f) In any county created after 1916 through which the Yazoo River flows;

(g) In any Class 4 county having a land area of six hundred ninety-five (695) square miles, bordering on the State of Alabama, wherein the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit was signed and wherein U.S. Highway 45 and State Highway 14 intersect;

(h) In any county bordering on the Mississippi River wherein lies the campus of a land-grant institution or lands contiguous thereto owned by the institution;

(i) In any county lying within the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee District, bordering upon the Mississippi River, and having a county seat with a population in excess of twenty-one thousand (21,000) according to the federal census of 1960;

(j) In any Class 3 county wherein is partially located a national forest and wherein U.S. Highway 51 and State Highway 28 intersect, with a 1960 federal census of twenty-seven thousand fifty-one (27,051) and a 1963 assessed valuation of Sixteen Million Six Hundred Ninety-two Thousand Three Hundred Four Dollars ($16,692,304.00); * * *

(k) In any Class 1 county wherein U.S. Highway 49 and State Highway 16 intersect, having a land area in excess of nine hundred thirty (930) square miles; and

(l) In any county wherein the electors have voted in favor of an administrative consolidation of all school districts located in the county into one (1) countywide school district pursuant to the referendum required in Section 1 of Senate Bill No. 2713, 2005 Regular Session.

SECTION 5. Section 37-15-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-15-13. When any child qualified under the requirements of Section 37-15-9 shall apply or present himself for enrollment in or admission to the public schools of any school district of this state, the school board of such school district shall have the power and authority to designate the particular school or attendance center of the district in which such child shall be enrolled and which he shall attend; no enrollment of a child in a school shall be final or permanent until such designation shall be made by said school board. No child shall be entitled to attend any school or attendance center except that to which he has been assigned by the school board; however, the principal of a school or superintendent of the district may, in proper cases, permit a child to attend a school temporarily until a permanent assignment is made by the school board. Provided, that no change in the attendance zone of any school district shall be made by a newly elected county board of education which succeeds to the territory of a school district which is administratively consolidated under the requirements of Section 1 of Senate Bill No. 2713, 2005 Regular Session.

SECTION 6. Section 37-57-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-57-105. (1) In addition to the taxes levied under Section 37-57-1, the levying authority for the school district, as defined in Section 37-57-1, upon receipt of a certified copy of an order adopted by the school board of the school district requesting an ad valorem tax effort in dollars for the support of the school district, shall, at the same time and in the same manner as other ad valorem taxes are levied, levy an annual ad valorem tax in the amount fixed in such order upon all of the taxable property of such school district, which shall not be less than the millage rate certified by the State Board of Education as the uniform minimum school district ad valorem tax levy for the support of the adequate education program in such school district under Section 37-57-1. Provided, however, that any school district levying less than the uniform minimum school district ad valorem tax levy on July 1, 1997, shall only be required to increase its local district maintenance levy in four (4) mill annual increments in order to attain such millage requirements. In making such levy, the levying authority shall levy an additional amount sufficient to cover anticipated delinquencies and costs of collection so that the net amount of money to be produced by such levy shall be equal to the amount which is requested by said school board. The proceeds of such tax levy, excluding levies for the payment of the principal of and interest on school bonds or notes and excluding levies for costs of collection, shall be placed in the school depository to the credit of the school district and shall be expended in the manner provided by law for the purpose of supplementing teachers' salaries, extending school terms, purchasing furniture, supplies and materials, and for all other lawful operating and incidental expenses of such school district, funds for which are not provided by adequate education program fund allotments.

The monies authorized to be received by school districts from the School Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund pursuant to Section 37-61-35 shall be included as ad valorem tax receipts. The levying authority for the school district, as defined in Section 37-57-1, shall reduce the ad valorem tax levy for such school district in an amount equal to the amount distributed to such school district from the School Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund each calendar year pursuant to said Section 37-61-35. Such reduction shall not be less than the millage rate necessary to generate a reduction in ad valorem tax receipts equal to the funds distributed to such school district from the School Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund pursuant to Section 37-61-35. Such reduction shall not be deemed to be a reduction in the aggregate amount of support from ad valorem taxation for purposes of Section 37-19-11. The millage levy certified by the State Board of Education as the uniform minimum ad valorem tax levy or the millage levy that would generate funds in an amount equal to a school district's district entitlement, as defined in Section 37-22-1(2)(e), shall be subject to the provisions of this paragraph.

In any county where there is located a nuclear generating power plant on which a tax is assessed under Section 27-35-309(3), such required levy and revenue produced thereby may be reduced by the levying authority in an amount in proportion to a reduction in the base revenue of any such county from the previous year. Such reduction shall be allowed only if the reduction in base revenue equals or exceeds five percent (5%). "Base revenue" shall mean the revenue received by the county from the ad valorem tax levy plus the revenue received by the county from the tax assessed under Section 27-35-309(3) and authorized to be used for any purposes for which a county is authorized by law to levy an ad valorem tax. For purposes of determining if the reduction equals or exceeds five percent (5%), a levy of millage equal to the prior year's millage shall be hypothetically applied to the current year's ad valorem tax base to determine the amount of revenue to be generated from the ad valorem tax levy. For the purposes of this section and Section 37-57-107, the portion of the base revenue used for the support of any school district shall be deemed to be the aggregate receipts from ad valorem taxes for the support of any school district. This paragraph shall apply to taxes levied for the 1987 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter. If the Mississippi Supreme Court or another court finally adjudicates that the tax levied under Section 27-35-309(3) is unconstitutional, then this paragraph shall stand repealed.

(2) When the tax is levied upon the territory of any school district located in two (2) or more counties, the order of the school board requesting the levying of such tax shall be certified to the levying authority of each of the counties involved, and each of the levying authorities shall levy the tax in the manner specified herein. The taxes so levied shall be collected by the tax collector of the levying authority involved and remitted by the tax collector to the school depository of the home county to the credit of the school district involved as provided above, except that taxes for collection fees may be retained by the levying authority for deposit into its general fund.

(3) The aggregate receipts from ad valorem taxes levied for school district purposes, excluding collection fees, pursuant to this section and Section 37-57-1 shall be subject to the increased limitation under Section 37-57-107; however, if the ad valorem tax effort in dollars requested by the school district for the fiscal year exceeds the next preceding fiscal year's ad valorem tax effort in dollars by more than four percent (4%) but not more than seven percent (7%), then the school board shall publish notice thereof once each week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the school district involved, with the first publication thereof to be made not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the final adoption of the budget by the school board. If at any time prior to said adoption a petition signed by not less than twenty percent (20%) or fifteen hundred (1500), whichever is less, of the qualified electors of the school district involved shall be filed with the school board requesting that an election be called on the question of exceeding the next preceding fiscal year's ad valorem tax effort in dollars by more than four percent (4%) but not more than seven percent (7%), then the school board shall, not later than the next regular meeting, adopt a resolution calling an election to be held within such school district upon such question. The election shall be called and held, and notice thereof shall be given, in the same manner for elections upon the questions of the issuance of the bonds of school districts, and the results thereof shall be certified to the school board. The ballot shall contain the language "For the School Tax Increase Over Four Percent (4%)" and "Against the School Tax Increase Over Four Percent (4%)." If a majority of the qualified electors of the school district who voted in such election shall vote in favor of the question, then the stated increase requested by the school board shall be approved. For the purposes of this paragraph, the revenue sources excluded from the increased limitation under Section 37-57-107 shall also be excluded from the limitation described herein in the same manner as they are excluded under Section 37-57-107.

(4) When any school district is abolished pursuant to a mandatory administrative consolidation of school districts ordered by referendum of the electors of the county, as provided in Section 1 of Senate Bill No. 2713, 2005 Regular Session, the successor county board of education shall request and the levying authority for the county shall levy a local ad valorem tax effort in dollars which shall be sufficient to produce no less than the same amount provided by the abolished school districts in the county to the schools in such former districts for instructional purposes in the school year prior to such consolidation.

SECTION 7. 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 8. 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.