House Bill 716

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT IN OKTIBBEHA COUNTY THERE SHALL BE AN ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION INTO ONE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO BE DESIGNATED AS STARKVILLE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP AND PROMULGATE A CONSOLIDATION ORDER FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE COUNTY UNDER CERTAIN STANDARDS; TO PROVIDE FOR THE NEW BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO BE ELECTED IN THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT IN A NOVEMBER 2014 SPECIAL ELECTION; TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ADMINISTRATIVELY CONSOLIDATE ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT WHICH DOES NOT VOLUNTARILY FOLLOW THE CONSOLIDATION ORDER; TO ABOLISH THE FORMER SCHOOL BOARDS FOLLOWING THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION AND PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER OF SCHOOL DISTRICT ASSETS AND LIABILITIES; TO PROVIDE FOR EXECUTION OF TEACHER AND SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS IN THE NEW SCHOOL DISTRICT AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE PREPARATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET IN THE NEW SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS TO IMPLEMENT SUCH ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION; TO PROVIDE A TWO-YEAR WAIVER FROM ACCOUNTABILITY AND STATE ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE NEW STUDENT POPULATION TO ESTABLISH THE "SCHOOL DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION AND EFFICIENCY FUND" AS A SPECIAL FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY; TO PROVIDE FOR THE APPROPRIATION AND DEPOSIT OF FUNDS INTO THE FUND FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUBJECT TO CONSOLIDATION ORDERS; TO LIMIT THE TOTAL AGGREGATE SUM APPROPRIATED TO THE FUND TO $1,000,000.00; TO LIMIT THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT THAT A DISTRICT SUBJECT TO THE CONSOLIDATION ORDER TO $200,000.00 PER DISTRICT; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-103, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) In Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, in which are located, as of January 1, 2013, two (2) school districts, there shall be an administrative consolidation of all of those school districts in the county into one (1) new consolidated school district to be designated as Starkville Consolidated School District which shall consist of the territory of the former Oktibbeha County School District and the Starkville School District. The central administrative office of the Starkville Consolidated School District shall be located in Starkville, Mississippi.

(2) On or before September 1, 2013, the State Board of Education shall serve the local school boards in Oktibbeha County with notice and instructions regarding the timetable for action to be taken to comply with the administrative consolidation required in this section. The State Board of Education shall provide for the administrative consolidation of the school districts in the county on or before July 1, 2015. In the new consolidated school district there shall be a new consolidated school district board of trustees elected in a November 2014 special election which shall be called by the Governor for that purpose. The new consolidated school district board of trustees shall be elected and the terms of office established as provided in Section 37-7-207, Mississippi Code of 1972. The State Board of Education with the assistance of the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall apportion the territory of the new consolidated school district into five (5) new board of trustee election districts. The State Board of Education shall thereafter publish the same in some newspaper of general circulation in the county for at least three (3) consecutive weeks and after having given notice of publication and recording the same upon the minutes of the school boards of each school district in the county, the new district lines will thereafter be effective for the November 2014 special election. Any school board member of the former school district residing in the proper election district shall be eligible for election to the new board of trustees for Starkville Consolidated School District. The local school board of the new consolidated school district shall reapportion the school board districts in accordance with the procedure described in Section 37-7-207, Mississippi Code of 1972, as is necessary as soon as practicable after the 2020 decennial census is published and as soon as practicable after every decennial census thereafter. Any school district affected by the required administrative consolidation in the county that does not voluntarily consolidate as ordered by the State Board of Education shall be administratively consolidated by the State Board of Education, to be effective on July 1 following the election of the new local school board. 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) consolidated school district by July 1 following the election of the new school board. The affected school districts shall comply with any consolidation order issued by the State Board of Education on or before July 1 following the election of the new school boards.

(3) On July 1 following the election of the new school board of trustees in Oktibbeha County, the former county board of education and the former board of trustees of Starkville Public Schools shall be abolished. All real and personal property which is owned or titled in the name of a school district located in such former school district shall be transferred to the new reorganized school district of Starkville Consolidated School District in which such former school district is located. Each former 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 school board. The new Board of Trustees for the Starkville Consolidated School District shall appoint the Superintendent of Schools for the school district and assistant superintendent(s) of schools, but in no instance shall the administrative leadership of the Starkville Consolidated School District exceed the number of assistant superintendents than the former Starkville School District. The subsequent superintendent of schools of the reorganized school district shall not be elected, but shall thereafter be appointed by the successor board of trustees in the manner provided in Section 37-9-25. No superintendent serving in the former school district located in the county designated as an under-performing school district or placed under conservatorship shall be eligible for appointment as a superintendent in the Starkville Consolidated School District. Likewise, no trustee serving in the former school district located in the county designated as an under-performing school district or placed under conservatorship shall be eligible for election to the new board of trustees of the Starkville Consolidated School District. It shall be the responsibility of the successor board of trustees to prepare and approve the budget of the respective new reorganized district, and the successor board of trustees may use staff from the former school districts to prepare the budget. Any proposed order of the State Board of Education directing the transfer of the assets, real or personal property of an affected school district in the county, 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 newly elected board of trustees of a consolidated school district 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.

(4) When any school district in the county is abolished under the provisions of this section, the abolition thereof shall not impair or release the property of that former school district from liability for the payment of the bonds or other indebtedness of such district. Should any district at the time of consolidation have more liabilities than assets, then the successor board of trustees may levy an ad valorem tax upon the taxable property in the territory of the district where the deficit exists, not to exceed five percent (5%) of the existing tax levy, for the sole purpose of reducing the deficit. When the deficit is eliminated, then the tax levy shall be terminated. Any taxes levied to bring about the equalization of funding, to equalize pay scales or levied in the territory of the new consolidated school district where a deficit exists, shall constitute a "new program" for the purposes of ad valorem tax limitations as prescribed in Sections 27-39-321 and 37-57-107.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the closing of any school or school facility, unless the 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.

(6) The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations to facilitate the administrative consolidation of the school districts in Oktibbeha County pursuant to this section. The consolidated districts shall make an election within one (1) year of consolidation concerning the group term life insurance described in subsection (7) of Section 25-15-9. When the orders of the State Board of Education adopting the boundaries of the successor board of trustees election districts have been entered and are final, as directed 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 and election districts are precleared or approved, the State Board of Education shall formally declare the new lines as the new boundaries of the successor school district.

(7) For the initial two (2) years following the administrative consolidation required by this section, the State Department of Education shall grant a waiver of accountability and state assessment requirements to the Starkville Consolidated School District for the student population enrolled therein from the former Oktibbeha County School District when determining the new consolidated school district accreditation level on the performance and accountability rating model.

SECTION 2. (1) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the "School District Consolidation and Efficiency Fund. The fund shall consist of all monies appropriated by the Legislature as authorized under subsection (2) of this section and any other funds deposited therein under the provisions of this act. The principal of the fund shall remain inviolate and shall be invested as provided by law. Interest and income derived from investment of the principal of the fund may be expended by the State Board of Education, upon appropriation by the Legislature, only for the purpose of providing financial assistance to the school districts consolidating under Sections 37-7-104 and 37-7-104.1 and Section 1 of this act. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned on amounts in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.

(2) Subject to appropriations by the Legislature, in order to consolidate all school districts described under subsection (1) of this section, the State Board of Education shall provide financial assistance to the consolidating school districts in an amount to be established by the state board for each student in average daily attendance in the county. Upon receipt of the order of each school board within a county adopting the new district lines under Section 1 of this act, the State Board of Education shall allot to the fund such sums that in the aggregate do not exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), which such school districts shall not exceed the receipt of funds in the aggregate of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) per administratively consolidated district. The total amount allotted to the school districts that qualify for assistance shall be prorated among the various districts based upon each district's average daily attendance. Each school district shall use the funds to facilitate the transition to the new consolidated school districts or countywide district.

SECTION 3. 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 the consent of the school board of the school districts involved in implementing the provisions of Section 37-7-104 * * *~~, Mississippi Code of 1972,~~ or Section 1 of this act shall not be required for the administrative consolidation of such school districts pursuant to the order of the State Board of Education.

SECTION 4. 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 5. 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.