MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Education; Appropriations
By: Representatives Chism (By Request), Gibbs
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-104.2, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DESIGNATE THE WEST POINT CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT AS A COUNTYWIDE MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO PROVIDE THAT AFTER THE SPECIAL ELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS TO REPRESENT THE TERRITORY OUTSIDE OF THE INCORPORATED AREAS OF WEST POINT SUBSEQUENT BOARD MEMBERS FROM SUCH AREAS SHALL BE ELECTED BY THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS IN THE MANNER PRESCRIBED BY LAW; TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SUBMIT NEW DISTRICT LINES TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES FOR PRECLEARANCE; TO PERMIT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO GRANT A WAIVER OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND STATE ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS TO ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT ADMINISTRATIVELY CONSOLIDATED ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 2012, FOR A PERIOD OF TWO YEARS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 37-7-104.2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-7-104.2. (1) In Clay 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 West Point Consolidated School District which shall consist of the territory of the former Clay County School District and the West Point School District. The central administrative office of the West Point Consolidated School District shall be located in West Point, Mississippi.
(2) On or before September
1, 2013, the State Board of Education shall serve the local school boards in
Clay 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 West Point Consolidated School District, there shall be a new countywide
municipal separate school district board of trustees comprised of five (5)
members selected as follows: (a) the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City
of West Point shall appoint three (3) of the five (5) members, each to be
selected for a term of four (4) years; and (b) two (2) members to be elected
for a term of four (4) years by the electors of Clay County residing outside of
the West Point corporate limits who shall be residents of that territory and
who shall be elected in a November 2014 special election which shall be called
by the Governor for that purpose. All subsequent members of the board elected
from the territory outside of the West Point corporate limits shall be elected
for a term of four (4) years * * * by the county board of supervisors
in the manner prescribed in Section 37-7-203(1). All elected and appointed
members shall take office on the first Monday of January following the date of
their election or appointment. 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 located outside the West Point corporate limits into two (2)
new single member 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 districts residing in the proper
territory shall be eligible for appointment or election to the new Board of
Trustees for West Point Consolidated School District.
Any school district affected by the required administrative consolidation in Clay 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 selection of the new board of trustees. The affected school districts shall comply with any consolidation order issued by the State Board of Education on or before July 1 following the selection of the new school boards.
(3) On July 1 following the
selection of the new Board of Trustees of the West Point Consolidated School
District, the former * * *
Clay County School District and board of education and the former Board
of Trustees of the West Point School District 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 West Point Consolidated School District * * *.
* * * The Board of Trustees of the West Point
Consolidated School District shall be responsible for establishing the
contracts for teachers, * * * principals, clerical and administrative
staff for the * * *
2015-2016 school year following the required administrative
consolidation * * * and each
year thereafter. The new Board of Trustees for the West Point Consolidated
School District shall appoint the Superintendent of Schools for the school
district. The Superintendent of Schools for the West Point Consolidated School
District may appoint assistant superintendent(s) of schools for the district,
but in no instance shall the administrative leadership of the West Point
Consolidated School District exceed the number of assistant superintendents
employed in the former West Point 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. It shall be the responsibility of
the successor board of trustees to prepare and approve the budget of the 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 selected Board of Trustees of the West Point
Consolidated School District pursuant to the required administrative
consolidation may appeal therefrom within ten (10) days from the date of the
adjournment of the meeting at which such order is entered. Said appeal shall
be taken in the same manner as appeals are taken from judgments or decisions of
the board of supervisors as provided in Section 11-51-75, Mississippi Code of
1972, the provisions of which shall be fully applicable to appeals taken
hereunder. The Board of Trustees of the West Point Consolidated School
District shall not pass upon or approve or disapprove any such order until the
time for an appeal therefrom shall have expired, nor shall said board pass upon
or approve or disapprove any such order from which an appeal is taken until
said appeal shall have been finally determined.
(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.
(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 Clay 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. * * *
(7) For the initial two (2) years following the administrative consolidation required by this section, the State Department of Education may grant a waiver of accountability and state assessment requirements to the West Point Consolidated School District for the student population enrolled therein from the former Clay County School District when determining the new consolidated school district accreditation level on the performance and accountability rating model.
SECTION 2. The State Department of Education may grant a waiver of accountability and state assessment requirements to any school district administratively consolidated on or after July 1, 2012, for the student population enrolled in the newly consolidated district from the former school districts when determining the new consolidated school district's accreditation level on the performance and accountability rating model. The waiver granted under this section shall be applicable to all effected consolidated districts for the initial two (2) years following the establishment of the newly consolidated district as provided for in the provisions of law requiring an administrative consolidation.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.