MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2014 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Representative Mayo

House Bill 443

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE ELECTION OF ALL SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS AND TO ESTABLISH A TERM OF FOUR YEARS FOR ALL SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS; TO PROVIDE THAT THREE MEMBERS OF EACH SCHOOL BOARD WILL  BE ELECTED AT THE TIME OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND TWO MEMBERS WILL BE ELECTED AT THE NOVEMBER ELECTION TWO YEARS AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION; TO AMEND SECTION 37-5-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE TIME OF THE ELECTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY BOARDS OF EDUCATION AND TO ESTABLISH A TERM OF FOUR YEARS FOR THAT OFFICE; TO AMEND SECTION 37-5-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-203, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE TIME OF THE ELECTION OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND SPECIAL MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND TO ESTABLISH A TERM OF FOUR YEARS FOR THAT OFFICE; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-207, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE TIME OF THE ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARDS OF TRUSTEES OF CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND LINE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE SAME MANNER AND TO ESTABLISH A TERM OF FOUR YEARS FOR THOSE OFFICES; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-703, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE TIME OF THE ELECTION OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE COUNTYWIDE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND TO ESTABLISH A TERM OF FOUR YEARS FOR THAT OFFICE; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-713, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE TIME OF THE ELECTION OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT EMBRACE LESS THAN THE ENTIRE COUNTY AND TO ESTABLISH A TERM OF FOUR YEARS FOR THAT OFFICE; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 37-7-204 AND 37-7-209 THROUGH 37-7-229, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE CERTAIN METHODS FOR FILLING VACANCIES AND ELECTING TRUSTEES OF MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, SPECIAL MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND LINE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICTS; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 37-7-705 THROUGH 37-7-711, 37-7-715 AND 37-7-717, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE ADDITIONAL METHODS FOR SELECTING TRUSTEES OF SPECIAL MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-7-104, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REQUIRES THE CONSOLIDATION OF CERTAIN COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS UNDER CONSERVATORSHIP, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-7-104.1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REQUIRES THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION OF CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN BOLIVAR COUNTY, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-7-104.2, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REQUIRES THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION OF ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN CLAY COUNTY, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-7-104.3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REQUIRES THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION OF ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-201, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ESTABLISH EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE OFFICE OF SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-9-12, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN WHICH THE SUPERINTENDENT IS ELECTED TO HOLD AN ELECTION ON THE QUESTION OF CHANGING FROM THE ELECTIVE TO THE APPOINTIVE METHOD OF SELECTING THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  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, 1954November 2016, an election shall be held in each county in this state in the same manner and at the same time as * * * general state and county elections arethe presidential election is held and conducted, * * * which election shall be held for the purpose of electing members of 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.  At the 2016 election, the members of the board from Supervisors Districts One and Two shall be elected to serve an initial term of two (2) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2019, and the members of the board from Supervisors Districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for an initial term of four (4) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2021.  Except for the initial term of two (2) years for the members elected from Supervisors Districts One and Two in the 2016 election, the term of office for all school board members shall be four (4) years. 

At the election held in November 2018 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from Supervisors Districts One and Two shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  At the election held in November 2020 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from Supervisors Districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  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. However, in order to provide for an orderly transition, the term of each member of the board serving on July 1, 2015, which otherwise would expire after the first Monday in January 2017, shall expire on the first Monday of January 2017.  Each member of the board whose term expires after July 1, 2015, but before the first Monday of January 2017, shall continue to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term, at which time the vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided in Section 37-5-19.

     (2)  On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2016, 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 the 2016 election, the members of the * * * saidcounty board of education from Districts One and Two shall be elected for * * *a an initial 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.  two (2) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2019, and the members of the board from Districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for an initial term of four (4) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2021.  Except for the initial term of two (2) years for the members elected from Supervisors Districts One and Two in the 2016 election, the term of office for all school board members shall be four (4) years.

At the election held in November 2018 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from Districts One and Two shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  At the election held in November 2020 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from Districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for a term of four (4) 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.

However, in order to provide for an orderly transition, the term of each member of the board serving on July 1, 2015, which otherwise would expire after the first Monday in January 2017, shall expire on the first Monday of January 2017.  Each member of the board whose term expires after July 1, 2015, but before the first Monday of January 2017, shall continue to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term, at which time the vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided in Section 37-5-19.

     SECTION 2.  Section 37-5-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-5-19.  Vacancies in the membership of the county board of education shall be filled by appointment, within sixty (60) days after the vacancy occurs, by the remaining members of the county board of education.  Said appointee shall be selected from the qualified electors of the district in which the vacancy occurs, and shall serve until the first Monday of January next succeeding the next * * * general scheduled election for the district in which the vacancy occurs, at which * * * general election a member shall be elected to fill the remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner and with the same qualifications applicable to the election of a member for the full term.  However, if the vacancy occurs more than ninety (90) days before the general election in a calendar year during which a general state election will be held, the appointee shall serve until the first Monday of January next succeeding the general state election, at which election a member will be elected to fill the remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner and with the same qualifications applicable to the election of a member for the full term.  In the event the school district is under conservatorship and no members of the county board of education remain in office, the Governor shall call a special election to fill the vacancies and said election will be conducted by the county election commission.

     In the event the vacancy occurs more than five (5) months prior to the next general election and the remaining members of the county board of education are unable to agree upon an individual to be appointed, any two (2) of the remaining members may certify such disagreement to the county election commission.  Upon the receipt of such a certificate by the county election commission, or any member thereof, the commission shall hold a special election to fill the vacancy, which said election, notice thereof and ballot shall be controlled by the laws concerning special elections to fill vacancies in county or county district offices.  The person elected at such a special election shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.

     SECTION 3.  Section 37-7-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-7-203.  (1)  * * * Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, tThe boards of trustees of all municipal separate school districts and all special municipal separate school districts created under this chapter, either with or without added territory, shall consist of five (5) members, each to be * * * chosen elected for a term of * * * five (5)four (4) years * * *, but so chosen that the term of office of one (1) member shall expire each year.  In the event the added territory of a municipal separate school district furnishes fifteen percent (15%) or more of the pupils enrolled in the schools of such district, then at least one (1) member of the board of trustees of such school district shall be a resident of the added territory outside the corporate limits.  In the event the added territory of a municipal separate school district furnishes thirty percent (30%) or more of the pupils enrolled in the schools of such district, then not more than two (2) members of the board of trustees of such school district shall be residents of the added territory outside the corporate limits.  In the event the added territory of a municipal separate school district in a county in which Mississippi Highways 8 and 15 intersect furnishes thirty percent (30%) or more of the pupils enrolled in the schools of such district, then the five (5) members of the board of trustees of such school district shall be elected at large from such school district for a term of five (5) years each except that the two (2) elected trustees presently serving on such board shall continue to serve for their respective terms of office.  The three (3) appointed trustees presently serving on such board shall continue to serve until their successors are elected in March of 1975 in the manner provided for in Section 37-7-215.  At such election, one (1) trustee shall be elected for a term of two (2) years, one (1) for a term of three (3) years and one (1) for a term of five (5) years.  Subsequent terms for each successor trustee shall be for five (5) years.  In the event one (1) of two (2) municipal separate school districts located in any county with two (2) judicial districts, District 1 being comprised of Supervisors Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5, and District 2 being comprised of Supervisors District 3, with added territory embraces three (3) full supervisors districts of a county, one (1) trustee shall be elected from each of the three (3) supervisors districts outside the corporate limits of the municipality.  In the further event that the territory of a municipal separate school district located in any county with two (2) judicial districts, District 1 being comprised of Supervisors Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5, and District 2 being comprised of Supervisors District 3, with added territory embraces four (4) full supervisors districts in the county, and in any county in which a municipal separate school district embraces the entire county in which Highways 14 and 15 intersect, one (1) trustee shall be elected from each supervisors district.

Except as otherwise provided herein, the trustees of such a municipal separate school district shall be elected by a majority of the governing authorities of the municipality at the first meeting of the governing authorities held in the month of February of each year, and the term of office of the member so elected shall commence on the first Saturday of March following.  In the case of a member of the board of trustees who is required to come from the added territory outside the corporate limits as is above provided, such member of the board of trustees shall be elected by the qualified electors of the school district residing in such added territory outside the corporate limits at the same time and in the same manner as is otherwise provided in this article for the election of trustees of school districts other than municipal separate school districts.

In the event that a portion of a county school district is reconstituted, in the manner provided by law, into a municipal separate school district with added territory and in the event that the trustees to be elected from the added territory are requested to be elected from separate election districts within the added territory, instead of elected at large, by the Attorney General of the United States as a result of and pursuant to preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended, and in the event the added territory of a municipal separate school district of a municipality furnishes thirty percent (30%) or more of the pupils enrolled in the schools of such district, then two (2) members of the board of trustees shall be residents of the added territory outside the corporate limits of such municipality and shall be elected from special trustee election districts by the qualified electors thereof as herein provided.  The board of trustees of the school district shall apportion the added territory into two (2) special trustee election districts as nearly as possible according to population and other factors heretofore pronounced by the courts.  The board of trustees of the school district shall thereafter publish the same in a newspaper of general circulation within that school district for at least two (2) consecutive weeks; and after having given notice of publication and recording the same upon the minutes of the board of trustees of the school district, the new district lines shall thereafter be effective.  Any person elected from the new trustee election districts constituted herein shall be elected in the manner provided for in Section 37-7-215 for a term of five (5) years.  Any vacancy in the office of a trustee elected from such trustee election district, whether occasioned by redistricting or by other cause, shall be filled by appointment of the governing authorities of the municipality, provided that the person so appointed shall serve only until the next general election following his appointment, at which time a person shall be elected for the remainder of the unexpired term in the manner provided in Section 37-7-215. in the manner provided in this section.  On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2016, an election shall be held in each municipal separate school district and special municipal separate school district in this state, in the same manner and at the same time as the presidential election is held and conducted, for the purpose of electing the members of the board of trustees.  Each member of the board of trustees shall take office on the first Monday of January following the date of their election.  The five (5) members of the board of trustees of the school district shall be elected from special trustee election districts by the qualified electors of the districts, as provided in this section.  The governing authority of the municipality shall apportion the municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district, including added territory, into five (5) special trustee election districts as nearly equal as possible according to population, incumbency and other factors pronounced by the courts before July 1, 2015.  The municipal governing authority shall place upon its minutes the boundaries determined for the new five (5) trustee election districts and shall publish the same in a newspaper of general circulation within the school district for at least three (3) consecutive weeks.  After having given notice of publication and recording the same upon the minutes of the municipal governing authority, the new district lines shall be effective. 

At the 2016 election, the members of the board of trustees from election districts One and Two shall be elected for an initial term of two (2) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2019, and the members of the board from election districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for an initial term of four (4) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2021.  Except for the initial term of two (2) years for the members elected from districts One and Two in the 2016 election, the term of office for all trustees shall be four (4) years.

At the election held in November 2018 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board of trustees from election districts One and Two shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  At the election held in November 2020 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from election districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  However, in order to provide for an orderly transition, the term of each member of the board of trustees serving on July 1, 2015, which otherwise would expire after the first Monday in January 2017, shall expire on the first Monday of January 2017.  Each member of the board whose term expires after July 1, 2015, but before the first Monday of January 2017, shall continue to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term, at which time the vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided in subsection (2) of this section.

(2)  Vacancies in the membership of the board of trustees of any municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district must be filled by appointment within sixty (60) days after the vacancy occurs by the remaining members of the board of trustees.  The appointee must be selected from the qualified electors of the trustee election district in which the vacancy occurs and shall serve until the first Monday of January next succeeding the next scheduled election for the election district in which the vacancy occurs, at which election a member shall be elected for a full term.  The president of the municipal governing authority shall certify to the Secretary of State the fact of the appointment, and the person appointed shall be commissioned by the Governor.   However, if the vacancy occurs more than ninety (90) days before the general election in a calendar year during which a general state election will be held, the appointee shall serve until the first Monday of January next succeeding the general state election, at which election a member will be elected to fill the remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner and with the same qualifications applicable to the election of a member for the full term.

If the vacancy occurs more than five (5) months before the next scheduled election for the election district in which the vacancy occurs and the remaining members of the board of trustees are unable to agree upon an individual to be appointed, any two (2) of the remaining members may certify the disagreement to the municipal governing authority.  Upon the receipt of such a certificate, the president of the municipal governing authority shall make an order in writing directed to the commissioners of election, commanding an election to be held on the next regular special election day to fill the vacancy.  The election commissioners shall require each candidate to qualify at least sixty (60) days before the date of the election.  The election, notice thereof and ballot shall be controlled by the laws concerning special elections to fill vacancies in other municipal offices.  The election commissioners shall give a certificate of election to the person elected and shall return to the Secretary of State a copy of the order of holding the election and showing the results, certified by the president of the municipal governing authority.  The Governor shall commission the person elected at the special election, who shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. 

However, if only one (1) person qualifies to be a candidate within the time provided by law, the commissioners of election shall certify to the municipal governing authority that there is but one (1) candidate.  The municipal governing authority shall dispense with the election and shall appoint the candidate that is certified to fill the unexpired term.  The president of the municipal governing authority shall certify to the Secretary of State the candidate that is appointed to serve in the office, and the Governor shall commission that candidate.  If no person has qualified at least sixty (60) days before the date of the election, the commissioners of election shall certify that fact to the municipal governing authority, which shall dispense with the election and fill the vacancy by appointment.  The president of the municipal governing authority shall certify to the Secretary of State the fact of the appointment, and the Governor shall commission the person appointed.

     SECTION 4.  Section 37-7-207, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-7-207.  (1)  All school districts reconstituted or created under the provisions of Article * * * 1 3 of this chapter, and which lie wholly within one (1) county, but not including municipal separate and countywide districts, shall be governed by a board of five (5) trustees.  The first board of trustees of such districts shall be appointed by the county board of education, and the original appointments shall be so made that one (1) trustee shall be appointed to serve until the first Saturday of March following such appointments, one (1) for one (1) year longer, one (1) for two (2) years longer, one (1) for three (3) years longer, and one (1) for four (4) years longer.  After such original appointments, the trustees of such school districts shall be elected by the qualified electors of such school districts in the manner provided for in * * * Sections 37-7-223 through 37-7-229, with each trustee to be elected for a term of five (5) yearsthis section.  The five (5) members of the board of trustees of such consolidated school district shall be elected from special trustee election districts by the qualified electors thereof, as herein provided.  The board of trustees of any such consolidated school district shall apportion the consolidated school district into five (5) special trustee election districts.  The board of trustees of such school district shall place upon its minutes the boundaries determined for the new five (5) trustee election districts.  The board of trustees shall thereafter publish the same in a newspaper of general circulation within said school district for at least three (3) consecutive weeks; and after having given notice of publication and recording the same upon the minutes of the board of trustees, said new district lines shall thereafter be effective.

     On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2016, in * * * any year in which anyeach consolidated school district * * *shall elect to utilize the authority to create single member election districts, an election shall be held in * * * each such district in this state the same manner and at the same time as the presidential election is held and conducted for the purpose of electing the board of trustees of such district.  * * * At said election the member of the said board from District One shall be elected for a term of one (1) year, the member from District Two shall be elected for a term of two (2) years, the member from District Three shall be elected for a term of three (3) years, the member from District Four shall be elected for a term of four (4) years, and the member from District Five shall be elected for a term of five (5) years.  Thereafter, members shall be elected at general elections as vacancies occur for terms of five (5) years each.  Trustees elected from single member election districts as provided above shall otherwise be elected as provided for in Sections 37-7-223 through 37-7-229.At the 2016 election, the members of the board from election districts One and Two shall be elected to serve an initial term of two (2) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2019, and the members of the board from election districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for an initial term of four (4) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2021.  Except for the initial term of two (2) years for the members elected from election districts One and Two in the 2016 election, the term of office for all trustees shall be four (4) years. 

At the election held in November 2018 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from trustee election districts One and Two shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  At the election held in November 2020 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from election districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  However, in order to provide for an orderly transition, the term of each member of the board of trustees serving on July 1, 2015, which otherwise would expire after the first Monday in January 2017, shall expire on the first Monday of January 2017.  Each member of the board whose term expires after July 1, 2015, but before the first Monday of January 2017, shall continue to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term, at which time the vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided in this subsection.  All members of the said board of trustees shall take office on the first Monday of January following the date of their election.  All vacancies which may occur during a term shall be filled by appointment of the consolidated school district trustees, but the person so appointed shall serve only until the next general election following such appointment, at which time a person shall be elected for the remainder of the unexpired term at the same time and in the same manner as a trustee is elected for the full term then expiring.  The person so elected to the unexpired term shall take office immediately.  Said appointee shall be selected from the qualified electors of the district in which the vacancy occurs.  In the event the school district is under conservatorship and no members of the board of trustees remain in office, the Governor shall call a special election to fill the vacancies and the said election will be conducted by the county election commission.

     (2)  All school districts reconstituted and created under the provisions of Article * * * 1 3 of this chapter, which embrace territory in two (2) or more counties, but not including municipal separate school districts, shall be governed by a board of five (5) trustees.  In making the original appointments, the several county boards of education shall appoint the trustee or trustees to which the territory in such county is entitled, and, by agreement between the county boards concerned, one (1) person shall be appointed to serve until the first Saturday of March following, one (1) for one (1) year longer, one (1) for two (2) years longer, one (1) for three (3) years longer and one (1) for four (4) years longer.  Thereafter, such trustees shall be elected * * * as is provided in the manner provided for in * * * Sections 37-7-223 through 37-7-229,this section for a term of * * * five (5)four (4) years.  The five (5) members of the board of trustees of such line consolidated school district shall be elected from special trustee election districts by the qualified electors thereof, as * * * herein provided in this section.  The existing board of trustees of such line consolidated school district shall apportion the line consolidated school district into five (5) special trustee election districts.  The board of trustees shall place upon its minutes the boundaries determined for the new five (5) trustee election districts.  The board of trustees shall thereafter publish the same in a newspaper of general circulation within said school district for at least three (3) consecutive weeks; and after having given notice of publication and recording the same upon the minutes of the board of trustees, said new district lines shall thereafter be effective.  Provided, however, that in any line consolidated school district encompassing two (2) or more counties created pursuant to Laws, 1953, Extraordinary Session, Chapter 12, Section 8, in which, as a condition precedent to the creation of said district, each county belonging thereto was contractually guaranteed to always have at least one (1) representative on said board, in order that said condition precedent may be honored and guaranteed, in any year in which the board of trustees of such line consolidated school district does not have at least one (1) member from each county or part thereof forming such district, the board of trustees in such district shall be governed by a board of a sufficient number of trustees to fulfill this guarantee, five (5) of whom shall be elected from the five (5) special trustee election districts which shall be as nearly equal as possible and one (1) member trustee * * * appointed elected at large from each county not having representation on the elected board in the same manner and at the same time as provided for the election of trustees from elections districts One and Two under this section.  In such cases, the board of supervisors of each county shall make written agreement to guarantee the manner of * * * appointment election of at least one (1) representative from each county in the district, placing such written agreement on the minutes of each board of supervisors in each county.

     On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2016, in * * * any year in which anyeach line consolidated school district * * *shall elect to utilize the authority to create single member election districts, an election shall be held in * * * each such district in this statethe same manner and at the same time as the presidential election is held and conducted for the purpose of electing the board of trustees of such district.  At said election * * *the member of the said board from District One shall be elected for a term of one (1) year, the member from District Two shall be elected for a term of two (2) years, the member from District Three shall be elected for a term of three (3) years, the member from District Four shall be elected for a term of four (4) years, and the member from District Five shall be elected for a term of five (5) years.  Thereafter, members shall be elected at general elections as vacancies occur for terms of five (5) years each.  Trustees elected from single member election districts as provided above shall otherwise be elected as provided for in Sections 37-7-223 through 37-7-229., the members of the board from election Districts One and Two shall be elected to serve an initial term of two (2) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2019, and the members of the board from election districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for an initial term of four (4) years expiring on the first Monday of January 2021.  Except for the initial term of two (2) years for the members elected from election districts One and Two in the 2016 election, the term of office for all trustees shall be four (4) years. 

At the election held in November 2018 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from trustee election districts One and Two shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  At the election held in November 2020 and every four (4) years thereafter, members of the board from election districts Three, Four and Five shall be elected for a term of four (4) years.  However, in order to provide for an orderly transition, the term of each member of the board of trustees serving on July 1, 2015, which otherwise would expire after the first Monday in January 2017, shall expire on the first Monday of January 2017.  Each member of the board whose term expires after July 1, 2015, but before the first Monday of January 2017, shall continue to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term, at which time the vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided in this subsection. All members of the said board of trustees shall take office on the first Monday of January following the date of their election.  In all elections, the trustee elected shall be a resident and qualified elector of the district entitled to the representation upon the board, and he shall be elected only by the qualified electors of such district.  All vacancies which may occur during a term of office shall be filled by appointment of the consolidated line school district trustees, but the person so appointed shall serve only until the next general election following such appointment, at which time a person shall be elected for the remainder of the unexpired term at the same time and in the same manner as the trustee is elected for the full term then expiring.  The person so elected to the unexpired term shall take office immediately.  In the event the school district is under conservatorship and no members of the board of trustees remain in office, the Governor shall call a special election to fill the vacancies and the said election will be conducted by the county election commission.

 * * * In any county organizing a countywide municipal separate school district after January 1, 1965, the trustees thereof to be elected from outside the municipality, such trustees shall be elected by the board of supervisors of such county, and the superintendent of such school district shall have authority to pay out and distribute the funds of the district.  In the event a municipal separate school district should occupy territory in a county other than that in which the municipality is located and fifteen percent (15%) or more of the pupils enrolled in the schools of such district shall come from the territory of the district in the county other than that in which the municipality is located, the territory of such county in which the municipality is not located shall be entitled to one (1) member on the board of trustees of such school district.  The trustee shall be a resident of the territory of that part of the district lying in the county in which the municipality is not located and shall be elected by the qualified electors of the territory of such county at the same time and in the same manner as is provided for the election of trustees of school districts other than municipal separate school districts having territory in two (2) or more counties.

All vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired terms by appointment of the governing authorities of the municipality; except that in the case of the trustees coming from the added territory outside the corporate limits, the person so appointed shall serve only until the next general election following his appointment, at which time a person shall be elected for the remainder of the unexpired term in the manner otherwise provided herein.

No person who is a member of such governing body, or who is an employee of the municipality, or who is a member of the county board of education, or who is a trustee of any public, private or sectarian school or college located in the county, inclusive of the municipal separate school district, or who is a teacher in or a trustee of the school district, shall be eligible for appointment to the board of trustees.

(2)  In counties of less than fifteen thousand (15,000) people having a municipal separate school district with added territory which embraces all the territory of a county, one or more trustees of the school district shall be nominated from each supervisors district upon petition of fifty (50) qualified electors of that supervisors district, or twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of such district, whichever number shall be smaller.  One (1) trustee must be elected from each supervisors district of the county.  In such counties embraced entirely by a municipal separate school district, there shall be no county board of education after the formation of such district, and the county superintendent of education shall act as superintendent of schools of the district and shall be appointed by the board of trustees of that district, and the provisions of subsection (1) of this section and the first paragraph of Section 37-7-211 shall not apply to such districts.

(3)  In municipalities designated as having a mayor-council form of government under Chapter 8, Title 21, Mississippi Code of 1972, and having a population in excess of one hundred thousand (100,000) according to the 2000 decennial census, the boards of trustees of the municipal separate school district located in the municipality may, if authorized by ordinance of the municipal governing authority, consist of seven (7) members residing in each of the seven (7) wards in the municipality, to be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council as follows:  (a) each board member shall reside in the ward from which he is appointed; (b) members serving on March 31, 2010, shall continue to serve until a new term commences and new members shall be selected from wards not currently represented on the board; (c) one (1) of the two (2) additional appointments shall serve a term of five (5) years and one (1) for a term of four (4) years, with all subsequent appointments for a five-year term; and (d) each new appointment shall be made by the mayor and confirmed by the city council of the municipality at the first meeting of the governing authorities held in the month of June following March 31, 2010, and thereafter each year, and the term of office of each member so selected shall commence on the first Saturday of July following.

     SECTION 5.  Section 37-7-703, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-7-703.  In all such special municipal separate school districts which embrace the entire county * * *in which, according to the latest available federal census, a majority of the inhabitants of the county reside within the corporate limits of the municipality, the board of trustees of such special municipal separate school district shall be * * * chosen and selectedelected in the manner provided by subsection (1) of Section 37-7-203, and all of the provisions thereof shall be fully applicable in all respects to the selection and constitution of such board of trustees.

     SECTION 6.  Section 37-7-713, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-7-713.  In all special municipal separate school districts where the district embraces less than the entire area of the county * * *and where the majority of the educable children of such district reside outside the limits of the municipality,unless the governing authorities of the municipality and the county provide for one (1) of the alternative methods of organization as set out in Sections 37-7-715 and 37-7-717, the said special municipal separate school district shall be governed by a board of trustees * * *consisting of five (5) members, to be elected by the qualified electors of such municipal separate school district * * * from the district at large in the manner provided by * * * Sections 37-7-209 through 37-7-219, and all duties imposed upon the county superintendent of education by said sections with reference to such elections shall be imposed upon and performed by the superintendent of the municipal separate school district.  However, the first board of trustees of such special municipal separate school district shall be appointed in the following manner.  The governing authorities of the municipality shall appoint three (3) trustees, and such appointments shall be made so that one (1) trustee shall be appointed to serve until the first Saturday of March following such appointment, one (1) for two (2) years longer, and one (1) for four (4) years longer.  The board of education of the county shall appoint two (2) trustees, such appointments to be made so that one (1) trustee shall be appointed to serve until the first Saturday of March of the second year following such appointment, and one (1) trustee for two (2) years longer.  After such original appointments the trustees of such a special municipal separate school district shall be elected for a term of five (5) years, as herein provided.  All such members of said board of trustees shall be residents and qualified electors of such school district Section 37-7-203(1).  All vacancies which may occur during a term of office shall be filled * * * by appointment by the remaining members of the board of trustees, such appointee to have the same qualifications as other members of the board.  Such appointment shall be made within thirty (30) days after the vacancy occurs.  The person so appointed shall serve only until his successor shall have qualified.  The successor to serve the remainder of the unexpired term shall be elected on the first Saturday of March next following the occurrence of such vacancy in the same manner as provided for by Sections 37-7-209 through 37-7-219.in the manner provided in Section 37-7-203(2).

     SECTION 7.  Sections 37-7-204, 37-7-209, 37-7-211, 37-7-215, 37-7-217, 37-7-219, 37-7-221, 37-7-223, 37-7-225, 37-7-227 and 37-7-229, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provide certain methods for filling vacancies and prescribe certain procedures for electing trustees of municipal and special municipal separate school districts and consolidated and line consolidated school districts, are repealed.

     SECTION 8.  Sections 37-7-705, 37-7-707, 37-7-709, 37-7-711, 37-7-715 and 37-7-717, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provide certain additional methods for selecting trustees of special municipal separate school districts, are repealed.

     SECTION 9.  Section 37-7-104, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     37-7-104.  (1)  In any Mississippi county in which are located, as of February 8, 2012, three (3) school districts and only three (3) school districts, all of which are under conservatorship as defined by the Mississippi Department of Education as of February 8, 2012, there shall be an administrative consolidation of all of the school districts in the county into one (1) countywide school district with one (1) county board of education.  The State Board of Education shall determine the school district(s) applicable to the provisions of this section and spread this finding on the minutes of its August 2012 meeting.  On or before September 1, 2012, the State Board of Education shall serve the local school boards applicable to the provisions of this section, or the Mississippi Department of Education Conservator for each of the three (3) school districts, with notice and instruction regarding the action to be taken to comply with this section.  In such county, there shall be a new county board of education elected in a November 2013 special election which shall be called for that purpose and the new county board members shall be elected as provided in Section 37-5-7, Mississippi Code of 1972.  No previous board member shall be eligible to serve on the newly elected board.  Provided, however, that it shall be the responsibility of the board of supervisors of such county to apportion the countywide school district into five (5) new single member board of education districts which shall be consistent with the supervisors district lines in said county.  The board of supervisors of said county shall thereafter publish the same in some newspaper of general circulation within said county for at least three (3) consecutive weeks and after having given notice of publication and recording the same upon the minutes of the board of supervisors of said county, said new district lines will thereafter be effective for the November 2013 special election.  If necessary, the county board of education of said county shall reapportion the board of education districts in accordance with applicable law as soon as practicable after the results of the 2020 decennial census are published and as soon as practicable after every decennial census thereafter.  The new county board of education, with the written approval of the Mississippi Department of Education Conservator and the State Board of Education, shall provide for the administrative consolidation of all school districts in the county into one (1) countywide school district on or before July 1 next following the November 2013 election.  The new county board of education shall serve as the school board for the county.  Any school district affected by the required administrative consolidation that does not voluntarily consolidate with the new school district ordered by the county board of education shall be administratively consolidated by the State Board of Education with the countywide school district, 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 any 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 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.

     (2)  On July 1 following the election of the new county board of education, the former county board of education and the former board of trustees of any municipal separate, or special municipal separate 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 new reorganized school district of the county in which such school district is located.  The Mississippi Department of Education Conservator and the State Board of Education 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 successor county board of education shall appoint the new county superintendent of education for the reorganized school district.  The county superintendent of education of said reorganized school district shall not be elected but shall thereafter be appointed by the successor county board of education in the manner provided in Section 37-9-25.  The superintendents of the former under-performing school districts located in the county shall not be eligible for appointment as the new superintendent.  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 with the approval of the Mississippi Department of Education Conservator and the State Board of Education.  No such administratively consolidated school district shall have more than one (1) assistant superintendent of education.  It shall be the responsibility of the successor county board of education, with approval of the Mississippi Department of Education Conservator and the State Board of Education, to prepare and approve the budget of the new reorganized districts, 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.

     (3)  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.

     (4)  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.

     (5)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to require or restrict 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.

     (6)  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 10.  Section 37-7-104.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     37-7-104.1.  (1)  In Bolivar County, Mississippi, in which are located, as of January 1, 2012, six (6) school districts, there shall be an administrative consolidation of all of the school districts in the county into three (3) school districts as follows:

          (a)  One (1) existing school district which shall be the Cleveland School District;

          (b)  One (1) new consolidated school district to be designated as North Bolivar Consolidated School District which shall consist of the territory of the former North Bolivar School District and the Mound Bayou Public School District.  The central administrative office of the North Bolivar Consolidated School District shall be located in Mound Bayou, Mississippi; and

          (c)  One (1) new consolidated school district to be designated as West Bolivar Consolidated School District which shall consist of the territory of the former West Bolivar School District, Shaw School District and Benoit School District.  The central administrative office of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District shall be located in Rosedale, Mississippi.

     (2)  On or before September 1, 2012, the State Board of Education shall serve the local school boards in Bolivar 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 all school districts in the county outside of the territory of Cleveland School District into North Bolivar Consolidated School District and West Bolivar Consolidated School District on or before July 1, 2014.  In each new consolidated school district there shall be a new consolidated school district board of trustees elected in a November 2013 special election which shall be called by the Governor for that purpose.  The new consolidated school district boards 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 shall determine the boundary lines for the territory of the two (2) new school districts and shall spread a legal description of the new school districts on the minutes of its August 2012 meeting and shall serve the applicable school boards and the board of supervisors with an adequate legal description of these new boundaries.  It shall be the responsibility of the State Board of Education with the assistance of the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) to apportion the territory of the two (2) new school districts into five (5) new board of trustee election districts for each new school district.  The State Board of Education shall thereafter publish the same in some newspaper of general circulation in said 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, said new district lines will thereafter be effective for the November 2013 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 North Bolivar Consolidated School District or West Bolivar Consolidated School District.  The local school board of each new 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 are published and as soon as practicable after every decennial census thereafter.  Any school district affected by the required administrative consolidation in such county that does not voluntarily consolidate with the two (2) new school districts ordered by the State Board of Education shall be administratively consolidated by the State Board of Education with the appropriate school district in which such district is located, to be effective on July 1 following the election of the new local school boards.  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 two (2) school districts by July 1 following the election of the new school boards.  All 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 district boards of trustees in Bolivar County, the former county board of education and the former board of trustees of North Bolivar School District, Mound Bayou Public School District, West Bolivar School District, Shaw School District and Benoit 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 Bolivar County 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 boards.  The new Board of Trustees for the North Bolivar Consolidated School District shall appoint the Superintendent of Schools for said school district, and the Board of Trustees for the West Bolivar Consolidated School District shall appoint the Superintendent of Schools for said school district.  The subsequent superintendent of schools of said reorganized school districts shall not be elected but shall thereafter be appointed by the successor boards of trustees in the manner provided in Section 37-9-25.  Any superintendent serving in the former school districts shall be eligible for appointment as a superintendent in North Bolivar Consolidated School District or West Bolivar Consolidated School District.  North Bolivar Consolidated School District and West Bolivar Consolidated School District shall not have more than one (1) assistant superintendent.  It shall be the responsibility of the successor boards of trustees to prepare and approve the budget of the respective new reorganized districts, and the successor boards 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 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.

     (5)  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.

     (6)  The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations to facilitate the administrative consolidation of the school districts in Bolivar 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 school districts and 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 districts.

     SECTION 11.  Section 37-7-104.2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward 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 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 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.  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 county 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 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 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.  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 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 12.  Section 37-7-104.3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     37-7-104.3.  (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 countywide municipal separate 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, effective on July 1, 2015.  Until June 30, 2015, preceding the effective date of the required administrative consolidation of school districts in the county, the Oktibbeha County School District shall remain in conservatorship, under the authority and control of the Mississippi Recovery School District of the State Department of Education.  At such time that the administrative consolidation becomes effective, the central administrative office of the Starkville Consolidated School District shall be located in Starkville, Mississippi.

     (2)  On or before July 1, 2014, the State Board of Education shall serve the local school board of the Starkville School District with notice and instructions regarding the timetable for action to be taken to comply with the administrative consolidation required in this section.  In the new consolidated school district there shall be a countywide municipal separate school district board of trustees, which shall consist of the existing members of the Board of Trustees of the Starkville School District serving as a member on July 1, 2015.  However, upon the first occurrence of a vacancy on the board as a result of an expired term of an appointed board member, that vacancy shall become an elected position and shall be filled by the election of a board member by the county board of supervisors in the manner prescribed in Section 37-7-203(1) for the election of a member who resides outside of the incorporated municipal limits.  The Board of Supervisors of Oktibbeha County 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.  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 immediately upon action of the State 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) consolidated school district by July 1 following the motion to consolidate.  The affected school districts shall comply with any consolidation order issued by the State Board of Education.

     (3)  On July 1, 2015, following the motion of State Board of Education to consolidate school districts in Oktibbeha County, the Oktibbeha County School District shall be abolished.  All real and personal property which is owned or titled in the name of the school district located in such former school district shall be transferred to the Starkville Consolidated School District.  The Board of Trustees of the Starkville Consolidated School District shall be responsible for establishing the contracts for teachers, principals, clerical and administrative staff personnel for the 2015-2016 school year and thereafter and shall consult with the conservator for the establishment of contracts for teachers, principals, clerical and administrative staff personnel located in the former Oktibbeha County School District for the 2015-2016 school year.  The superintendent and assistant superintendent(s) of schools of the former Starkville School District shall continue to serve in like administrative capacities of the Starkville Consolidated School District, but in no instance shall the administrative leadership of the Starkville Consolidated School District exceed three (3) assistant superintendents to be appointed by the superintendent of the former Starkville School District.  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 or assistant 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 board of trustees to prepare and approve the budget of the respective new reorganized district, and the board of trustees may use staff from the former school district 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. 

     (4)  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.

     (5)  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 Section 25-15-9(7).

     (6)  For the initial three (3) 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.

     (7)  The governing school board and superintendent of schools of the Starkville Public School District shall collaborate with the State Department of Education and the appointed conservator of the Oktibbeha County School District, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this act, for the planning and transition of programs, services and alignment of curriculum for the administratively consolidated school districts.

     SECTION 13.  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 ofserve as a member of the county board of education or as a trustee of any school district, such person must:

(a) 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; and

(b)  Possess a higher education degree awarded by an institution of higher learning, including an associate degree or certificate awarded by an accredited two-year community or junior college.

     SECTION 14.  Section 37-9-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     37-9-12.  The qualified electors of any * * * county school district having an elected * * * county superintendent of education on July 1, * * * 19862015, shall decide at the November * * * 1988 2016 general election whether: (a) to continue to have such office elected, or (b) to * * * abolish such office of countychange from the elective to the appointive method of selecting the superintendent of education * * * in the countyfor that school district. * * * Provided, however, that no such referendum shall be held on the office of administrative superintendent in a county having an administrative superintendent as defined in Section 37-6-3, Mississippi Code of 1972.  The county board of supervisors * * * of such counties shall publish notice of * * * said the election once a week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks prior to the November * * * 1988 2016 general election in at least one (1) newspaper published or circulated in such county.  The first publication of the notice may not be made less than twenty-one (21) days before the date fixed for the election, and the last publication may not be made more than seven (7) days before that date.  If no newspaper is published in the county in which the school district is situated, then the notice must be published in a newspaper having a general circulation in that county.  The proposition shall be submitted to a vote of all registered, qualified electors residing outside the territory of any municipal separate or special municipal separate school district located within such county.  Such election shall be held in the same manner as other elections are held in the county.  The ballot used at the election must have printed thereon a brief statement of the purpose of the election and the words "FOR CHANGING FROM THE ELECTIVE TO THE APPOINTIVE METHOD OF SELECTING THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION IN THE ________ SCHOOL DISTRICT," and "AGAINST CHANGING FROM THE ELECTIVE TO THE APPOINTIVE METHOD OF SELECTING THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION IN THE ________ SCHOOL DISTRICT."  The voter shall vote by placing a cross (X) or checkmark (ü) opposite his choice on the question.  If a majority of the registered, qualified electors who voted in such election vote in favor of the abolition of * * * such the office of elected superintendent, then the change in the selection method shall be approved, and such abolishment shall be effective at the end of * * * any regularthe term of office * * * or whenever a vacancy shall occur in said officeexpiring in January 2017.  However, if a majority of the registered, qualified electors who vote in the election vote against the question, the change in the selection method shall not be approved. 

     In counties where the office of elected county superintendent of education has been abolished, it shall not be reinstated.

     SECTION 15.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.

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