MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Education; Ways and Means
By: Representative Barker
AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 1, CHAPTER 572, LAWS OF 2013, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-104.3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE PROCEDURE FOR THE SELECTION OF THE NEW STARKVILLE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES; TO DIRECT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REPRESENT THE TWO DISTRICTS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE DESEGREGATION CASES TO OBTAIN APPROVAL FROM THE FEDERAL COURT FOR THE NEW CONSOLIDATED DISTRICT, TO CLARIFY THAT THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS SHALL PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES FOR THE NEW STARKVILLE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 37-59-7, 37-59-23 AND 37-59-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 1, Chapter 572, Laws of 2013, is brought forward as follows:
Section 1. (1) There is hereby created and established an advisory council to be known as the Commission on Starkville Consolidated School District Structure. It shall be the responsibility of the Commission on Starkville Consolidated School District Structure to review the current structure of the school districts and schools in Starkville, Mississippi, and in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, and make recommendations on future actions of the provision and transition of service of the newly consolidated school district in order to improve both the quality of education and the efficiency with which it is delivered. The commission shall not decide the issue of whether or not the districts shall be consolidated. The commission shall be composed of seven (7) members as follows:
(a) The State Superintendent of Education, or his designee, who shall serve as Chairman of the Commission;
(b) Three (3) representatives of the Starkville School District appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Starkville School District and who may be members of the board or the Superintendent of Schools;
(c) One (1) resident of the former Oktibbeha County School District to be appointed by the State Superintendent of Education;
(d) The Conservator for the Oktibbeha County School District appointed by the State Board of Education; and
(e) One (1) representative of Mississippi State University appointed by the President of Mississippi State University.
(2) The Commission on Starkville Consolidated School District Structure shall meet within thirty (30) days of passage of this act upon the call of the State Superintendent of Education and shall hold hearings and meet as necessary and develop a report to the Legislature, the Governor and the State Board of Education on or before March 1, 2014, with recommendations to accomplish the following:
(a) Review the current structure of school districts and the location of schools in Starkville, Mississippi, and Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, and recommend how they can be consolidated into one (1) school district in order to improve both the quality of education and the efficiency at which it is delivered.
(b) Review the capital facility needs of both school districts and recommend methods of financing necessary improvements, including the possibility of pledging Mississippi Adequate Education Program funds for capital improvement purposes.
(c) Detail in the report how best to implement consolidation and make any other recommendations on how to maximize education quality in Starkville and Oktibbeha County while eliminating duplicative and wasteful administrative spending.
(d) The commission shall also be authorized to recommend that portions of the Oktibbeha County School District be merged into districts in adjoining counties.
The commission shall have the authority to raise and to expend nonstate funds. The State Department of Education shall provide staff and such other support as the commission deems appropriate. After submitting its report on or before March 1, 2014, the commission shall be dissolved.
SECTION 2. Section 37-7-104.3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended 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) (a) 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.
(b) 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 * * *. 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 * * * as
follows: the 2016 expiring term board member shall remain in office until
January 1, 2017. In November 2016, an election will be held for a board member
who resides outside of the incorporated municipal limits in the manner
prescribed in Section 37-7-203, and the elected board member will take office
for a five-year term beginning January 1, 2017. Subsequent board members shall
be selected in the manner prescribed in Section 37-7-203. The Board of
Supervisors of Oktibbeha County shall * * * publish * * * notice of the school board
elections in some newspaper of general circulation in the county for at
least three (3) consecutive weeks * * *.
(c) 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 * * *.
(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.
(8) The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi is authorized and directed to represent the former Oktibbeha County School District and the former Starkville School District in their respective desegregation cases to obtain approval from the appropriate federal court of a modified desegregation order for the new Starkville Consolidated School District. The State Department of Education, subject to appropriation therefor by the Legislature, shall provide funds for any costs that the federal court may impose on the new Starkville Consolidated School District through the modified desegregation order.
(9) In accordance with Section 37-9-70, it is the responsibility of the Board of Supervisors of Oktibbeha County to provide office, furnishing and utilities for the administrative Office of the Superintendent of the Starkville Consolidated School District.
(10) The new Starkville Consolidated School District is authorized and encouraged to develop a partnership with Mississippi State University to create a model rural education school to serve all sixth- and seventh-grade students from Oktibbeha County and a model prekindergarten program which shall also serve as a model for the education of teachers and administrators.
SECTION 3. Section 37-59-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
37-59-7. (1) (a) Any school district in which the total number of pupils enrolled at any one time during the school year shall have increased by at least twenty percent (20%) or an average of three hundred fifty (350) or more annually within the preceding five (5) years, shall not issue bonds for the purposes authorized by law in an amount which when added to all of its then outstanding bonded indebtedness, shall result in the imposition on any of the property in such district of an indebtedness for school purposes of more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the assessed value of the taxable property within such district according to the then last completed assessment for taxation.
(b) Any school district in which the total number of pupils enrolled at any one time during the school year shall have increased by at least ten percent (10%) within the preceding five (5) years shall not issue bonds for the purposes authorized by law in an amount which, when added to all of its then outstanding bonded indebtedness, shall result in the imposition on any of the property in such district of an indebtedness for school purposes of more than twenty percent (20%) of the assessed value of the taxable property within such district according to the then last completed assessment for taxation.
(c) The pupil increase mentioned in this subsection shall apply only to growth in pupil enrollment and shall not apply to pupil increases brought about by consolidation of school districts.
(2) Any school district may hereafter issue bonds in an amount exceeding the limit of Section 37-59-5 for the purpose of constructing, reconstructing, repairing, equipping, remodeling or enlarging school buildings and related facilities, as described in subsection (a) of Section 37-59-3, but no such district shall issue bonds in an amount which when added to all of its then outstanding bonded indebtedness, shall result in the imposition on any of the property in such district of an indebtedness for such school purposes of more than twenty percent (20%) of the assessed value of the taxable property in such district, according to the then last completed assessment for taxation, regardless of whether any of such indebtedness shall have been incurred by such district or by another school district or districts:
(a) In the event of the damage to or destruction of any school building or school buildings, or related facilities of any such district by fire, windstorm, flood or other providential and unforeseeable cause; or
(b) In the event such school district has lost its accreditation and the constructing, reconstructing, repairing, equipping, remodeling or enlarging of such school buildings and related facilities is necessary for the restoration of such accreditation.
(3) In any school district wherein more than nine percent (9%) of the total land area of the school district is owned by the federal government and situated in a flood control reservoir or maintained as a part of the national forest system, the said school district may issue bonds in an amount, which when added to all of its then outstanding bonded indebtedness for school purposes, shall result in the imposition on any of the property in such school district of an indebtedness for school purposes of not more than twenty percent (20%) of the assessed value of the taxable property within such district, according to the then last completed assessment for taxation, regardless of whether any of such indebtedness shall have been incurred by such district or by another school district or districts. If bonds in an amount in excess of fifteen percent (15%) of the total assessed value of the property of a school district are issued under the provisions of this subsection, not less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total funds received by the school district under the provisions of Section 49-19-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be paid into the bond and interest sinking fund of such district and used for the retirement of the bonds so issued.
(4) In any district where the assessed valuation per pupil is less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the average of all school districts, such school district may issue bonds for the purposes authorized by Section 37-59-3 in an amount exceeding the fifteen percent (15%) debt limitation set forth in Section 37-59-5, but not exceeding an amount which, when added to all of the school district's then outstanding bonded indebtedness, shall result in the imposition on any of the property in such district of an indebtedness for such school purposes of more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the assessed value of the taxable property in such district, according to the then last completed assessment for taxation if:
(a) The board of trustees or board of education of the school district adopts a resolution finding that issuing bonds in an amount exceeding the limitation stated in Section 37-59-5 is necessary to provide or maintain adequate educational facilities within the school district; and
(b) The notice of the bond election required by Section 37-59-13 contains a provision notifying the qualified electors in the school district:
(i) Of the fact that the proposed bonds, if issued, will exceed the fifteen percent (15%) debt limit contained in Section 37-59-5; and
(ii) Of the reasons why the school district is proposing to exceed said limitation;
(c) The election is held and the proposed bond issue receives the requisite voter approval as set forth in Section 37-59-17.
SECTION 4. Section 37-59-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
37-59-23. The levying authority, as defined in Section 37-57-1(1)(b), acting for and on behalf of any school district, shall annually levy a special tax upon all of the taxable property within such school district, which shall be sufficient to provide for the payment of the principal of and the interest on school bonds issued under the provisions of this article according to the terms thereof.
In the case of school bonds issued under the provisions of Section 37-59-21, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of the county having the greater assessed valuation of taxable property within such district to annually levy upon all of the taxable property within such district, without regard to county lines, a special tax, which shall be sufficient to provide for the payment of the principal of and interest on such bonds according to the terms thereof. Such board shall annually certify to the board of supervisors of the other county or counties in which a portion of the district is situated the rate of taxation so fixed, and it shall be the duty of such other board or boards to cause such rate of taxation to be levied upon all of the taxable property within the boundaries of such district situated within their respective counties. Said taxes shall be collected and deposited as other taxes are collected and deposited in such county or counties, and the tax collector thereof shall thereupon cause such taxes to be remitted to the county depository of the county for which the bonds were issued.
SECTION 5. Section 37-59-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
37-59-107. The levying authority for the school district shall annually levy a special tax on all of the taxable property of the school district on whose behalf the notes or certificates of indebtedness are issued in an amount which shall be sufficient to pay the principal of and interest upon such negotiable notes or certificates of indebtedness as the same shall respectively mature and accrue. Said tax shall be levied and collected at the same time and in the same manner as other taxes are collected and said tax shall be in addition to all other taxes authorized by law. It is expressly provided, however, that such annual tax levy shall not exceed three (3) mills on the dollar for the payment of all notes issued under the provisions of this article and all notes previously issued under the statutes hereby repealed. The special tax so levied shall be collected by the tax collector of the county at the same time and in the same manner as other taxes are collected, and the proceeds thereof shall be paid to the school district and shall be used exclusively for the payment of principal of and interest upon such negotiable notes or certificates of indebtedness.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2014.