Senate Bill 2620

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT IN THE CARROLL COUNTY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY AND WINONA MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS THERE SHALL BE AN ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION INTO ONE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO BE DESIGNATED AS THE CARROLL-MONTGOMERY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT, WHICH SHALL BE A LINE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2015; TO PROVIDE FOR THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NEW CARROLL-MONTGOMERY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ADMINISTRATIVELY CONSOLIDATE ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT WHICH DOES NOT VOLUNTARILY FOLLOW THE CONSOLIDATION ORDER; TO ABOLISH THE FORMER SCHOOL DISTRICTS FOLLOWING THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION AND PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER OF SCHOOL DISTRICT ASSETS AND LIABILITIES; TO PROVIDE FOR EXECUTION OF TEACHER AND SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS AND THE PREPARATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET IN THE NEW SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS TO IMPLEMENT SUCH ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLIDATION; TO PROVIDE A TWO-YEAR WAIVER FROM ACCOUNTABILITY AND STATE ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE NEW STUDENT POPULATION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-7-103 AND 37-7-207, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) In Carroll County, Mississippi, and Montgomery County, Mississippi, in which are located, as of January 1, 2014, three (3) school districts, there shall be an administrative consolidation of all of those school districts in the county into one (1) new line consolidated school district to be designated as Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District which shall consist of the territory of the former Carroll County School District, the Montgomery County School District, and the Winona Municipal Separate School District, effective on July 1, 2015. At such time that the administrative consolidation becomes effective, the central administrative office of the Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District shall be located in Winona, Mississippi.

(2) On or before September 1, 2014, the State Board of Education shall serve the local school board of the Carroll County School District, the Montgomery County School District, and the Winona Municipal Separate School District 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 Carroll County School District, Montgomery County School District and Winona Municipal Separate School District on or before July 1, 2015. In the new Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District, there shall be a new consolidated school district board of trustees elected in a November 2014 special election which shall be called by the Governor for that purpose. The new consolidated school district board of trustees shall be elected and the terms of office established as provided in Section 37-7-207(2), Mississippi Code of 1972. The State Board of Education shall determine the boundary lines for the territory of the new school district and shall spread a legal description of the new school district on the minutes of its August 2014 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 new school district into five (5) new board of trustee election districts. The State Board of Education shall thereafter publish the same in some newspaper of general circulation in said counties 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 appropriate school district in the counties, said 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 election district shall be eligible for election to the new board of trustees for Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District. The board of trustees of the new school district shall reapportion the board of trustees districts in accordance with the procedure described in Section 37-7-207(2), 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 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 the Carrol-Montgomery School District by July 1, 2015, 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 the State Board of Education to consolidate school districts in Carroll County, Montgomery County and the Winona Municipal Separate School Districts, the Carroll County, Montgomery County and the Winona Municipal Separate School Districts 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 Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District. The Board of Trustees of the Carroll-Montgomery 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. The superintendent and assistant superintendent(s) of schools of the former Carroll County School District, Montgomery County School District and the Winona Municipal Separate School District may continue to serve in like administrative capacities of the Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District, but in no instance shall the administrative leadership of the Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District exceed three (3) assistant superintendents. No superintendent serving in a school district designated as an under-performing school district or placed under conservatorship shall be eligible for appointment as a superintendent or assistant superintendent in the Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District. Likewise, no trustee serving in a school district designated as an under-performing school district or placed under conservatorship shall be eligible for election to the new Board of Trustees of the Carroll-Montgomery 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 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.

(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 Carroll County, Montgomery County, and Winona, Mississippi, pursuant to this section. The consolidated district 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 Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District for the student population enrolled therein from the former Carroll County School District, Montgomery County School District, and the Winona Municipal Separate School District, when determining the new consolidated school district accreditation level based on the performance and accountability rating model.

(7) The local school board and superintendent of schools of the Carroll County School District, Montgomery County School District, and the Winona Municipal Separate School District shall collaborate with the State Department of Education, 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 2. Section 37-7-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-7-103. From and after July 1, 1987, the school board of any school district shall have full jurisdiction, power and authority, at any regular meeting thereof or at any special meeting called for that purpose, to abolish such existing district, or to reorganize, change or alter the boundaries of any such district. In addition thereto, with the consent of the school board of the school district involved, the school board may add to such school district any part of the school district adjoining same, and with the consent of the school board of the school district involved, may detach territory from such school district and annex same to an adjoining district. Provided, however, that the consent of the school board of the school districts involved in implementing the provisions of Section 37-7-104 or * * * Section 2 of this act shall not be required for the administrative consolidation of such school districts pursuant to the order of the State Board of Education.

SECTION 3. 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 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) years. 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, in any year in which any 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 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. 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 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 for in Sections 37-7-223 through 37-7-229, for a term of five (5) years. In the case of the new Carroll-Montgomery Consolidated School District established under Section 1 of this act, the State Board of Education shall designate the term of office of the original board of trustees election districts, with one (1) member to serve for one (1) year, one (1) member to service for two (2) years, one (1) member to serve for three (3) years, one (1) member to serve for four (4) years, and one (1) member to serve for five (5) years, and thereafter, such trustees shall be elected as provided in Sections 37-7-223 through 37-7-229 for a term of five (5) 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. 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 at large from each county not having representation on the elected board. In such cases, the board of supervisors of each county shall make written agreement to guarantee the manner of appointment 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, in any year in which any 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 state 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. 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.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.