MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2023 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Senator(s) Simmons (12th)

Senate Bill 2807

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-104.1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE WEST BOLIVAR CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL BE ADMINISTRATIVELY DECONSOLIDATED TO FORM THE WEST BOLIVAR SCHOOL DISTRICT, SHAW SCHOOL DISTRICT AND BENOIT SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO SERVE INSTRUCTIONS AND NOTICE TO THE AFFECTED SCHOOL DISTRICTS; TO PROVIDE THAT THE NORTH BOLIVAR CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT AND THE CLEVELAND SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL NOT BE AFFECTED BY THE DECONSOLIDATION; TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELECTION PROCEDURES FOR THE NEW SCHOOL DISTRICTS' BOARD OF TRUSTEES; TO REQUIRE THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO BASE THE NEW SCHOOL DISTRICTS' BOUNDARIES ON THE FORMER SCHOOL DISTRICTS AS THEY EXISTED PRIOR TO THEIR MANDATED CONSOLIDATION IN 2012; TO AUTHORIZE CERTAIN PROCEDURES FOR THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ACCOMPLISH THE DECONSOLIDATION; TO PROVIDE THAT ALL REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY WHICH IS OWNED OR TITLED IN THE NAME OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE NEW REORGANIZED SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN WHICH SUCH FORMER DISTRICT IS LOCATED; TO AUTHORIZE EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT TO HAVE ITS OWN SUPERINTENDENT AND NO MORE THAN ONE ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT EACH; TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROCEDURES, ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY AND BUDGET PRACTICES FOR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ACCOMPLISH THE DECONSOLIDATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  Section 37-7-104.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended 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.  In Bolivar County, Mississippi, in which are located, as of January 1, 2023, three (3) school districts, there shall be an administrative deconsolidation of the existing West Bolivar Consolidated School District into the former West Bolivar School District, Shaw School District and Benoit School Districts as those districts existed before their consolidation in 2012.

     (2)  By January 1, 2024, the school districts of Bolivar County, Mississippi, shall be as follows:

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

          (b)  One (1) existing school district which shall be the North Bolivar Consolidated School District;

          (c)  One (1) new school district which shall be the West Bolivar School District.  The Central Administrative Office of the West Bolivar School District shall be located in Rosedale, Mississippi;

          (d)  One (1) new school district which shall be the Shaw School District.  The central administrative office of the Shaw School District shall be located in Shaw, Mississippi; and

          (e)  One (1) new school district which shall be the Benoit School District.  The central administrative office of the Benoit School District shall be located in Benoit, 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.  On or before September 1, 2023, 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 existing school districts of the North Bolivar Consolidated School District and the Cleveland School District shall continue normal operation and the provisions of this act shall not be construed to affect their respective districts.  The State Board of Education shall provide for the administrative deconsolidation of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District into the former West Bolivar School District, Shaw School District and Benoit School Districts as those districts existed before their consolidation in 2012, on or before July 1, 2024.  In each new school district there shall be a new school district board of trustees elected in the November 2023 general election.  The new 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 three (3) new school districts and shall spread a legal description of the new school districts on the minutes of its August 2023 meeting and shall serve the applicable school boards and the board of supervisors with an adequate legal description of these new boundaries.  The State Board of Education shall base the boundary lines for the three (3) new school districts on the boundaries of the former West Bolivar School District, Shaw School District and Benoit School District as those districts existed prior to their mandated consolidation in 2012.  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 three (3) 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 2023 special election.  Any school board member of the former consolidated school district residing in the proper election district shall be eligible for election to the new board of trustees for the West Bolivar School District, Shaw School District and Benoit 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 every decennial census.  Any school district affected by the required administrative deconsolidation in such county that does not voluntarily deconsolidate into the three (3) new school districts ordered by the State Board of Education shall be administratively deconsolidated by the State Board of Education into 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 deconsolidate a school district which does not voluntarily deconsolidate in order to enable the affected school districts to reasonably accomplish the resulting administrative consolidation into three (3) school districts by July 1 following the election of the new school boards.  All affected school districts shall comply with any deconsolidation 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.  On July 1 following the election of the new school district boards of trustees in Bolivar County, the former board of trustees of the West Bolivar Consolidated 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 West Bolivar School District shall appoint the Superintendent of Schools for said school district, and the Board of Trustees for the Shaw School District shall appoint the Superintendent of Schools for said school district.  The new Board of Trustees for the Benoit 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 district shall be eligible for appointment as a superintendent in the West Bolivar School District, Shaw School District and Benoit School Districts.  The West Bolivar School District, Shaw School District and Benoit School Districts shall not have more than one (1) assistant superintendent each.  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 new 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  The administrative * * * consolidations deconsolidation 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 deconsolidation of the school districts in Bolivar County pursuant to this section.  The * * * consolidated deconsolidated 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 2.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.