Bill Text: DE HB362 | 2011-2012 | 146th General Assembly | Draft
Bill Title: An Act To Amend Title 14 Of The Delaware Code Related To Reorganization Of School Districts.
Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-06-05 - Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in House [HB362 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2011-HB362-Draft.html
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SPONSOR: |
Rep. Bolden & Sen. Henry |
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Reps. J. Johnson, Keeley, Mitchell; Sens. Marshall, Sorenson |
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 146th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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HOUSE BILL NO. 362 |
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATED TO REORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. |
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):
Section 1.Amend §1066A, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by strike through as follows:
� 1066A.Elections to the school boards of the Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District.
(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this chapter to the contrary, members of the school boards of the Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District shall be elected by the procedures described herein. Elections shall be conducted in accordance with �§1071-1086 of this title; provided, however, that:
(1) The
number of members for each of the school boards of the Brandywine School
District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the
Red Clay Consolidated School District shall be 7 8.This number shall include 7 members elected
in accord with this title and 1 nonvoting member appointed by the Mayor of the
City of Wilmington.A nonvoting member
shall also be appointed by the Mayor of the City of Wilmington to the New
Castle Vocational-Technical District established by 1029 of this title.
(2) The term of office for members of the school boards of the Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District shall be 5 years, except that the nonvoting member appointed by the Mayor of the City of Wilmington shall serve a term of 4 years to coincide with the Mayor's term.All terms shall end on June 30 and the terms shall be staggered so that no more than 2 terms in any school district ends on any June 30, except that the term of the nonvoting member appointed by the mayor of the City of Wilmington shall begin on the Mayor's first day in office. Any vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term in accordance with §1054 of this title, except that in the event that the Mayor of Wilmington leaves office for any reason prior to the expiration of the term the appointed school board member shall serve the entity of the term.
(3) The Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District (the "districts") each shall be divided into 7 nominating districts to be denominated districts A through G and to be denominated on the basis of their geographical proximity (i.e., district A shall be as contiguous as practicable with district B and so forth).
(4) Candidates for the school boards of the Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District shall file for candidacy in accordance with §1075 of this title, except that a candidate must be a resident of the district for the seat that candidate seeks, and an appointee of the Mayor of the City of Wilmington need only be a Wilmington resident.
(5) All members of the school boards of the Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District shall be elected by the qualified voters of the respective districts, except that the nonvoting member shall be appointed by the Mayor of the City of Wilmington.To vote in a district election, a voter must be qualified pursuant to §1077 of this title. No voter may vote for more than 1 candidate.
(b) The nominating districts shall be drawn by the State Election Commissioner, subject to the approval of the County Board of Election and the State Board of Education. On or before January 1, 2002, the Commissioner shall draw the 7 districts for each of the Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District so that the nominating districts shall encompass an area in which approximately 1/7 of the total population of each district is resident. Each representative district shall, insofar as is possible: (i) be formed of contiguous territory; (ii) be nearly equal in population; (iii) be bounded by major roads, streams or other natural boundaries; and (iv) not be created so as to unduly favor any person. The data base for the determination of population in residence shall be census data from the United States Census of 2000. The Controller General's office shall provide the Election Commissioner with its assistance upon the request of the Commissioner.
(1) Not later than January 1 of the year ending in 2 in each subsequent decade (e.g., 2012), the Commissioner shall reapportion the school board nominating districts using the most recent United States census data so that the nominating districts are reapportioned in time for the elections beginning in the next year. The subsequent reapportionments shall comply, insofar as possible, with the criteria identified in subsection (b) of this section.
(2) The Commissioner shall also establish for each District the sequence in which elections held pursuant to this section shall occur. To the extent consistent with the redistricting criteria set forth in subsection (b) of this section, the Commissioner shall endeavor to designate the new nominating districts and to sequence the elections so that the elections for particular nominating district seats occur in the year of the expiration of the terms of the incumbent board member or members whose constituent population in the nominating district or districts prior to the most recent reapportionment most closely conform to the constituent population in the newly reapportioned nominating district or districts.
(3) The Commissioner shall, in addition to drawing the nominating districts, establishing the sequence for elections and reapportioning the nominating districts each decade, act as a continuing advisory resource for the Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District in implementing the election system established by this section. The Commissioner may propose such recommendations as it deems necessary to ensure fair and efficient school board elections in the Brandywine School District, the Christina School District, the Colonial School District and the Red Clay Consolidated School District.
Section 2. Amend Part I of the Wilmington City Code by inserting Section 4-106 as follows:
§4-106.
(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that residents of the City of Wilmington (hereinafter "City"), through legislated taxation, financially support five school districts: Red Clay, Brandywine, Colonial, Christina and New Castle Vocational Technical, however, the City of Wilmington is not represented on the districts' school boards.
(b) The Mayor shall appointment one nonvoting member to the school boards of Red Clay, Brandywine, Colonial, Christina, and New Castle Vocational Technical, from a list of nominees to be submitted at the beginning of each Mayoral term by the Wilmington City Council.
SYNOPSIS
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Under current law, the City of Wilmington has no representative on the Red Clay, Brandywine, Colonial, Christina and New Castle Vocational-Technical school boards expressly advocating for the City of Wilmington's educational objectives.This Bill establishes a nonvoting member on the five respective school boards. The nonvoting member shall be appointed by the Mayor of the City of Wilmington to serve a four year time to coincide with the Mayor's term.The General Assembly believes fundamental fairness is served by this Bill where the residents of the City of Wilmington financially support the five districts by way of taxes assessed on real and personal property.
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