STATE OF OKLAHOMA

2nd Session of the 53rd Legislature (2012)

SENATE BILL 1379	By:	Brinkley

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to school districts; eliminating all elementary school districts; allowing school sites to maintain certain characteristics; defining term; directing independent school districts to assume administrative duties of certain school sites; amending 70 O.S. 2011 Section 5-101, which relates to designation of school districts; removing elementary school districts; amending 70 O.S. 2011, Section 5-105, which relates to powers; eliminating elementary districts; amending 70 O.S. 2011, Sections 5-107A, 6-101.10, 8-112, 9-105 and 14-108, which relate to school districts; eliminating references to elementary school districts; repealing 70 O.S. 2011, Section 5-103; providing for codification; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 5-102.1 of Title 5-102.1, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A.  On the effective date of this act, all elementary school districts shall cease to exist and the school site of the former elementary school district shall become a part of the independent school district in which the elementary school district is located. The school site shall be able to retain the school name, mascot and any other distinctive characteristic associated with the school site in order to maintain community pride. The independent school district assuming control of the elementary school site shall provide all administrative support.
B.  For purposes of this section, “elementary school district” shall be defined as any school district which offers kindergarten through eighth grade only and has not been designated as an independent school district by the State Board of Education.
SECTION 2.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 5-101, is amended to read as follows:
Section 5-101.  All school districts in Oklahoma, now in existence or which may hereafter be created, shall be designated only as independent, elementary or technology center school districts.  Independent school districts, elementary school districts and technology center school districts shall be under the supervision and the administration of the respective boards of education thereof.
SECTION 3.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 5-105, is amended to read as follows:
Section 5-105.  Every school district shall be a body corporate and shall possess the usual powers of a corporation for public purposes by the name and style of "Independent (or Elementary, if it is an elementary school district) School District Number ________________ (such number as may be designated by the State Board of Education) of __________________________ (the name of the county in which the district is located, or if lying in more than one county the name of the county where supervision is located) County, Oklahoma," and in that name may sue and be sued and be capable of contracting and being contracted with and holding such real and personal estate as it may come into possession of or by will or otherwise and as authorized by law.
SECTION 4.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 5-107A, is amended to read as follows:
Section 5-107A.  The following provisions and the provisions of Section 13A-101 et seq. of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes shall govern the election of members of the board of education for a school district:
A.  For purposes of this section, temporary positions added to a board of education pursuant to Section 7-101 or 7-105 of this title and the chair of the board of education elected pursuant to Section 1 5-107B of this act title shall not be considered in determining the size of the board.  The number and term of each board of education shall be as follows:
District	Members	Term (Years)
Elementary	3	3
Independent
1.  Districts having a five-member board	5	5
2.  Districts having a seven-member board unless an election is conducted pursuant to subsection C of this section	7	4
B.  In all school districts, the members of the board of education shall be elected as follows:
1.	a.	Between August 1 and December 31 of the year following the submission by the United States Department of Commerce to the President of the United States of the official Federal Decennial Census, the board of education shall reapportion the territory of the school district into board districts.  Beginning with the reapportionment following the 1990 Federal Decennial Census, all boundaries of board districts shall follow clearly visible, definable and observable physical boundaries which are based upon criteria established and recognized by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce for purposes of defining census blocks for its decennial census and shall follow, as much as is possible, precinct boundaries.  Board districts shall be compact, contiguous and shall be as equal in population as practical with not more than a ten percent (10%) variance between the most populous and least populous board districts.
b.	School districts having fewer than one thousand eight hundred (1,800) students in average daily membership during the preceding school year may choose not to establish board districts and may nominate and elect all board members at large.
c.	Elementary school districts shall have board members elected at large.
d.	A city located in an independent school district having four or more wards and an outlying area with such outlying area comprising no more than twenty percent (20%) of the population of such independent school district, then such independent school district may adopt such wards and outlying area in lieu of the board districts provided for in subparagraph a of this paragraph, and at least one member of the board of education of such independent school district shall be a member of each ward; and
2.  One member of the board of education shall be elected by the electors of the school district to represent each such board district.  Provided, however, that in any school district where the electors of each board district, rather than the electors of the entire school district, elect board members to represent that board district, that district shall elect board members in that manner.
If during the term of office to which a person was elected, that member ceases to be a resident of the board district for which the person was elected, the office shall become vacant and such vacancy shall be filled as provided in Section 13A-110 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
3.  In a school district having more than ten thousand (10,000) children in average daily membership, the following provision and the provisions of Section 13A-101 et seq. of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes shall control as to election of the members of the school district's board of education:
a.	There shall be held an election in which the electors of each board district in which a term is expiring or in which a vacancy exists shall select two candidates from among the candidates for board member to represent the board district,
b.	If, in the election, one candidate has a majority of all votes cast, then a run-off election is not required.  If no candidate receives a majority of all votes cast, then the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes shall become the candidates for the board district in the general election, and
c.	At the run-off election, all of the electors of the board district shall select one of the two candidates as the member of the board of education representing the board district.
C.  Any seven-member board shall have the option of reducing its board to a five-member board either after approval of a board resolution or a vote of the electors of the school district to take such action pursuant to Section 13A-109 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  The election pursuant to a vote of the electors of the school district shall be called upon the submission of a petition requesting the election signed by ten percent (10%) of the school district electors in the school district, the percentage being applied to the highest number of voters voting in a regular school district election in the district in the preceding five (5) years as determined by the secretary of the county election board, who shall certify the adequacy of the number of signatures on the petition.  If the question is put before the voters of the district, such election shall be held along with and at the same time and place as the next school election if all requirements of Section 13A-101 et seq. of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes for such election are met.
After such resolution or election, the board shall reapportion the district, determining by resolution or by lot which board member offices shall be abolished at the end of the current board member's term and which shall become one of the offices of the new board.
Election of the resulting board members shall be carried out according to procedures stated in this section and Section 13A-101 et seq. of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
School board members currently serving in offices abolished pursuant to this subsection shall continue serving until the end of their current terms as at-large members.
D.  Except for the chair of the board of education elected pursuant to Section 1 5-107B of this act title, offices of members of the board of education shall be designated by consecutive numbers and shall correspond with board districts when applicable.
E.  Except for those members elected prior to July 1, 1992, the terms of office of the members of a five-member board of education shall commence on the first regular, special or emergency school board meeting after the date of the annual school election and after the member has been certified as elected:
Office No. 1	1991
Office No. 2	1992
Office No. 3	1993
Office No. 4	1994
Office No. 5	1995
The terms of office of the members of a seven-member board of education shall be staggered, with one member being elected in 1991, two members being elected in 1992, two members being elected in 1993 and two members being elected in 1994 and shall commence on the first regular, special or emergency school board meeting after the date of the annual school election and after the member has been certified as elected; provided, in districts needing to elect two members in 1991 to maintain a full complement of board members, two members shall be elected in 1991, one for a full term and one for a one-year term, as determined by the local board.  If a seven-member board is formed upon consolidation pursuant to Section 7-105 of this title, or upon annexation pursuant to Section 7-101 of this title, the formation agreement shall specify initial short terms as necessary to extend until the beginning of the regular terms for seven-member boards established herein.
Upon reduction of a seven-member board pursuant to subsection C of this section, the terms of the five-member board shall be staggered pursuant to this subsection.
One member of a three-member board of education shall be elected each year, and the terms of office shall commence on the first regular, special or emergency school board meeting after the member has been certified as elected.
F.  The term of office of each board member elected after July 1, 1992, shall commence on the first regular, special or emergency school board meeting after the date of the annual school election and after the member has been certified as elected.  Board members elected prior to July 1, 1992, may remain in office until their successor is elected and seated pursuant to Sections 13A-101 through 13A-111 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  The remaining term of any member who completes the term for which the member was elected but not wishing to serve until the successor of the member takes office on the first regular, special or emergency school board meeting after the successor has been certified as elected, shall be filled by appointment by the remaining members of the board of education.
SECTION 5.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 6-101.10, is amended to read as follows:
Section 6-101.10.  A.  Each school district board of education shall maintain and annually review, following consultation with or involvement of representatives selected by local teachers, a written policy of evaluation for all teachers and administrators.  In those school districts in which there exists a professional negotiations agreement made in accordance with Sections Section 509.1 et seq. of this title, the procedure for evaluating members of the negotiations unit and any standards of performance and conduct proposed for adoption beyond those established by the State Board of Education shall be negotiable items.  Nothing in this section shall be construed to annul, modify or to preclude the renewal or continuing of any existing agreement heretofore entered into between any school district and any organizational representative of its employees.  Every policy of evaluation adopted by a board of education shall:
1.  Be based upon a set of minimum criteria developed by the State Board of Education, which by no later than the 2013-14 school year, shall be revised and based upon the Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Evaluation System (TLE) developed by the State Board of Education as provided in Section 6 6-101.16 of this act title;
2.  Be prescribed in writing at the time of adoption and at all times when amendments to the policy are adopted.  The original policy and all amendments to the policy shall be promptly made available to all persons subject to the policy;
3.  Provide that all evaluations be made in writing and that evaluation documents and responses thereto be maintained in a personnel file for each evaluated person;
4.  Provide that every probationary teacher be evaluated at least two times per school year, once prior to November 15 and once prior to February 10 of each year;
5.  Provide that every teacher be evaluated once every year, except as otherwise provided by law; and
6.  Provide that, except for superintendents of independent and elementary school districts and superintendents of area school districts, who shall be evaluated by the school district board of education, all certified personnel shall be evaluated by a principal, assistant principal, or other trained certified individual designated by the school district board of education.
B.  All individuals designated by the school district board of education to conduct the personnel evaluations shall be required to participate in training conducted by the State Department of Education or training provided by the school district using guidelines and materials developed by the State Department of Education prior to conducting evaluations.
C.  The State Department of Education shall develop and conduct workshops pursuant to statewide criteria which train individuals in conducting evaluations.
D.  The State Board of Education shall monitor compliance with the provisions of this section by school districts.
E.  Refusal by a school district to comply with the provisions of this section shall be grounds for withholding State Aid funds until compliance occurs.
SECTION 6.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 8-112, is amended to read as follows:
Section 8-112.  A.  Except as provided in subsection B of this section, on and after July 1, 1990, no school district shall be required to pay and no school district shall charge any other school district a fee for the transfer of a student.  Specifically, transfer fees shall not be permitted for transfers between elementary school districts, for transfers between independent school districts or for transfers between independent school districts and elementary school districts.
B.  Nothing herein shall prevent the payment or charging of any other fee for the transfer of a student as required by law.  Except as otherwise provided for in the Education Open Transfer Act, school districts shall not be permitted to contract to waive transfer fees with regard to special education pupil transfers.
C.  The State Board of Education shall establish the necessary and appropriate application forms sufficient to enable school districts to accomplish transfers and to comply with the provisions of Sections 8‑101 through 8-106 of this title.  Upon establishment of such forms, the State Board of Education shall notify each school district of the content thereof.
SECTION 7.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 9-105, is amended to read as follows:
Section 9-105.  A.  The State Board of Education shall determine and fix definite boundaries of the area in which each school district shall provide transportation for each school.  When an elementary school district is surrounded by an independent school district, the independent school district must be designated as the transportation area for the high school students in the elementary school district.
B.  The State Board of Education is authorized to establish definite routes in each transportation area, and it shall be the further duty of said the Board to make rules and regulations as to the manner in which said the area and routes may be established or changed.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, state funds payable to a district shall be withheld for a failure or refusal to confine its transportation to the area and routes designated by the State Board of Education or to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education.  State funds payable to a school district shall not be withheld in the following circumstances:
1.  When, based upon the mutual agreement of the two participating school districts, a school district offering special education classes extends its transportation program to include the transportation of students qualifying for special education in an adjacent school district which does not offer special education classes, for the purpose of offering its special education classes to said students; or
2.  When, by resolutions of the boards of education of two participating districts, the districts agree that one or both of the districts may extend its transportation program into the other participating district to provide transportation for students who reside in such other participating district and who, by agreement of the participating districts, are, or will be, attending school in the district that has agreed to furnish transportation for the students.
C.  The State Board shall promulgate rules as are necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
SECTION 8.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 14-108, is amended to read as follows:
Section 14-108.  A.  The State Board of Career and Technology Education shall prescribe criteria and procedures for the establishment and governance of technology center school districts, as provided by Section 9B, Article X, of the Oklahoma Constitution, and such districts so established shall be operated in accordance with rules of the State Board of Career and Technology Education, except as otherwise provided in this title.
B.  A technology center school district shall be a body corporate and shall possess the usual powers of a corporation for public purposes.  Its official name shall be designated by the State Board of Career and Technology Education, in which name it may sue and be sued, and be capable of contracting and being contracted with, and holding real and personal estate.
C.  The governing board of a technology center school district shall be a board of education consisting of not less than five (5) nor more than seven (7) members.  Except as otherwise provided for in subsection D of this section, all members of the board of education shall be elected in a manner prescribed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education.  The State Board shall promulgate rules prescribing the manner in which the elections required by this subsection are held.
D.  In a technology center school district that serves seventy or more public school districts, the territory of the school district shall be divided into district zones by the State Board of Career and Technology Education.  Between August 1 and December 31 of the year following the submission by the United States Department of Commerce to the President of the United States of the official Federal Decennial Census, the Board shall reapportion the territory of the technology center school district into district zones.  All boundaries of district zones shall follow clearly visible, definable, and observable physical boundaries which are based upon criteria established and recognized by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce for purposes of defining census blocks for its decennial census and shall follow, as much as possible, precinct boundaries.  District zones shall be compact, contiguous and shall be as equal in population as practical with not more than a five-percent variance between the most populous and least populous district zones.  The board of education of a technology center school district shall consist of one member elected from each of the district zones of the school district created pursuant to this subsection.  The electors of each district zone shall elect a person, who is a resident of the district zone, to represent the district zone on the school board.  If during the term of office to which a person was elected, that member ceases to be a resident of the district zone for which the person was elected, the office shall become vacant and the vacancy shall be filled as provided in Section 13A-110 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  The State Board of Career and Technology Education shall promulgate rules prescribing the manner in which the elections required by this subsection are held.
E.  The board of education of a technology center school district shall have the same powers and duties that boards of education of independent school districts have.  It may require nonresident students to pay reasonable tuition fees, which may be paid for a student by the independent or elementary school district in which the student resides.
F.  An election to vote on the question of making a levy of not to exceed five (5) mills on the dollar valuation of the taxable property in a technology center school district under the provisions of subsection A, Section 9B, Article X, of the Oklahoma Constitution, shall be called by the board of education and conducted by the county election board of such district in the same manner that elections for emergency levies in school districts under the provisions of subsection (d), Section 9(d), Article X, of the Oklahoma Constitution, are called and conducted.  When such levy is approved by a majority of the electors of the technology center school district voting on the question at such election, the levy shall be made each fiscal year thereafter until repealed by a majority of the electors of the district voting on the question at an election called for such purpose.  An election to vote on the question of making a local incentive levy of not to exceed five (5) mills on the dollar valuation of the taxable property in a technology center school district under the provisions of subsection B of Section 9B of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution, may be called by the board of education; and elections on a levy for a building fund for an area school district under the provisions of Section 10, Article X, Oklahoma Constitution, shall be called by the board of education of such district and conducted by the county election board in the same manner that elections for similar levies are called and conducted in independent school districts.
G.  Annual estimates of needs of technology center school districts shall be made and approved in the same manner that those of independent school districts are made and approved.  Provided, that the State Board of Career and Technology Education shall prescribe a list of appropriation accounts by which the funds of technology center school districts shall be budgeted, accounted for and expended.  Any such estimate of needs may include an estimate of federal funds as probable income from sources other than ad valorem tax of the district and other than any excise or other tax assessed by legislative enactment and distributed in lieu of ad valorem taxes.  If a technology center school district lies in more than one county, the district's estimate of needs shall be filed with and approved by the county excise board of the county designated by the school district board of education.
H.  Territory may be annexed to or detached from a technology center school district, in accordance with rules prescribed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education.  If the State Board of Career and Technology Education requires the submission of a petition in order for an election to be called for the purpose of annexation or deannexation of territory to a technology center school district, such petition shall not be required to bear a number of technology center school district electors' signatures which exceed fifty percent (50%) of the number of technology center school district electors who voted in the last school board election in the territory proposed to be annexed or deannexed.  Provided, the period of time from which the petition is initiated to its time of filing with the State Board shall not exceed ninety (90) days.
I.  Schools of technology center school districts shall be subject to classification, inspection and accreditation by the State Board of Education.
J.  The technology center school board of education may designate a county treasurer to serve as treasurer of the school district or may appoint an independent treasurer.
K.  Within four (4) years after the creation of a technology center school district, such school district may, at its discretion, permit a teacher to transfer any or all accrued benefits upon employment including credit for years of service in the previous school district by the technology center school district, if the teacher at the time of hiring is employed as a teacher by an independent or elementary school district which is all or partly within the boundaries of the technology center school district or is employed as a teacher in a skills center within the boundaries of the school district.
L.  The board of education of a technology center school district may convey surplus personal property without consideration to:
1.  A school district that is within the boundary of the technology center school district;
2.  A public school offering secondary level education which was created and is operated by the State of Oklahoma and that is within the boundary of the technology center school district;
3.  A technology center school district; or
4.  The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education for the support or delivery of department initiatives.
M.  The board of education of a technology center school district may, without prior approval of the State Board of Career and Technology Education, approve all plans and specifications for technology center school buildings, additions, and major modifications to school buildings that are designed to provide for the offering of vocational-technical education programs and services when the cost of the building project is to be paid with local levies or state bond monies or both local levies and state bond monies.
SECTION 9.     REPEALER     70 O.S. 2011, Section 5-103, is hereby repealed.
SECTION 10.  This act shall become effective June 30, 2013.
SECTION 11.  It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

53-2-2186	ALM	1/18/2012 10:53:48 AM