Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Introduced

March 27, 2024

H. 5231

Introduced by Rep Bamberg

L. Printed 03/27/24--S.

Read the first time March 27, 2024

________

A bill

to AMEND ACT 104 OF 2021, RELATING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONSOLIDATED BAMBERG COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT AND ITS NINE MEMBER BOARD OF TRUSTEES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT SEVEN MEMBERS OF THE BOARD ARE TO BE ELECTED FROM SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICTS WHICH CORRESPOND WITH THE BAMBERG COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICTS, AND TWO ADDITIONAL MEMBERS ARE TO BE ELECTED FROM THE COUNTY AT-LARGE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1.  Section 2 of Act 104 of 2021 is amended to read:

    (A) The Bamberg County School District must be governed initially by a board of trustees of nine members to be appointed by a majority of the Bamberg County Legislative Delegation. The nine members initially appointed by the legislative delegation after the effective date of this act must be qualified electors of either Bamberg Ehrhardt School District One or Denmark Olar School District Two, and these appointed members shall serve on the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees until four five trustees have been duly elected and qualify in school district elections held at the same time as the 2024 General Election and four trustees have been duly elected and qualify in school district elections held at the same time as the 2026 General Election pursuant to the provisions of this section. These fourSeven of these nine trustees must be elected from defined single-member election districts to be established in subsequent legislation enacted after the release of pertinent demographic data obtained in the 2020 decennial census, but prior to the opening of the filing period for the 2024 school district elections which shall correspond numerically and with the composition of the Bamberg County Council Districts, and two additional members must be elected from the county at-large.

    (B)(1) Beginning in 2024, four members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees must be elected from single-member districts provided for by the General Assemblywhich shall correspond with the composition of the Bamberg County Council Districts, and one member must be elected from the county at-large, in nonpartisan elections to be conducted at the same time as the general election and every four years thereafter, except as may be provided to stagger the members' terms. The four candidates elected in the 2024 school district elections from single-member districts must be elected from election districts 21, 4, 65, and 87, and shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify. Each of these four members and their successors must be a qualified elector of the election district from which he is elected. A fifth candidate must be elected from the county at-large, to be designated as district 8, and shall serve a four-year term until his successor is elected and qualifies. Beginning in 2026, five four additional members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees must be elected, three of whom must be elected from election districts 12, 3, 5, 7, and 96 and one from the county at-large to be designated as district 9, in nonpartisan elections to be conducted at the same time as the general election and every four years thereafter, except as may be provided to stagger the members' terms. The five four candidates elected in the 2026 school district elections shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify. Each of these five four members and their successors must be a qualified elector of the election district from which he is elected. In order to provide continuity of experienced leadership to the district, when the four duly elected trustees from election districts 21, 4, 65, 7, and 8 take office following the 2024 school district elections, a majority of the Bamberg County Legislative Delegation shall select five four members from the initial nine-member appointed board of trustees to serve as school district trustees together with the fourfive elected members, and the terms of the remaining appointed trustees not selected to serve with the four five elected members must be terminated. The fivefour members of the initial nine-member appointed board selected to serve alongside the four elected members shall serve until their successors are elected in school district elections conducted at the same time as the 2026 General Election and qualify.

       (2)(a) The four five trustees elected from districts 21, 4, 65, 7, and 8 in the 2024 school district elections shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify, and the successors to these members must be elected in nonpartisan school district elections to be conducted at the same time as the 2028 General Election. The trustees elected in the 2028 school district election and their successors shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify.

           (b) Pursuant to item (1) of this subsection, the five four members of the initial nine-member appointed board selected by the Bamberg County Legislative Delegation to serve alongside the fourfive elected members shall serve until their successors are elected from districts 12, 3, 5, 76, and 9 in school district elections conducted at the same time as the 2026 General Election and qualify. At such time, the terms of the five four appointed members shall terminate. The five four trustees elected from districts 12, 3, 5, 76, and 9 in the 2026 school district elections and their successors shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify. Thereafter, members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees must be elected in nonpartisan school district elections to be conducted at the same time as the general election for terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify.

       (3) Whenever a vacancy occurs in office, by reason of death, resignation, or removal, the vacancy in office shall be filled by a special election to complete the term of office, which special election shall be held in accordance with Section 7-13-190.

    (C) All persons desiring to qualify as a candidate for the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees shall file written noticea statement of intention of candidacy with the Bamberg County Board of Voter Registration and Elections on forms furnished by the boardin the manner provided in Section 7-13-352.  The filing period shall open at 12:00 p.m. on August first or, if August first falls on Saturday or Sunday, then 12:00 p.m. on the following Monday and shall run until 12:00 p.m. on August fifteenth or, if August fifteenth falls on Saturday or Sunday, no later than 12:00 p.m. on the following Monday. This notice of candidacy must be a sworn statement and shall include the candidate's name, age, address, voting precinct, period of residence in the county, and other information that the board requires. The Bamberg County Board of Voter Registration and Elections shall conduct and supervise the elections for members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The board shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the elections, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results. The board shall publish notices of the elections pursuant to Section 7-13-35. The results of the elections must be determined by the nonpartisan plurality method contained in Section 5-15-61. The members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees elected in these nonpartisan elections shall take office one week following certification of their election pursuant to Section 59-19-315.

SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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