HBA-MPM C.S.H.B. 328 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 328 By: Gallego Public Education 4/20/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the board of trustees (board) of an independent school district (district), on its own motion, may order trustees of the district to be elected from single-member trustee districts or that no fewer than 70 percent of the trustees be elected from single-member trustee districts, with the remainder elected from the district at large. Smaller districts can have difficulty finding individuals to fill seats in single member districts. C.S.H.B. 328 authorizes a board, if a majority of the district is located in a county with a population of less than 10,000, to order that no fewer than 50 percent of trustees be elected from single member trustee districts, with the remainder of the trustees elected at large. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 328 amends the Education Code to authorize the board of trustees of an independent school district (district) located in a county with less than 10,000 people to order that trustees of the district be elected from single-member trustee districts or that not fewer than 50 percent of the board members be elected from single-member trustee districts, with the remaining trustees to be elected from the district at large. The bill specifies that a candidate seeking to represent or a trustee representing a single-member trustee district under this provision is not required at any time to be a resident of the trustee district, but the candidate or trustee must be a resident of the independent school district. The bill authorizes the board of trustees of a district that adopts a redistricting plan to provide for the trustees in office when the plan is adopted or the district is redistricted to serve the remainder of their terms. The bill requires the board of trustees to determine the order in which positions may be filled after each redistricting. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 328 differs from the original by increasing from 5,000 to 10,000 the population of a county affected by this bill. The substitute specifies that a candidate seeking to represent or a trustee representing a single-member trustee district is not required to be a resident of the trustee district, but must be a resident of the independent school district. The substitute also makes provisions if a redistricting plan is adopted by the board of trustees to allow a trustee to serve the remainder of a term, and requires the board to determine the order in which positions will be filled after each redistricting.