77R10108 BDH-D
By Gallego H.B. No. 328
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 328:
By Oliveira C.S.H.B. No. 328
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to single-member trustee districts for certain school
1-3 districts.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 11.052, Education Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 11.052. SINGLE-MEMBER TRUSTEE DISTRICTS. (a) Except
1-8 as provided by Subsection (b), the [The] board of trustees of an
1-9 independent school district, on its own motion, may order that
1-10 trustees of the district are to be elected from single-member
1-11 trustee districts or that not fewer than 70 percent of the members
1-12 of the board of trustees are to be elected from single-member
1-13 trustee districts with the remaining trustees to be elected from
1-14 the district at large.
1-15 (b) If a majority of the area of an independent school
1-16 district is located in a county with a population of less than
1-17 10,000, the board of trustees of the district, on its own motion,
1-18 may order that trustees of the district are to be elected from
1-19 single-member trustee districts or that not fewer than 50 percent
1-20 of the members of the board of trustees are to be elected from
1-21 single-member trustee districts with the remaining trustees to be
1-22 elected from the district at large.
1-23 (c) Before adopting an [the] order under Subsection (a) or
1-24 (b), the board must:
2-1 (1) hold a public hearing at which registered voters
2-2 of the district are given an opportunity to comment on whether or
2-3 not they favor the election of trustees in the manner proposed by
2-4 the board; and
2-5 (2) publish notice of the hearing in a newspaper that
2-6 has general circulation in the district, not later than the seventh
2-7 day before the date of the hearing.
2-8 (d) [(b)] An order of the board adopted under Subsection (a)
2-9 or (b) must be entered not later than the 120th day before the date
2-10 of the first election at which all or some of the trustees are
2-11 elected from single-member trustee districts authorized by the
2-12 order.
2-13 (e) [(c)] If at least 15 percent or 15,000 of the registered
2-14 voters of the school district, whichever is less, sign and present
2-15 to the board of trustees a petition requesting submission to the
2-16 voters of the proposition that trustees of the district be elected
2-17 in a specific manner, which must be generally described on the
2-18 petition and which must be a manner of election that the board
2-19 could have ordered on its own motion under Subsection (a) or (b)
2-20 [from single-member trustee districts or that not fewer than 70
2-21 percent of the members of the board of trustees be elected from
2-22 single-member trustee districts with the remaining trustees to be
2-23 elected from the district at large], the board shall order that the
2-24 appropriate proposition be placed on the ballot at the first
2-25 regular election of trustees held after the 120th day after the
2-26 date the petition is submitted to the board. The proposition must
2-27 specify the number of trustees to be elected from single-member
3-1 districts. Beginning with the first regular election of trustees
3-2 held after an election at which a majority of the registered voters
3-3 voting approve the proposition, trustees of the district shall be
3-4 elected in the manner prescribed by the approved proposition.
3-5 (f) [(d)] If single-member trustee districts are adopted or
3-6 approved as provided by this section, the board shall divide the
3-7 school district into the appropriate number of trustee districts,
3-8 based on the number of members of the board that are to be elected
3-9 from single-member trustee districts, and shall number each trustee
3-10 district. The trustee districts must be compact and contiguous and
3-11 must be as nearly as practicable of equal population. In a
3-12 district with 150,000 or more students in average daily attendance,
3-13 the boundary of a trustee district may not cross a county election
3-14 precinct boundary except at a point at which the boundary of the
3-15 school district crosses the county election precinct boundary.
3-16 Trustee districts must be drawn not later than the 90th day before
3-17 the date of the first election of trustees from those
3-18 [single-member] districts.
3-19 (g) [(e)] Residents of each trustee district are entitled to
3-20 elect one trustee to the board. Except as provided by this
3-21 subsection, a [A] trustee elected to represent a trustee district
3-22 at the first election of trustees must be a resident of the
3-23 district the trustee represents not later than: (1) the 90th day
3-24 after the date election returns are canvassed; or (2) the 60th day
3-25 after the date of a final judgment in an election contest filed
3-26 concerning that trustee district. After the first election of
3-27 trustees from single-member trustee districts, a candidate for
4-1 trustee representing a single-member trustee district must be a
4-2 resident of the district the candidate seeks to represent. A
4-3 person appointed to fill a vacancy in a trustee district must be a
4-4 resident of that trustee district. A trustee vacates the office if
4-5 the trustee fails to move into the trustee district the trustee
4-6 represents within the time provided by this subsection or ceases to
4-7 reside in the district the trustee represents. Notwithstanding any
4-8 other provision of this subsection, a candidate seeking to
4-9 represent or a trustee representing a single-member trustee
4-10 district described by Subsection (b) is not required at any time to
4-11 be a resident of the trustee district, but the candidate or trustee
4-12 must be a resident of the independent school district. A candidate
4-13 for trustee representing an independent school [the] district at
4-14 large must be a resident of the school district.
4-15 (h) [(f)] At the first election at which some or all of the
4-16 trustees are elected in a manner authorized by this section [from
4-17 trustee districts] and after each redistricting, all positions on
4-18 the board shall be filled. The trustees then elected shall draw
4-19 lots for staggered terms as provided by Section 11.059.
4-20 (i) [(g)] Not later than the 90th day before the date of the
4-21 first regular school board election at which trustees may
4-22 officially recognize and act on the last preceding federal census,
4-23 the board shall redivide the district into the appropriate number
4-24 of trustee districts if the census data indicates that the
4-25 population of the most populous district exceeds the population of
4-26 the least populous district by more than 10 percent. Redivision of
4-27 the district shall be in the manner provided for division of the
5-1 district under Subsection (f) [(d)].
5-2 SECTION 2. Section 11.053, Education Code, is amended to
5-3 read as follows:
5-4 Sec. 11.053. [TRANSITION TO SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICTS:]
5-5 OPTION TO CONTINUE IN OFFICE FOLLOWING ADOPTION OF SINGLE-MEMBER
5-6 PLAN OR REDISTRICTING. (a) The board of trustees of [For] an
5-7 independent school district that adopts a redistricting plan under
5-8 Section 11.052 [providing for five members of the board to be
5-9 elected from single-member trustee districts and two members to be
5-10 elected at large, the board of trustees] may provide [in the plan]
5-11 for the trustees [then] in office when the plan is adopted or the
5-12 school district is redistricted to serve [at large] for the
5-13 remainder of their terms in accordance with this section.
5-14 (b) The trustee district and any at-large positions provided
5-15 by the district's plan shall be filled as the staggered terms of
5-16 [incumbent] trustees then in office expire. Not later than the
5-17 90th day before the date of the first election from trustee
5-18 districts and after each redistricting, the board shall determine
5-19 [by lot] the order in which the positions will be filled.
5-20 [(c) The trustees of a district to which this section
5-21 applies may also provide for members serving at the time of a
5-22 redistricting to serve for the remainder of their terms.]
5-23 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
5-24 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
5-25 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
5-26 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
5-27 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.