By:  Lewis                                                        H.B. No. 583



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the method of selecting and to terms of trustees of 
independent school districts.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Subchapter C, Chapter 11, Education Code, is 
amended by adding Section 11.0531 to read as follows:
	Sec. 11.0531.  DISTRICTS WITH MORE THAN 80,000 STUDENTS IN 
CERTAIN COUNTIES.  (a)  In this section, "enrollment" means the 
number of students enrolled on the last school day of September in 
the 2002-2003 school year.
	(b)  This section applies only to an independent school 
district with an enrollment of more than 80,000 students in a county 
having two or more municipalities with a population of 250,000 or 
more.  For purposes of this subsection, a municipality is located in 
a county if more than 95 percent of the municipality's population 
resides in that county.
	(c)  All members of the board of trustees shall be elected 
from single-member trustee districts.  In addition to officers 
selected as provided by Section 11.061, the board shall select one 
of its members as vice president.
	(d)  Not later than the 120th day before the date of the first 
election at which a district elects trustees under this section, 
the board shall divide the school district into trustee districts 
and shall number each trustee district.  The trustee districts must 
be compact, contiguous, and as nearly as practicable equal in 
population.
	(e)  Residents of each trustee district are entitled to elect 
one trustee to the board.  A trustee elected to represent a trustee 
district at the first election of trustees must be a resident of the 
district the trustee represents not later than:
		(1)  the 90th day after the date election returns are 
canvassed; or  
		(2)  the 60th day after the date of a final judgment in 
an election contest filed concerning that trustee district.  After 
the first election of trustees from single-member districts, a 
candidate for trustee must be a resident of the trustee district the 
candidate seeks to represent.  A person appointed to fill a vacancy 
in a trustee district must be a resident of that trustee district.  
A trustee vacates the office if the trustee ceases to reside in that 
district.
	(f)  A candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast in 
a position to be elected.
	(g)  At the first election at which trustees are elected in  
the manner required by this section and after each redistricting, 
all positions on the board shall be filled.  The trustees then 
elected shall draw lots for staggered terms of four years as 
provided by Section 11.059.
	(h)  Not later than the 120th day before the date of the first 
regular election at which trustees may officially recognize and act 
on the last preceding federal census, the board shall redivide the 
district into trustee districts if the census data indicates that 
the population of the most populous district exceeds the population 
of the least populous district by more than 10 percent.  Redivision 
of the district shall be in the manner provided for division of the 
district under Subsection (d).
	(i)  The board of trustees of an independent school district 
described by Subsection (b) shall hold a referendum on whether to 
adopt this section.  The referendum shall be held at the election 
held in May 2004.  This section applies only if a majority of the 
voters voting on the proposition vote for the proposition.
	SECTION 2.  Section 11.059, Education Code, is amended by 
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
	(e)  At a regular election of trustees or at a special 
election not later than the 120th day before the date of a regular 
election of trustees, the board of trustees of a district may hold a 
referendum on whether to change the length of the term the trustees 
serve from three years to four or from four years to three.  The 
transition to three-year or four-year terms begins with the first 
regular election held after the approval of the proposition by a 
majority of the voters voting on the issue.  Trustees in office on 
the date the proposition is approved shall serve the remainder of 
their terms.  The proposition must specify the manner in which the 
transition to three-year or four-year terms is made.
	SECTION 3.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies beginning with the first regular election of trustees held 
after that date in a school district to which Section 11.0531, 
Education Code, as added by this Act, applies.