78R3230 SLO-D

By:  Lewis                                                        H.B. No. 583


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the method of selecting trustees in certain 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, "average daily attendance" means the number of students enrolled and in attendance on average during the last 10 school days of September in the 2002-2003 school year. (b) This section applies only to an independent school district with more than 80,000 students in average daily attendance 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) Notwithstanding Section 11.051, the board of trustees of an independent school district to which this section applies consists of 11 members elected in accordance with this section. (d) 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. (e) 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 11 trustee districts and shall number each trustee district. The trustee districts must be compact, contiguous, and as nearly as practicable equal in population. (f) 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. (g) A candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast in a position to be elected. (h) 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. (i) 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 11 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 (e). SECTION 2. 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.