HF 2049

Introduction - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998)

Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00 a.m.

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; making certain changes 
  1.3             affecting school district election procedures; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 205A.12; 
  1.5             and 205A.13; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.6             Statutes, chapter 205A. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 205A.12, is 
  1.9   amended to read: 
  1.10     205A.12 [SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION DISTRICTS.] 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL PROVISIONS.] Any independent 
  1.12  school district may alter its organization into separate 
  1.13  election districts for the purpose of election of board members 
  1.14  by following the procedures in this section. 
  1.15     Subd. 2.  [ELECTION.] Except in a school district located 
  1.16  wholly or partly within a city of the first class, upon 
  1.17  resolution of the board, made on its own motion or on 
  1.18  presentation of a petition substantially in the form required in 
  1.19  section 205A.13, signed by at least 50 electors of the district 
  1.20  or ten percent of the number of votes cast in the most recent 
  1.21  regular school board election, whichever is larger, the board 
  1.22  shall adopt a proposal to divide the district into separate 
  1.23  election districts.  The proposal must designate one of the 
  1.24  following options for election of members:  single-member 
  1.25  districts, from which one board member each must be elected; 
  1.26  multimember districts, from which two or three members each must 
  2.1   be elected; a combination of single-member and multimember 
  2.2   districts; or a combination of single-member or multimember 
  2.3   districts, or both, and election of one or more members at 
  2.4   large.  The proposal must be submitted to an election under this 
  2.5   chapter.  If the election is initiated by petition, the 
  2.6   resolution calling the election must be adopted within six 
  2.7   months after the date of receipt of the petition.  Only one 
  2.8   election within any two-year period may be held under this 
  2.9   section. 
  2.10     Subd. 3.  [BALLOT QUESTION.] The question presented at 
  2.11  the special next general election in a year divisible by two 
  2.12  shall be:  "Shall the school district be reorganized into .. 
  2.13  number of election districts and .. number of at-large members 
  2.14  with boundaries as established in Resolution No. .... of the 
  2.15  school board, dated ..........? 
  2.16                                     Yes .......
  2.17                                     No ........"
  2.18     If initiated by petition, the number of election districts 
  2.19  and at-large members on the ballot question shall be identical 
  2.20  to the number proposed in the question on the petition. 
  2.21     Subd. 4.  [ELECTION DISTRICT BOUNDARIES.] Each proposed 
  2.22  election district must be as equal in population as practicable 
  2.23  and must be composed of compact, contiguous territory.  The 
  2.24  district may utilize the most recent federal decennial census 
  2.25  figures available or may conduct a special census for this 
  2.26  purpose.  The board shall designate each election district by 
  2.27  number. 
  2.28     Subd. 5.  [BOARD ELECTIONS.] If the proposal for the 
  2.29  establishment of election districts is approved by the voters, 
  2.30  the board shall specify the election districts from which 
  2.31  vacancies shall be filled as they occur until such time as each 
  2.32  board member represents an election district.  A candidate for 
  2.33  school board in a subsequent election must file an affidavit of 
  2.34  candidacy to be elected as a school board member for the 
  2.35  election district in which the candidate resides.  If there are 
  2.36  as many election districts as there are members of the board, 
  3.1   one and only one member of the board shall be elected from each 
  3.2   election district.  In school districts where one or more board 
  3.3   members are elected by election districts, candidates must 
  3.4   indicate on the affidavit of candidacy the number of the 
  3.5   district from which they seek election or, if appropriate, that 
  3.6   they seek election from one of the offices elected at large.  If 
  3.7   the election districts have two or three members each, the terms 
  3.8   of the members must be staggered.  If the at-large offices have 
  3.9   two or more members, the terms of the members must be 
  3.10  staggered.  Each board member must be a resident of the election 
  3.11  district for which elected but the creation of an election 
  3.12  district or a change in election district boundaries shall not 
  3.13  disqualify a board member from serving for the remainder of a 
  3.14  term. 
  3.15     Subd. 6.  [REDEFINING ELECTION DISTRICT BOUNDARIES.] The 
  3.16  school board may by resolution redefine district boundaries 
  3.17  after a school district general election.  The board shall hold 
  3.18  a public hearing on the proposed resolution before its 
  3.19  adoption.  One week's published notice of the hearing must be 
  3.20  given.  After the official certification of the federal 
  3.21  decennial or special census, the school board shall either 
  3.22  confirm the existing election district boundaries as conforming 
  3.23  to the standards of subdivision 4 or redefine election district 
  3.24  boundaries to conform to those standards as provided in section 
  3.25  204B.135, subdivision 2.  If the school board fails to take 
  3.26  either action within the time required, no further compensation 
  3.27  may be paid to the school board members until the districts are 
  3.28  either reconfirmed or redefined as required by this section.  A 
  3.29  resolution establishing election district boundaries pursuant to 
  3.30  section 204B.135, subdivision 2, becomes effective on the date 
  3.31  of the state primary election in the year ending in two. 
  3.32  Election district boundaries established at other times become 
  3.33  effective 90 days after the adoption of the resolution. 
  3.34     Subd. 7.  [DISSOLUTION OF ELECTION DISTRICTS.] The 
  3.35  governing body of a school district that enters into a 
  3.36  consolidation or cooperation and combination agreement may, by 
  4.1   resolution, dissolve election districts previously established 
  4.2   as provided in this section as part of the consolidation or 
  4.3   cooperation and combination plan.  The resolution must include a 
  4.4   plan for the orderly transition to at-large elections of school 
  4.5   board members. 
  4.6      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 205A.13, is 
  4.7   amended to read: 
  4.8      205A.13 [REQUIREMENTS FOR PETITIONS.] 
  4.9      Any petition to a school board authorized in this chapter 
  4.10  or sections 124.226, 124.2716, 124.91, 124.912, 124.914, 
  4.11  124.916, 124.918, and 124A.03, or any other law which requires 
  4.12  the board to submit an issue to referendum or election, shall 
  4.13  meet the following requirements to be valid.  
  4.14     (1) Each page of the petition shall contain a heading at 
  4.15  its top which specifies the particular action the board is being 
  4.16  petitioned to take.  The signatures on any page which does not 
  4.17  contain such a heading shall all be invalidated.  All pages of 
  4.18  the petition shall be assembled and filed with the board as a 
  4.19  single instrument.  
  4.20     (2) Each page of the petition shall contain an 
  4.21  authentication signed by the circulator of the petition 
  4.22  specifying as follows:  
  4.23     "I personally have circulated this page of the petition.  
  4.24  All signatures were made in my presence.  I believe that the 
  4.25  signers signed their own names and that each person who has 
  4.26  signed is eligible to vote in a school district election 
  4.27  according to Minnesota election law.  
  4.28     Signed:  ................................ Signature of 
  4.29  Petition Circulator 
  4.30     Date:  ................................." 
  4.31     The signatures on any page which does not contain such an 
  4.32  authentication shall all be invalidated.  
  4.33     (3) Signers of the petition shall personally sign their own 
  4.34  names in ink or indelible pencil and shall indicate after the 
  4.35  name the place of residence by street and number, or other 
  4.36  description sufficient to identify the place.  Except as 
  5.1   provided in clause (4), any signature which does not meet these 
  5.2   requirements shall be invalidated.  
  5.3      (4) Individuals who are unable to write their names shall 
  5.4   be required to make their marks on the petition.  The circulator 
  5.5   of the petition shall certify the mark by signing the 
  5.6   individual's name and address and shall thereafter print the 
  5.7   phrase "mark certified by petition circulator."  
  5.8      (5) A petition, to be valid, must contain the minimum 
  5.9   number of valid signatures of eligible voters specified in the 
  5.10  law authorizing the petition and election.  
  5.11     (6) A circulator of the petition or any other person 
  5.12  involved in the petition process must be an eligible voter in 
  5.13  the school district.  The signatures on any page circulated by 
  5.14  an ineligible voter are invalid. 
  5.15     (7) No circulator of the petition, and no signer of any 
  5.16  such petition, or any other person involved in the petition 
  5.17  process, shall accept or offer any reward, pecuniary or 
  5.18  otherwise, for service rendered in connection with the 
  5.19  circulation of a petition.  Any violation of this section is a 
  5.20  misdemeanor. 
  5.21     (8) Within 30 days of filing the petition, the board 
  5.22  secretary shall determine the number of eligible voters whose 
  5.23  signatures are on the petition, the minimum number of signatures 
  5.24  required to certify the petition, and whether the petition is 
  5.25  irregular in any manner.  If the board secretary finds the 
  5.26  number insufficient or the petition irregular in any manner, the 
  5.27  board secretary shall at once notify the circulators of the 
  5.28  petition of that fact, certifying the reasons for the findings.  
  5.29  The circulators then have ten working days in which to file 
  5.30  additional signatures or to correct the petition in all other 
  5.31  particulars.  The board secretary then has ten additional 
  5.32  working days to examine the corrected petition.  If at the end 
  5.33  of that period the board secretary still finds the petition to 
  5.34  be insufficient or irregular, the board secretary shall file 
  5.35  that information with the school board and shall notify each 
  5.36  circulator of the petition of the filing.  The final finding of 
  6.1   the insufficiency or irregularity of a petition shall not 
  6.2   prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose, nor 
  6.3   shall it prevent the school board from referring the measure to 
  6.4   voters at its option. 
  6.5      Sec. 3.  [205A.14] [SCHOOL INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM.] 
  6.6      Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL PROVISIONS.] Any independent 
  6.7   school district, for the purpose of initiating any measure of 
  6.8   public concern or calling for a referendum, may place any 
  6.9   measure of public concern to its electorate as a single issue on 
  6.10  which to vote under the procedures in this section. 
  6.11     Subd. 2.  [ELECTION.] After resolving by its own motion or 
  6.12  on receiving a petition substantially in the form required under 
  6.13  section 205A.13, signed by at least 50 district electors or the 
  6.14  number of district electors equal to ten percent of the votes 
  6.15  cast in the most recent regular school board election, whichever 
  6.16  is larger, the board shall adopt a proposal placing a long-range 
  6.17  plan, an administrative policy, or an issue concerning 
  6.18  curriculum to an election under this chapter.  If the election 
  6.19  is initiated by petition, the board must adopt a resolution 
  6.20  calling the election within 180 days after the date the board 
  6.21  receives the petition. 
  6.22     Subd. 3.  [BALLOT QUESTION.] The question presented at the 
  6.23  next general election in a year divisible by two shall not 
  6.24  exceed 50 words and shall include the Resolution No. .... and 
  6.25  the date of the school board meeting.  If initiated by petition, 
  6.26  the election shall be identical to the question on the petition 
  6.27  and shall not exceed 50 words.  The ballot used when voting on 
  6.28  any such proposed measure shall give the voters the opportunity 
  6.29  to vote either "for the measure" or "against the measure." 
  6.30     Subd. 4.  [EFFECT OF ELECTION.] If an initiative or 
  6.31  referendum proposal is submitted to a vote of the people and 
  6.32  receives a majority of the votes cast at such an election, such 
  6.33  initiative or referendum shall take effect immediately upon 
  6.34  confirming the election results, unless a later date is fixed in 
  6.35  the initiative.  If the school board fails to take immediate 
  6.36  action, the school board members shall receive no further 
  7.1   compensation.  Any subsequent action by the school board to 
  7.2   amend or repeal such an initiative or referendum must be 
  7.3   submitted to a vote of the people.  Any initiative or referendum 
  7.4   adopted by a vote of the people cannot be repealed or amended 
  7.5   except by a vote of the people. 
  7.6      Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  7.7      Sections 1 to 3 are effective the day following final 
  7.8   enactment.