1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; dissolving Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis; 
1.3 	providing for the transition and operation of successor school districts; 
1.4 	appropriating money;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
1.5 	chapter 123A; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 128D.01; 128D.02; 
1.6 	128D.03; 128D.04; 128D.05; 128D.06; 128D.07; 128D.08, subdivisions 1, 3, 4; 
1.7 	128D.09; 128D.10; 128D.11; 128D.12; 128D.13; 128D.14; 128D.15; 128D.16; 
1.8 	128D.17.
1.9 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.10 	Section 1. MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL REDISTRICTING PLAN.
 1.11 		Subdivision 1.Plan development. (a) The Board of Education of Special School 
1.12 	District No. 1, Minneapolis, in consultation with the mayor of the city of Minneapolis, 
1.13 	shall consider and develop a plan for the orderly and equitable dissolution of the 
1.14 	Minneapolis school district and the determination of the boundaries of six newly 
1.15 	constituted independent school districts within the area of the current school district. A 
1.16 	preliminary plan must be reported to the commissioner of education and the Hennepin 
1.17 	County auditor on January 1, 2016, and a final plan must be adopted by the board and 
1.18 	submitted to the commissioner and the Hennepin County auditor no later than July 1, 2016.
1.19 	(b) If the board does not adopt and submit a plan within the time specified, the 
1.20 	governor shall submit a plan under paragraph (a) and subdivision 2 to the commissioner 
1.21 	and the Hennepin County auditor no later than January 1, 2017.
1.22 		Subd. 2.Plan components. The plan shall include provisions for the transition 
1.23 	of custodial, food, transportation, and administrative services, and any other affected 
1.24 	functions, as well as the transfer of title to all property, real and personal, of the dissolved 
1.25 	district. 
2.1 		Subd. 3.Review and implementation. The commissioner of education and 
2.2 	the Hennepin County auditor shall review, amend where necessary to allow for 
2.3 	implementation, and implement the plan accordingly.

2.4 	Sec. 2. [123A.80] FORMER SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, 
2.5 	MINNEAPOLIS; APPLICABILITY.
2.6 	Sections 123A.80 to 123A.82 apply to only independent school districts formed out 
2.7 	of the former territory of Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis.

2.8 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for the 2018-2019 school year and 
2.9 	later.

2.10 	Sec. 3. [123A.81] FORMER SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, 
2.11 	MINNEAPOLIS; FLEXIBILITY.
2.12 		Subdivision 1.Waiver procedure. A school board by recorded vote may request 
2.13 	from the commissioner a waiver of any state statute, law, or rule, except those relating 
2.14 	to data practices and open meetings. Within 30 days of the receipt of the request, the 
2.15 	commissioner must approve or reject the request. If the commissioner rejects the request, 
2.16 	the commissioner must include a statement of reason for rejecting the request. The 
2.17 	commissioner may only reject a request on the grounds of student health, safety, testing, 
2.18 	or that the statute, law, or rule is a federally required implementation of federal law. If the 
2.19 	commissioner rejects the request, the school board may revise the request and resubmit it 
2.20 	to the commissioner within 30 days. Within 30 days of the receipt of the modified request, 
2.21 	the commissioner must approve or reject the request. The commissioner's decision is final.
2.22 		Subd. 2.Publication. A district receiving a waiver under this section must maintain 
2.23 	a list of the statutes, laws, and rules from which it has received a waiver on the district's 
2.24 	Web site.
2.25 		Subd. 3.Reporting. Annually by February 1, the commissioner must report to the 
2.26 	legislative committees with jurisdiction over education policy and education finance the 
2.27 	statutes, laws, and rules that have been waived under this section for each of the school 
2.28 	districts.

2.29 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for the 2018-2019 school year and 
2.30 	later.

2.31 	Sec. 4. [123A.82] FORMER SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, 
2.32 	MINNEAPOLIS; TAXING AUTHORITY.
3.1 		Subdivision 1.Levy certifications. (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, an 
3.2 	unequalized levy, as determined by the commissioner, certified by a school board must 
3.3 	be levied across the applicable tax base of the former territory of Special School District 
3.4 	No. 1, Minneapolis.
3.5 	(b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, an equalized levy, as determined by 
3.6 	the commissioner, certified by a school board must be equalized and levied across the 
3.7 	applicable tax base of the former territory of Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis.
3.8 		Subd. 2.Referendum. Notwithstanding sections 123B.63 and 126C.17, a 
3.9 	referendum under these sections must be brought to the electors of the former territory of 
3.10 	Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis, under this subdivision. A referendum under 
3.11 	section 123B.63, 126C.17, or 475.58 may be brought to the electors of the former Special 
3.12 	School District No. 1, Minneapolis, by board resolution of four of the six districts created 
3.13 	from the territory of the former Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis.

3.14 	Sec. 5. SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, MINNEAPOLIS; TRANSITION.
 3.15 		Subdivision 1.Information to auditor. (a) By July 1, 2016, and annually until 
3.16 	2018, Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis, must provide the following information 
3.17 	to the Hennepin County auditor:
3.18 	(1) the outstanding bonded debt, outstanding energy loans made according to 
3.19 	Minnesota Statutes, section 216C.37 or sections 298.292 to 298.298, and the capital loan 
3.20 	obligation of the district;
3.21 	(2) the net tax capacity of the district; and
3.22 	(3) the most current school tax rates for the district, including any referendum, 
3.23 	discretionary, or other optional levies being assessed currently and the expected duration 
3.24 	of the levies.
3.25 	(b) An assignment of bonded indebtedness, outstanding energy loans made 
3.26 	according to Minnesota Statutes, section 216C.37 or sections 298.292 to 298.298, shall not 
3.27 	relieve any property from any tax liability for payment of any bonded or capital obligation.
3.28 		Subd. 2.Order. (a) The Hennepin County auditor shall issue a dissolution order 
3.29 	effective July 1, 2018. The dissolution order must contain the following:
3.30 	(1) a statement that the district is dissolved;
3.31 	(2) a description by words or plat or both showing the disposition of territory in the 
3.32 	district to be dissolved;
3.33 	(3) the outstanding bonded debt, outstanding energy loans made according to 
3.34 	Minnesota Statutes, section 216C.37 or sections 298.292 to 298.298, and the capital loan 
3.35 	obligation of the district to be dissolved;
4.1 	(4) a statement requiring the fulfillment of the requirements imposed on each 
4.2 	newly formed district from which territory in the dissolving district is to be created from 
4.3 	regarding the assumption of its outstanding preexisting bonded indebtedness; and
4.4 	(5) other information the county board may desire to include.
4.5 	(b) The auditor shall, within ten days from its issuance, serve a copy of the order by 
4.6 	mail upon the clerk of the district to be dissolved and upon the commissioner.
4.7 		Subd. 3.Bonded debt. The bonded debt of a district dissolved under provisions 
4.8 	of this section must be paid according to levies made for that debt under provision of 
4.9 	Minnesota Statutes, chapter 475. The obligation of the taxable property in the dissolved 
4.10 	district with reference to the payment of such bonded debt is not affected by this section.
4.11 		Subd. 4.Current assets and liabilities. All current assets and liabilities, real 
4.12 	and personal, of Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis, and all its legally valid 
4.13 	and enforceable claims and contract obligations must pass to the new districts. The 
4.14 	commissioner shall, within 30 days after the order is issued, issue an order for the 
4.15 	distribution of its current assets and liabilities, real and personal. If the commissioner's 
4.16 	order provides for the transfer of an interest in real estate to a district, the order may 
4.17 	also impose a dollar amount as a claim against that district in favor of other districts and 
4.18 	this claim shall be paid and enforced in the manner provided by law for the payment 
4.19 	of judgments against a district.
4.20 		Subd. 5.Election of new boards. (a) At the 2017 general election, a board of 
4.21 	directors for each of the newly constituted school districts created under this act shall be 
4.22 	elected pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, chapter 205A, and elections shall be conducted 
4.23 	by resolution of the county board. One-half of the initial board members on each board 
4.24 	shall be elected to three-year terms and one-half of the initial members shall be elected 
4.25 	to five-year terms. The terms of the members shall thereafter be as governed under 
4.26 	Minnesota Statutes, section 123B.09.
4.27 	(b) Board members elected under this section shall assume office January 1, 2018, 
4.28 	but may only pass resolutions and take other actions effective for the 2018-2019 school 
4.29 	year and later.
4.30 	(c) The board of Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis, shall continue to 
4.31 	maintain schools until all its territory has been dissolved and reconstituted, and the board 
4.32 	shall only make such contracts and do such things as are necessary to properly maintain 
4.33 	schools for the period they are in session prior to the dissolution.
4.34 		Subd. 6.Levies. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, in the year prior 
4.35 	to the effective date of the dissolution of a district, the board of the dissolving district 
5.1 	must certify levies at the same level as the previous year for taxes payable in the year the 
5.2 	dissolution is effective.
5.3 		Subd. 7.Merger. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no school district 
5.4 	created under this act may merge or otherwise combine with another school district until 
5.5 	the 2030-2031 school year.

5.6 	Sec. 6. APPROPRIATION.
 5.7 	$....... in fiscal year 2016 and $....... in fiscal year 2017 are appropriated from the 
5.8 	general fund to the commissioner of education for revenue to Special School District No. 
5.9 	1, Minneapolis, to be placed in a reserve account in the district's general fund. Funds in 
5.10 	this account may only be used for the development of the redistricting plan under section 1 
5.11 	and as start-up funds for the new school districts, including conducting candidate searches 
5.12 	for superintendents and hiring support staff for the school boards.

5.13 	Sec. 7. REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION.
 5.14 	Upon the transition from Special School District, No. 1, Minneapolis, to its 
5.15 	successor districts, the revisor of statutes shall change "Special School District No. 
5.16 	1, Minneapolis" or similar term in Minnesota Statutes and Minnesota Rules to a term 
5.17 	that includes the districts formed from that territory. The revisor of statutes shall make 
5.18 	technical and grammatical changes necessary to implement this terminology change.

5.19 	Sec. 8.  REPEALER.
 5.20 	Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 128D.01; 128D.02; 128D.03; 128D.04; 128D.05; 
5.21 	128D.06; 128D.07; 128D.08, subdivisions 1, 3, and 4; 128D.09; 128D.10; 128D.11; 
5.22 	128D.12; 128D.13; 128D.14; 128D.15; 128D.16; and 128D.17, are repealed effective 
5.23 	July 1, 2020.