2006 Minnesota Statutes

205A.12 SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION DISTRICTS.
    Subdivision 1. General provisions. Any independent school district may alter its
organization into separate election districts for the purpose of election of board members by
following the procedures in this section.
    Subd. 2. Election. Except in a school district located wholly or partly within a city of the
first class, upon resolution of the board, made on its own motion or on presentation of a petition
substantially in the form required in section 205A.13, signed by at least 50 electors of the district
or ten percent of the number of votes cast in the most recent regular school board election,
whichever is larger, the board shall adopt a proposal to divide the district into separate election
districts. The proposal must designate one of the following options for election of members:
single-member districts, from which one board member each must be elected; multimember
districts, from which two or three members each must be elected; a combination of single-member
and multimember districts; or a combination of single-member or multimember districts, or both,
and election of one or more members at large. The proposal must be submitted to an election
under this chapter. If the election is initiated by petition, the resolution calling the election must
be adopted within six months after the date of receipt of the petition. Only one election within any
two-year period may be held under this section.
    Subd. 3. Ballot question. The question presented at the special election shall be: "Shall the
school district be reorganized into election districts with boundaries as established in Resolution
No. .... of the school board, dated ..........?

		Yes
		No "

    Subd. 4. Election district boundaries. Each proposed election district must be as equal in
population as practicable and must be composed of compact, contiguous territory. The district
may utilize the most recent federal decennial census figures available or may conduct a special
census for this purpose. The board shall designate each election district by number.
    Subd. 5. Board elections. If the proposal for the establishment of election districts is
approved by the voters, the board shall specify the election districts from which vacancies shall
be filled as they occur until such time as each board member represents an election district. A
candidate for school board in a subsequent election must file an affidavit of candidacy to be
elected as a school board member for the election district in which the candidate resides. If there
are as many election districts as there are members of the board, one and only one member of the
board shall be elected from each election district. In school districts where one or more board
members are elected by election districts, candidates must indicate on the affidavit of candidacy
the number of the district from which they seek election or, if appropriate, that they seek election
from one of the offices elected at large. If the election districts have two or three members each,
the terms of the members must be staggered. Each board member must be a resident of the
election district for which elected but the creation of an election district or a change in election
district boundaries shall not disqualify a board member from serving for the remainder of a term.
    Subd. 6. Redefining election district boundaries. The school board may by resolution
redefine district boundaries after a school district general election. The board shall hold a public
hearing on the proposed resolution before its adoption. One week's published notice of the hearing
must be given. After the official certification of the federal decennial or special census, the school
board shall either confirm the existing election district boundaries as conforming to the standards
of subdivision 4 or redefine election district boundaries to conform to those standards as provided
in section 204B.135, subdivision 2. If the school board fails to take either action within the time
required, no further compensation may be paid to the school board members until the districts
are either reconfirmed or redefined as required by this section. A resolution establishing election
district boundaries pursuant to section 204B.135, subdivision 2, becomes effective on the date of
the state primary election in the year ending in two. Election district boundaries established at
other times become effective 90 days after the adoption of the resolution.
    Subd. 7. Dissolution of election districts. The governing body of a school district that enters
into a consolidation or cooperation and combination agreement may, by resolution, dissolve
election districts previously established as provided in this section as part of the consolidation or
cooperation and combination plan. The resolution must include a plan for the orderly transition to
at-large elections of school board members.
History: 1987 c 266 art 1 s 59; 1991 c 349 s 39; 1995 c 8 s 9; 1996 c 394 s 3,4