273.23 - INITIAL BOARD.
273.23 INITIAL BOARD.
1. A petition filed under section 273.21 shall state the number
of directors on the initial board which shall be either seven or nine
directors. The petition shall specify the number of directors to be
retained from each area, and those numbers shall be proportionate to
the populations of the agencies. If the proportionate balance of
directors among the affected agencies specified in the plan is
affected by school districts petitioning to be excluded from the
reorganization, or if the proposal specified in the plan does not
comply with the requirement for proportionate representation, the
state board shall modify the proposal. However, all area education
agencies affected shall retain at least one member.
2. Prior to the organization meeting of the board of directors of
the newly formed area education agency, the boards of the former area
education agencies shall designate directors to be retained as
members to serve on the initial board of the newly formed area
education agency. A vacancy occurs if an insufficient number of
former board members reside within the newly formed area education
agency's boundaries or if an insufficient number of former board
members are willing to serve on the board of the newly formed area
education agency. Vacancies, as defined in section 277.29, in the
membership of the newly formed area education agency board shall be
filled for the unexpired portion of the term at a director district
convention called and conducted in the manner provided in section
273.8 for director district conventions.
3. Not later than January 15 of the calendar year in which the
reorganization takes effect, the initial board shall call a director
district convention under the provisions of section 273.8, subsection
3, for the purpose of electing a board for the reorganized area
education agency. The new board shall have control of the employment
of all personnel for the newly formed area education agency for the
ensuing school year. Following the organization of the new board,
the board shall have authority to establish policy, enter into
contracts, and complete such planning and take such action as is
essential for the efficient management of the newly formed area
education agency.
4. The initial board of the newly formed district shall appoint
an acting administrator and an acting board secretary. The
appointment of the acting administrator shall not be subject to the
continuing contract provisions of sections 279.20, 279.23, and
279.24.
5. The initial board, or new board if established in time under
subsection 3, of the newly formed agency shall prepare an annual
budget estimating income and expenditures for programs and services
as provided in sections 273.1 through 273.9 and chapter 256B within
the limits of funds provided under section 256B.9 and chapter 257.
The board shall give notice of a public hearing on the proposed
budget by publication in an official county newspaper in each county
in the territory of the area education agency in which the principal
place of business of a school district that is a part of the area
education agency is located. The notice shall specify the date,
which shall not be later than March 1, the time, and the location of
the public hearing. The proposed budget as approved by the board
shall be submitted to the state board, on forms provided by the
department, no later than March 15 for approval. The state board
shall review the proposed budget of the newly formed area education
agency and shall, before April 1, either grant approval or return the
budget without approval with comments of the state board included.
An unapproved budget shall be resubmitted to the state board for
final approval not later than April 15. The state board shall give
final approval only to budgets submitted by area education agencies
accredited by the state board or that have been given conditional
accreditation by the state board.
6. For the school year beginning on the effective date of an area
education agency reorganization as provided in this subchapter, the
media services cost per pupil as determined under section 257.37 for
all districts in a newly formed area education agency for the budget
year shall be the highest amount of media services cost per pupil for
any of the affected area education agencies.
7. For the school year beginning on the effective date of an area
education agency reorganization as provided in this subchapter, the
educational services cost per pupil as determined under section
257.37 for all districts in a newly formed area education agency for
the budget year shall be the highest amount of educational services
cost per pupil for any of the affected area education agencies.
8. For the school year beginning on the effective date of an area
education agency reorganization as provided in this subchapter, the
special education support services cost per pupil shall be based upon
the combined base year budgets for special education support services
of the area education agencies that reorganized to form the newly
formed area education agency, divided by the total of the weighted
enrollment for special education support services in the reorganized
area education agency for the base year plus the allowable growth
amount per pupil for special education support services for the
budget year as calculated in section 257.8.
9. Within one year of the effective date of the reorganization, a
newly formed area education agency shall meet the accreditation
requirements set forth in section 273.10, and the standards set forth
in section 273.11. The newly formed area education agency shall be
considered accredited for purposes of budget approval by the state
board pursuant to section 273.3. The state board shall inform the
newly formed area education agency of the accreditation on-site visit
schedule.
10. The special education support cost per pupil, the media cost
per pupil, and the educational services cost per pupil for a school
district petitioning into an area education agency shall be the
special education support cost per pupil, media cost per pupil, and
educational services cost per pupil of the area education agency into
which it petitions if the petition is approved.
11. Unless the reorganization of an area education agency takes
effect less than two years before the taking of the next federal
decennial census, a newly formed area education agency shall, within
one year of the effective date of the reorganization, redraw the
boundary lines of director districts in the area education agency if
a petition filed by a school district to join the newly formed area
education agency, or for release from the newly formed area education
agency, in accordance with section 273.22, subsections 4, 6, and 7,
was approved. Until the boundaries are redrawn, the boundaries for
the newly formed area education agency shall be as provided in the
reorganization plan approved by the state board in accordance with
section 273.21. Section History: Recent Form
2001 Acts, ch 114, §5; 2002 Acts, ch 1029, §5--8; 2003 Acts, ch
180, §27, 28; 2004 Acts, ch 1101, §97, 102
Referred to in § 273.8, 273.22