275.23A - REDISTRICTING FOLLOWING FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS.
275.23A REDISTRICTING FOLLOWING FEDERAL DECENNIAL
CENSUS.
1. School districts which have directors who represent director
districts as provided in section 275.12, subsection 2, paragraphs
"b", "c", "d", and "e", shall be divided into
director districts according to the following standards:
a. All director district boundaries shall follow the
boundaries of areas for which official population figures are
available from the most recent federal decennial census and, wherever
possible, shall follow precinct boundaries.
b. To the extent possible in order to comply with paragraph
"a", all director districts shall be as nearly equal as
practicable to the ideal population for the districts as determined
by dividing the number of districts to be established into the
population of the school district.
c. All districts shall be composed of contiguous territory as
compact as practicable unless the school district is composed of
marginally adjacent territory. A school district which is composed
of marginally adjacent territory shall have director districts
composed of contiguous territory to the extent practicable.
d. Consideration shall not be given to the addresses of
incumbent officeholders, political affiliations of registered voters,
previous election results, or demographic information other than
population head counts, except as required by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States.
e. Cities shall not be divided into two or more districts
unless the population of the city is greater than the ideal size of a
director district. Cities shall be divided into the smallest number
of director districts possible.
2. Following each federal decennial census the school board shall
determine whether the existing director district boundaries meet the
standards in subsection 1 according to the most recent federal
decennial census. In addition to the authority granted to voters to
change the number of directors or method of election as provided in
sections 275.35, 275.36, and 278.1, the board of directors of a
school district may, following a federal decennial census, by
resolution and in accordance with this section, authorize a change in
the method of election as set forth in section 275.12, subsection 2,
or a change to either five or seven directors after the board
conducts a hearing on the resolution. If the board proposes to
change the number of directors from seven to five directors, the
resolution shall include a plan for reducing the number of directors.
If the board proposes to increase the number of directors to seven
directors, two directors shall be added according to the procedure
described in section 277.23, subsection 2. If necessary, the board
of directors shall redraw the director district boundaries. The
director district boundaries shall be described in the resolution
adopted by the school board. The resolution shall be adopted no
earlier than November 15 of the year immediately following the year
in which the federal decennial census is taken nor later than May 15
of the second year immediately following the year in which the
federal decennial census is taken. A copy of the plan shall be filed
with the area education agency administrator of the area education
agency in which the school's electors reside. If the board does not
provide for an election as provided in sections 275.35, 275.36, and
278.1 and adopts a resolution to change the number of directors or
method of election in accordance with this subsection, the district
shall change the number of directors or method of election as
provided unless, within twenty-eight days following the action of the
board, the secretary of the board receives a petition containing the
required number of signatures, asking that an election be called to
approve or disapprove the action of the board in adopting the
resolution. The petition must be signed by eligible electors equal
in number to not less than one hundred or thirty percent of the
number of voters at the last preceding regular school election,
whichever is greater. The board shall either rescind its action or
direct the county commissioner of elections to submit the question to
the registered voters of the school district at an election held on a
date specified in section 39.2, subsection 4, paragraph "c". If
a majority of those voting on the question at the election favors
disapproval of the action of the board, the district shall not change
the number of directors or method of election. If a majority of
those voting on the question does not favor disapproval of the
action, the board shall certify the results of the election to the
department of management and the district shall change the number of
directors or method of election as provided in this subsection. At
the expiration of the twenty-eight-day period, if no petition is
filed, the board shall certify its action to the department of
management and the district shall change the number of directors or
method of election as provided in this subsection.
3. The school board shall notify the state commissioner of
elections and the county commissioner of elections of each county in
which a portion of the school district is located when the boundaries
of director districts are changed. The notices of changes submitted
to the state commissioner shall be postmarked no later than the
deadline for adoption of the resolution under subsection 2. The
board shall provide the commissioners with maps showing the new
boundaries and shall also certify to the state commissioner the
populations of the new director districts as determined under the
latest federal decennial census. If, following a federal decennial
census a school district elects not to redraw director districts
under this section, the school board shall so certify to the state
commissioner of elections, and the school board shall also certify to
the state commissioner the populations of the retained director
districts as determined under the latest federal decennial census.
If the state commissioner determines that a district board has failed
to make the required changes by the dates specified by this section,
the state commissioner of elections shall make or cause to be made
the necessary changes as soon as possible. The state commissioner
shall assess any expenses incurred to the school district. The state
commissioner of elections may request the services of personnel of
and materials available to the legislative services agency to assist
the state commissioner in making any required boundary changes.
4. If more than one incumbent director resides in a redrawn
director district, the terms of office of the affected directors
expire at the organizational meeting of the board of directors
following the next regular school election following the adoption of
the redrawn districts.
5. The boundary changes under this section take effect July 1
following their adoption for the next regular school election.
6. Section 275.9 and sections 275.14 through 275.23 do not apply
to changes in director district boundaries made under this section.
Section History: Recent Form
83 Acts, ch 77, § 3, 4; 89 Acts, ch 296, §24; 90 Acts, ch 1233, §
9; 92 Acts, ch 1246, § 45; 94 Acts, ch 1179, §17, 18; 95 Acts, ch
189, §18; 2002 Acts, ch 1024, §1, 3; 2002 Acts, ch 1140, §16, 46;
2003 Acts, ch 35, §44, 49; 2008 Acts, ch 1115, §39, 71
Referred to in § 39.24, 49.8, 275.12, 275.35, 275.36, 275.57,
277.23