282.11 - PROCEDURE.

        282.11  PROCEDURE.
         Not less than ninety days prior to signing a whole grade sharing
      agreement whereby all or a substantial portion of the pupils in a
      grade in the district will attend school in another district, the
      board of directors of each school district that is negotiating,
      extending, or renewing a sharing agreement, shall publicly announce
      its intent to negotiate a sharing agreement under section 21.4,
      subsection 1.  Within thirty days of the board's public notice, a
      petition may be filed with the department of education requesting
      that a feasibility study be completed.  The petition shall be signed
      by twenty percent of the eligible electors in the district.  The
      director of the department of education may determine that a
      feasibility study conducted by the board satisfies the request,
      provided that the study conforms with the criteria contained in
      section 256.9.
         Not less than thirty days prior to signing a whole grade sharing
      agreement whereby all or a substantial portion of the pupils in a
      grade in the district will attend school in another district, the
      board of directors of each school district that is a party to a
      proposed sharing agreement shall hold a public hearing at which the
      proposed agreement is described, and at which the parent or guardian
      of an affected pupil and certificated employees of the school
      district shall have an opportunity to comment on the proposed
      agreement.  Within the thirty-day period prior to the signing of the
      agreement, the parent or guardian of an affected pupil may request
      the board of directors to send the pupil to another contiguous school
      district.  For the purposes of this section, "affected pupils"
      are those who under the whole grade sharing agreement are attending
      or scheduled to attend the school district specified in the
      agreement, other than the district of residence, during the term of
      the agreement.  The request shall be based upon one of the following:

         1.  That the agreement will not meet the educational program needs
      of the pupil.
         2.  That adequate consideration was not given to geographical
      factors.
         The board shall allow or disallow the request prior to the signing
      of the agreement, or the request shall be deemed granted.  If the
      board disallows the request, the board shall indicate the reasons why
      the request is disallowed and shall notify the parent or guardian
      that the decision of the board may be appealed as provided in this
      section.
         If the board disallows the request of a parent or guardian of an
      affected pupil, the parent or guardian, not later than March 1, may
      appeal the sending of that pupil to the school district specified in
      the agreement, to the state board of education.  The basis for the
      appeal shall be the same as the basis for the request to the board.
      An appeal shall specify a contiguous school district to which the
      parent or guardian wishes to send the affected pupil.  If the parent
      or guardian appeals, the standard of review of the appeal is a
      preponderance of evidence that the parent's or guardian's hardship
      outweighs the benefits and integrity of the sharing agreement.  The
      state board may require the district of residence to pay tuition to
      the contiguous school district specified by the parent or guardian,
      or may deny the appeal by the parent or guardian.  If the state board
      requires the district of residence to pay tuition to the contiguous
      school district specified by the parent or guardian, the tuition
      shall be equal to the tuition established in the sharing agreement.
      The decision of the state board is binding on the boards of directors
      of the school districts affected, except that the decision of the
      state board may be appealed by either party to the district court.
      
         Section History: Recent Form
         87 Acts, ch 224, §61; 88 Acts, ch 1263, § 10; 93 Acts, ch 160, §
      16
         Referred to in § 256.9, 256.13, 257.11, 280.15, 282.7