37-7-105 - Procedure for alteration of district boundaries or consolidation of school districts by school boards; effect of consolidation as to contracts and taxation.
§ 37-7-105. Procedure for alteration of district boundaries or consolidation of school districts by school boards; effect of consolidation as to contracts and taxation.
(1) In cases where two (2) or more school boards determine that it is appropriate that their existing boundaries be altered to provide better service to students, each school board shall enter on its minutes the legal description of new district lines and shall publish the order altering such districts in some newspaper published and having a general circulation in such district(s) once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks, which said order shall be duly certified by the president of said school board. If no newspaper be published in said school district, then such order shall be published for the required time in some newspaper having a general circulation therein, and, in addition, a copy of said order shall be posted for the required time at three (3) public places in the school district. The order so published shall contain a provision giving notice that said order shall become final thirty (30) days after the first publication of said notice unless a petition is filed protesting against same within such time. In the event no such petition be filed, the said order shall become final at said time. However, in the event twenty percent (20%) or fifteen hundred (1500), whichever is less, of the qualified electors of any school district altered by such order shall file a petition with the school board, within thirty (30) days after the first publication of said notice, protesting against the alteration of such district, then an election shall be called and held, on order of the school board, by the county election commission(s), after publication of legal notice of such election, which said election shall be held within thirty (30) days after the first publication of the notice of such election. At such election the question shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the district or districts in which a petition is filed as to whether or not such district or districts shall be altered as provided in the said order of the school board. If a majority of those voting in said election in each district affected and from which a petition is filed shall vote in favor of the order of the school board then such order shall become final. If a majority of those voting in said election in any district from which a petition is filed shall vote against the order of the school board then such order shall be void and of no effect and no further attempt to make the proposed change in such district shall be made for a period of at least two (2) years after the date of said election.
(2) When the orders of all boards adopting the new lines have been entered and are final, all orders shall be submitted to and considered by the State Board of Education as prescribed in Section 37-7-113, Mississippi Code of 1972. If the new lines are approved by the State Board of Education, the new district lines shall be submitted to the Attorney General of the United States for preclearance or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended. In the event the change in the school district lines are either precleared by the United States Department of Justice, or approved by the United States District Court, the State Board of Education shall formally declare the new lines as the new boundaries of the school districts.
(3) Should two (2) or more school districts determine that they wish to consolidate, the following actions shall be taken by the districts to perfect this consolidation: (a) Each board shall state its intent to consolidate with the other district or districts by passing a resolution of the board to that effect and spreading it on the minutes of the districts; and (b) each school board shall publish the order consolidating such districts in some newspaper having a general circulation in such district(s) once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks, which said order shall be duly certified by the president of said school board. The order so published shall contain a provision giving notice that said order shall become final thirty (30) days after the first publication of said notice unless a petition is filed protesting against same within such time. In the event no such petition be filed, the said order shall become final on said date. However, in the event twenty percent (20%) or fifteen hundred (1500), whichever is less, of the qualified electors of any one (1) of the school districts affected by the proposed consolidation shall file a petition with the applicable school board, within thirty (30) days after the first publication of said notice, protesting against the consolidation of such district or districts, then an election shall be called and held in such school districts where petitions were filed, on order of the school board, by the county election commission(s), after publication of legal notice of such election, which said election shall be held within thirty (30) days after the first publication of the notice of such election. At such election the question shall be submitted to the qualified electors of any district or districts in which petitions were filed as to whether or not such district or districts shall be consolidated as provided in the said order of the school boards. If a majority of those voting in said election shall vote in favor of the order of the school boards then such order shall become final. Should less than a majority of the electors of any single school district vote in favor of the adoption of the proposed consolidation, such school district shall not participate in any voluntary consolidation as authorized in this subsection, and the proposed consolidation plan adopted by such districts shall be void.
After the order of the local school boards becomes final, it shall be submitted to and considered by the State Board of Education. If approved by the State Board of Education, the consolidation shall be submitted by the local school boards to the appropriate federal agencies for approval. After all preclearance has been received, the State Board of Education shall declare the new boundaries of the consolidated school district and all action shall proceed as outlined under law using the new boundaries.
Upon preclearance of such consolidation, all school boards shall approve a joint resolution for the election of five (5) new board members from single member districts as provided by law. These elections shall be scheduled prior to May 1 of the year in which the consolidation is to become effective. The new consolidated district shall become effective on July 1 of that same year. The superintendent of any district created through consolidation shall be appointed if all of the school districts which are consolidating had previously appointed their superintendents. The superintendent of any district created through consolidation shall be elected if all of the school districts which are consolidating had previously elected their superintendents. In the event two (2) or more school districts consolidating under the provisions of this section shall have previously appointed one or more superintendents and elected the remainder, the superintendent shall be elected or appointed in accordance with the method utilized by the consolidating school district or districts with the larger or largest student populations. The superintendent shall begin work as the superintendent on July 1 of such year when the consolidation becomes effective. The order to consolidate shall invalidate the contracts of the superintendents of the preceding districts and shall terminate the term of the superintendent if that person was elected. The order to consolidate shall invalidate the term of any school board member beyond July 1 of that year whether they are elected or appointed. Any school board member from any school district may be eligible to run for election to the new consolidated school board.
Each school board shall be responsible for establishing the contracts for teachers and principals for the next school year with the consultation of the successor school board if they have been selected at the time such decisions are to be made. The selection of administrator in the central administration office shall be the responsibility of the successor school board. No existing dates for renewal of contracts shall invalidate the responsibility of the successor school board in taking such action. The successor school board may enter into these contracts at any time following their election, but no later than July 1 of that year. It shall also be the responsibility of the successor school board to prepare and approve the budget of the new district. The successor school board may use staff from the existing districts to prepare the budget. The school board shall have authority to approve the budget prior to the July 1 date and shall follow the time line established for budget preparation under the law. Should either district at the time of consolidation have more liabilities than assets, then the successor school board shall be authorized to levy an ad valorem tax upon the taxable property in the territory of the district where the deficit exists, a tax not to exceed five percent (5%) of the existing tax levy for the sole purpose of reducing the deficit. When the deficit is eliminated, then such tax levy shall be terminated. Any taxes levied to bring about the equalization of funding, to equalize pay scales or levied in the territory of a newly created district where a deficit exists, shall constitute a "new program" for the purposes of ad valorem tax limitations as prescribed in Sections 27-39-321 and 37-57-107, Mississippi Code of 1972.
Sources: Codes, 1942, § 6274-06; Laws, 1953, Ex Sess, ch. 16, § 6; Laws, 1986, ch. 492, § 53, 1991, ch. 471, § 2, eff August 14, 1991 (the date the United States Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the amendment of this section).