Senate Bill sb2252c1
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 2252
By the Committee on Education; and Senator Webster
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to district school boards;
3 providing legislative findings; creating s.
4 1001.364, F.S.; providing for an alternate
5 procedure for the election of a district school
6 board chair in any school district that does
7 not have a district school board member elected
8 at large; requiring a referendum and providing
9 requirements for submitting such referendum to
10 the electors; creating s. 1001.365, F.S.;
11 providing for resolution of a tie vote by the
12 district school board chair and district school
13 board members; amending s. 1001.371, F.S.,
14 relating to organization of district school
15 boards, to conform; providing an effective
16 date.
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18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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20 Section 1. The Legislature finds that medium-sized
21 counties in Florida have experienced rapid and dynamic growth
22 in the last decade. The Legislature recognizes that some
23 counties have been experiencing rapid growth, based on student
24 enrollment figures. The Legislature also recognizes that the
25 needs of students in kindergarten through grade 12 are
26 significantly tied to expansive growth in these counties, and
27 that the needs of families that have school-age children
28 require critical consideration. The Legislature finds that the
29 will of the electors regarding education issues may be better
30 realized by offering an alternate procedure for the district
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 2252
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1 school board chair to be elected directly by the electors of
2 the school district.
3 Section 2. Section 1001.364, Florida Statutes, is
4 created to read:
5 1001.364 Alternate procedure for election of district
6 school board chair.--
7 (1) The district school board chair shall be elected
8 in accordance with the provisions of s. 1001.371 unless a
9 proposition calling for the district school board chair to be
10 elected as an additional school board member by districtwide
11 vote is submitted to and approved by a majority of the
12 qualified electors voting on such proposition in the manner
13 provided in subsection (2).
14 (2) A proposition calling for the district school
15 board chair to be elected by districtwide vote shall be
16 submitted to the electors of the school district at any
17 primary, general, or otherwise-called special election in
18 either of the following manners:
19 (a) The district school board may adopt a formal
20 resolution directing that the proposition be placed on the
21 ballot; or
22 (b) The electors of the school district may petition
23 to have the proposition placed on the ballot by presenting to
24 the district school board petitions signed by not less than 10
25 percent of the duly qualified electors residing within the
26 school district. The number of signatures required shall be
27 determined by the supervisor of elections according to the
28 number of registered electors in the school district as of the
29 date the petitioning electors register as a political
30 committee as provided in subsection (3).
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 2252
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1 (3) The electors petitioning to have the proposition
2 placed on the ballot shall register as a political committee
3 pursuant to s. 106.03, and a specific person shall be
4 designated therein as chair of the committee to act for the
5 committee.
6 (4) Each petition form circulated shall include the
7 following wording:
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9 As a registered elector of the school district
10 of ____ County, Florida, I am petitioning for a
11 referendum election to determine whether the
12 district school board chair shall be elected by
13 districtwide vote.
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15 The petition shall also include space for the signature and
16 address of the elector. Each signature obtained shall be dated
17 when made and is valid for a period of 4 years after that
18 date.
19 (5) Upon the filing of the petitions with the district
20 school board by the chair of the committee, the district
21 school board shall submit the petitions to the supervisor of
22 elections for verification of the signatures. Within a period
23 of not more than 30 days, the supervisor of elections shall
24 determine whether the petitions contain the required number of
25 valid signatures. The supervisor of elections shall be paid by
26 the committee seeking verification the sum of 10 cents for
27 each signature checked.
28 (6) If it is determined that the petitions have the
29 required signatures, the supervisor of elections shall certify
30 the petitions to the district school board, which shall adopt
31 a formal resolution requesting that an election date be set to
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 2252
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1 conform to the earliest primary, general, or otherwise-called
2 special election that occurs not less than 30 days after
3 certification of the petitions. If it is determined that the
4 petitions do not contain the required signatures, the
5 supervisor of elections shall so notify the district school
6 board, which shall file the petitions without taking further
7 action, and the matter shall be at an end. No additional
8 signatures may be added to the petitions, and the petitions
9 may not be used in any other proceeding.
10 (7) No special election may be called for the sole
11 purpose of presenting the proposition to the vote of the
12 electors.
13 (8) Any school district adopting the proposition set
14 forth in this section may thereafter return to the procedure
15 otherwise provided by law by following the same procedure
16 outlined in subsection (2).
17 (9) If a proposition submitted to the electors under
18 subsection (2) calling for the district school board chair to
19 be elected by districtwide vote is approved by vote of the
20 qualified electors, the office of district school board chair
21 shall be filled at the next general election.
22 (10) The vice chair of the district school board shall
23 be elected by the members of the district school board as
24 provided in s. 1001.371.
25 (11) This section applies only to those counties
26 organized by charter that have a population of between 800,000
27 and 1 million according to the latest federal decennial
28 census.
29 Section 3. Section 1001.365, Florida Statutes, is
30 created to read:
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1 1001.365 Votes by district school board chair and
2 district school board members.--Unless otherwise provided by
3 law, in the event of a tie vote of the district school board
4 chair and district school board members acting in any
5 capacity, the side on which the district school board chair
6 voted shall be deemed to prevail. For purposes of any vote of
7 the district school board chair and district school board
8 members acting in any capacity, action taken pursuant to that
9 side of a tie vote on which the district school board chair
10 voted satisfies the requirement that action be taken by a
11 "majority" vote or a "simple majority" vote. This section
12 applies only to those counties organized by charter that have
13 a population of between 800,000 and 1 million according to the
14 latest federal decennial census.
15 Section 4. Section 1001.371, Florida Statutes, is
16 amended to read:
17 1001.371 Organization of district school board.--On
18 the third Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each
19 year, the district school board shall organize by electing a
20 chair. It may elect a vice chair, and the district school
21 superintendent shall act ex officio as the secretary. If a
22 vacancy should occur in the position of chair, the district
23 school board shall proceed to elect a chair at the next
24 ensuing regular or special meeting. At the organization
25 meeting, the district school superintendent shall act as chair
26 until the organization is completed. The chair and secretary
27 shall then make and sign a copy of the proceedings of
28 organization, including the schedule for regular meetings and
29 the names and addresses of all district school officers, and
30 annex their affidavits that the same is a true and correct
31 copy of the original, and the secretary shall file the
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1 document within 2 weeks with the Department of Education. This
2 section does not apply to any school district with a district
3 school board chair who is elected by districtwide vote.
4 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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6 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
7 Senate Bill 2252
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9 The committee substitute limits the application of the bill to
charter counties with a population of between 800,000 and 1
10 million, based on the latest federal decennial census, and
provides legislative findings for the classification.
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