House Bill 3637e1
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HB 3637, First Engrossed
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Hillsborough County
3 School District; providing for a seven-member
4 district school board, with five members
5 elected from single-member residence areas and
6 two members elected from the county at large,
7 notwithstanding the provisions of s. 230.061,
8 230.10, and 230.105, F.S.; providing for
9 implementation at specified elections;
10 providing that school board members shall
11 continue to be elected on a nonpartisan basis
12 and shall be elected in conjunction with the
13 first primary and general elections; providing
14 qualifying and other applicable election
15 procedures; providing for future
16 reapportionment of the single-member residence
17 areas; repealing ss. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of
18 chapter 67-945, Laws of Florida, as amended by
19 chapter 75-393, Laws of Florida, relating to
20 the district school board; providing for a
21 referendum; providing an effective date.
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23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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25 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of s.
26 230.061, 230.10, and 230.105, Florida Statutes, the supervisor
27 of elections for Hillsborough County shall place a referendum
28 on the ballot at the general election to be held on November
29 3, 1998, which poses the question of whether the District
30 School Board of Hillsborough County shall consist of seven
31 nonpartisan members, five of whom are to be elected each from
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HB 3637, First Engrossed
1 a single-member residence area by electors residing in the
2 single-member residence area only and two of whom are to be
3 elected from the county at large.
4 Section 2. (a) If the electors approve the referendum
5 required by section 1 of this act, the first election to begin
6 implementing the transition to single-member representation on
7 the district school board shall be the election of district
8 school board members held in conjunction with the first
9 primary election in the year 2000 and with the runoff, if any,
10 during the general election of that year, and the change to
11 single-member representation shall be fully implemented with
12 the elections for district school board members held in
13 conjunction with the first primary and general elections in
14 the year 2002. In the year 2000, school board members from
15 Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 shall be elected; and, in the year
16 2002, school board members from Districts 2, 4, and 6 shall be
17 elected. Thereafter, the governing body of the district school
18 board shall consist of seven members, with five members from
19 single-member districts and two members from the county at
20 large as provided in this act. All elections for district
21 school board members shall be nonpartisan and held at the same
22 time as the first primary and general elections as provided by
23 law, and all school board members shall be elected to
24 appropriately staggered terms of 4 years. Each candidate for
25 election to the district school board must be a qualified
26 elector of the county and, if seeking election to a
27 single-member district, a registered voter of that district at
28 the time of qualifying. Each person elected to the district
29 school board from a single-member residence area shall be
30 elected only by the electors residing in the single-member
31 district for which he or she qualified. Each person elected to
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HB 3637, First Engrossed
1 the district school board shall take office 2 weeks after the
2 general election at which he or she was elected.
3 (b) The two seats to be filled from the county at
4 large shall be designated District 6 and District 7,
5 respectively. The five seats to be filled from single-member
6 residence areas shall be designated District 1, District 2,
7 District 3, District 4, and District 5, respectively, and
8 shall be the same as the school board districts in effect at
9 the time the first primary election in the year 2000 is held.
10 Thereafter, the single-member districts shall be reapportioned
11 by the school board, in consultation with the supervisor of
12 elections, as soon after each decennial census as practicable.
13 (c) Candidates for election to the district school
14 board shall qualify in accordance with general law in the same
15 manner as candidates for the nonpartisan office of county
16 court judge qualify under chapter 105, Florida Statutes.
17 Accordingly, the amount of the qualifying fee for candidates
18 for school board member shall be calculated using the
19 percentages set forth in s. 105.031(3), Florida Statutes,
20 based upon the annual salary for the office of school board
21 member. Candidates may qualify without paying the qualifying
22 fee using the procedures for the alternative method of
23 qualifying set forth in s. 105.035, Florida Statutes, for the
24 nonpartisan office of county court judge. A candidate
25 qualifying by the alternative method for a single-member seat
26 shall obtain the signatures of a number of qualified voters
27 equal to at least 3 percent of the total number of registered
28 voters within the geographical boundaries of the district for
29 which he or she intends to qualify, and a candidate qualifying
30 by the alternative method for an at-large seat shall obtain
31 the signatures of a number of qualified voters equal to at
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HB 3637, First Engrossed
1 least 3 percent of the total number of registered voters in
2 Hillsborough County. Any person who is seeking election as a
3 write-in candidate shall file his or her qualifying papers
4 during the qualifying period, and space shall be made
5 available on the general election ballot to write in the name
6 of the write-in candidate who has so qualified.
7 (d) The appearance of the name of a candidate for the
8 office of district school board member on a ballot and the
9 determination of election to such office shall be in
10 accordance with the provisions applicable to candidates for
11 the nonpartisan office of county court judge.
12 Section 3. The school board shall conduct its
13 elections through the office of the supervisor of elections of
14 Hillsborough County, consistent with the Florida Election Code
15 and this act.
16 Section 4. In accordance with the requirements of s.
17 101.161, Florida Statutes, and of section 1 of this act, the
18 supervisor of elections of Hillsborough County shall place the
19 title and substance of the referendum on the ballot as
20 follows:
21
22 ELECTION OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
23 DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS
24 TO PROVIDE FOR SINGLE-MEMBER REPRESENTATION
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26 Shall the membership of the Hillsborough County
27 School Board be changed to consist of seven
28 members, with five members elected from
29 single-member residence areas, rather than
30 countywide, and two members elected from the
31 county at large, all elected in nonpartisan
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HB 3637, First Engrossed
1 elections held in conjunction with the first
2 primary and general elections, beginning with
3 those elections held in the year 2000 and being
4 fully implemented with those elections held in
5 the year 2002?
6
7 Yes
8 No
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10 Section 5. Sections 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of chapter
11 67-945, Laws of Florida, and section 3 of said chapter and any
12 amendments to that section, are repealed on November 17, 1998.
13 Section 6. This act shall take effect only upon its
14 approval by a majority vote of those qualified electors of
15 Hillsborough County voting in a referendum to be held in
16 conjunction with the general election on November 3, 1998, in
17 accordance with the provisions of law relating to elections
18 currently in force, except that this section shall take effect
19 upon becoming a law.
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