HB 0823 2003
   
1 CHAMBER ACTION
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6          The Committee on Procedures recommends the following:
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8          Committee Substitute
9          Remove the entire bill and insert:
10 A bill to be entitled
11          An act relating to the Pinellas County School Board;
12    revising procedures for the election of school board
13    members; providing guidelines for implementation;
14    providing applicability; providing an effective date.
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16          Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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18          Section 1. The following procedures shall apply to the
19    conversion of the election of Pinellas County School Board
20    members from the districtwide election of all members to the
21    election of four school board members from single-member
22    districts and the election of three school board members
23    districtwide:
24          (1) Year 2003; designation of at-large and single-member
25    districts.--The three seats to be filled from the county at
26    large shall be designated District 1, District 2, and District
27    3, respectively. The four seats to be filled from single-member
28    districts shall be designated District 4, District 5, District
29    6, and District 7, respectively. During the year 2003, the
30    school board shall determine the geographic boundaries for the
31    four single-member districts, which shall together cover the
32    entire county and be as nearly equal in population as
33    practicable. The newly designated boundaries of Districts 4 and
34    5 shall be effective for the first primary election in the year
35    2004 and thereafter, and the newly designated boundaries of
36    Districts 6 and 7 shall be effective for the first primary
37    election in the year 2006 and thereafter. However, the newly
38    designated boundaries shall not have the effect of disqualifying
39    a school board member before the end of his or her current term.
40          (2) Year 2004; begin implementation.--Implementation of
41    the conversion to single-member representation on the district
42    school board shall begin with the election of district school
43    board members held in conjunction with the first primary
44    election in the year 2004 and with the runoff, if any, during
45    the general election of that year. In the year 2004, school
46    board members from the newly created single-member Districts 4
47    and 5 and the at-large seat for which election is to be held in
48    that year, hereafter designated as District 1, shall be elected.
49    An incumbent school board member from the previously existing
50    school board member residence area 1 or area 3 and the incumbent
51    in the at-large seat elected in the year 2000 may seek
52    reelection from one of the newly created single-member Districts
53    4 and 5 if he or she resides within such district, or may seek
54    reelection from at-large District 1.
55          (3) Year 2006; complete implementation.--The conversion to
56    single-member representation on the district school board shall
57    be fully implemented with the election of district school board
58    members held in conjunction with the first primary and general
59    elections in the year 2006. In the year 2006, school board
60    members from the newly created single-member Districts 6 and 7
61    and the newly created at-large Districts 2 and 3 shall be
62    elected. An incumbent school board member from the previously
63    existing school board member residence area 2, area 4, or area 5
64    and the incumbent in the at-large seat elected in the year 2002
65    may seek reelection from one of the newly created single-member
66    Districts 6 and 7 if he or she resides within such district, or
67    may seek reelection from at-large District 2 or 3.
68          (4) Subsequent years.--Thereafter, the governing body of
69    the district school board shall consist of seven members, with
70    four members from single-member districts and three members from
71    the county at large as provided in this act. All elections for
72    district school board members shall be nonpartisan and held at
73    the same time as the first primary and general elections as
74    provided by law, and district school board members shall be
75    elected to appropriately staggered terms of 4 years. Each
76    candidate for election to the district school board must be a
77    qualified elector of the county and, if seeking election to a
78    single-member residence area, a registered voter of that
79    residence area at the time of qualifying. Each person elected to
80    the district school board from a single-member residence area
81    shall be elected only by the electors residing in the single-
82    member district for which he or she qualified. Each person
83    elected to the district school board shall take office on the
84    third Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the year in
85    which he or she was elected. If certification of the election is
86    delayed, the person elected shall take office at the next
87    regular meeting of the district school board after final
88    certification.
89          Section 2. To the extent of any conflict, the provisions
90    of this act shall supersede the provisions of chapter 2001-294,
91    Laws of Florida.
92          Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.