| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to district school board membership; |
| 3 | creating s. 1001.3615, F.S.; requiring that district |
| 4 | school boards consist of nine members in counties where |
| 5 | the population exceeds a certain number; providing for |
| 6 | single-member and at-large districts; requiring |
| 7 | nonpartisan elections; providing for the election of a |
| 8 | chair and vice chair of the school board; providing for 4- |
| 9 | year terms of office and staggered terms of members; |
| 10 | permitting changes in the boundaries of school board |
| 11 | member residence areas and providing the procedure for |
| 12 | publication of those changes; providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Section 1001.3615, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 17 | to read: |
| 18 | 1001.3615 Election of district school board members in |
| 19 | counties in which the population exceeds 2 million.- |
| 20 | (1) Notwithstanding ss. 1001.36, 1001.361, and 1001.362, |
| 21 | in a county in which the population exceeds 2 million people, |
| 22 | the district school board shall consist of nine members. Seven |
| 23 | of the nine members shall reside one in each of seven residence |
| 24 | areas, the areas together covering the entire district and as |
| 25 | nearly equal in population as practicable, according to the most |
| 26 | recent decennial census, and each shall be elected only by the |
| 27 | qualified electors who reside in the same residence area as the |
| 28 | member. Two of the nine members shall be elected from the county |
| 29 | at large. Members shall be elected in a nonpartisan election as |
| 30 | provided in chapter 105. |
| 31 | (2) Notwithstanding s. 1001.371, the school board members |
| 32 | elected at large shall serve as the chair and vice chair of the |
| 33 | school board. The ballot for the office of chair shall state: |
| 34 | "Chair of the School Board" followed by a list of candidates who |
| 35 | have qualified for that office. The ballot for the office of |
| 36 | vice chair shall state: "Vice Chair of the School Board" |
| 37 | followed by a list of candidates who have qualified for that |
| 38 | office. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes |
| 39 | in the general election shall be elected to the office for which |
| 40 | the candidate has qualified. |
| 41 | (3) All members shall be elected for 4-year terms, but the |
| 42 | terms shall be staggered so that, alternately, one more or one |
| 43 | less than half of the members elected from residence areas and, |
| 44 | if applicable, one of the members elected at large from the |
| 45 | entire district are elected every 2 years. Any member may be |
| 46 | elected to an initial term of less than 4 years if necessary to |
| 47 | achieve or maintain such system of staggered terms. |
| 48 | (4) In odd-numbered years, the district school board may |
| 49 | change the boundaries of the residence areas at any meeting of |
| 50 | the district school board. |
| 51 | (a) The changes in boundaries shall be shown by resolution |
| 52 | spread upon the minutes of the district school board, shall be |
| 53 | recorded in the office of the clerk of the circuit court, and |
| 54 | shall be published at least once in a newspaper published in the |
| 55 | district within 30 days after the adoption of the resolution, |
| 56 | or, if there is no newspaper published in the district, shall be |
| 57 | posted at the county courthouse door for 4 weeks after the |
| 58 | adoption of the resolution. A certified copy of the resolution |
| 59 | shall be transmitted to the Department of State. |
| 60 | (b) A change in a residence area that affects the |
| 61 | residence qualifications of an incumbent member does not |
| 62 | disqualify the incumbent member during the term for which he or |
| 63 | she is elected. |
| 64 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |