Senate Bill No. 144-Committee on Human Resources and Facilities
February 19, 1997
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Referred to Committee on Human Resources and Facilities
SUMMARY--Provides for reconfiguration of school districts. (BDR 34-243)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to education; authorizing the reconfiguration of school districts by petition under certain circumstances; prescribing the process by which such a petition is submitted and approved; requiring that a petition which has been approved be submitted to the registered voters of certain counties; repealing the prospective expiration of the authority of boards of trustees of school districts to establish rules concerning school-based decision making; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1 Chapter 386 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 11, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 2 As used in sections 2 to 11, inclusive, of this act, unless the context otherwise requires, "reconfiguration of a school district" includes the partitioning of one or more existing school districts to create one or more new school districts.
Sec. 3 1. A committee to reconfigure a school district may be created by:
(a) Five or more registered voters who are residents of the proposed school district; or
(b) At least three members of the board of trustees of each school district that will be reconfigured if the proposed school district is created, if those members are registered voters.
2. The committee shall file a notice to reconfigure a school district with the secretary of state and each county clerk of a county in which the petition to reconfigure a school district will be circulated. The notice must include:
(a) A copy of the petition that will be circulated; and
(b) An affidavit, signed by each member of the committee, which includes:
(1) A statement that the committee accepts responsibility for circulating the petition;
(2) A statement that the committee accepts responsibility for filing the petition with each county clerk of a county in which the petition will be circulated;
(3) The names and addresses of each member of the committee; and
(4) The address to which written notices concerning the petition must be sent.
Sec. 4 1. To be certified as sufficient with regard to the number of signatures required for a petition to reconfigure a school district, the petition must be signed in indelible ink by:
(a) A majority of the members of the board of trustees of each school district that will be reconfigured if the proposed school district is created, each of whom must be registered voters; or
(b) At least one-third of the registered voters who are residents of the proposed school district.
2. Each person who signs a petition shall include his residential address, mailing address, the name of the county in which he is registered to vote and the date of his signature.
3. A petition may consist of more than one document. Each document must:
(a) Be uniform in size and form;
(b) Be circulated in only one county;
(c) Bear the name of the county in which the document is circulated; and
(d) Include the information required by section 5 of this act.
Sec. 5 A petition to reconfigure a school district must include the following information:
1. The proposed assignment of licensed teachers and other educational personnel who are employed by each school district that will be reconfigured if the proposed school district is created;
2. The probable effect of the proposed school district on the apportionments and allowances from the state distributive school account pursuant to NRS 387.121 to 387.126, inclusive;
3. The probable effect of the proposed school district on the racial composition of pupils who are enrolled in the public schools in each school district that will be reconfigured if the proposed school district is created;
4. The racial composition of pupils who will attend the proposed school district;
5. The proposed division of property between the proposed school district and each school district that will be reconfigured if the proposed school district is created;
6. The average per capita income of residents of the proposed school district;
7. The value of the facilities, buildings, property and equipment currently in the possession of each school district that will be reconfigured if the proposed school district is created; and
8. A written statement which acknowledges that the proposed school district will assume full liability for its proportionate share of the total outstanding bonded indebtedness that was incurred before the creation of the proposed district by each school district that is reconfigured to form the new district.
Sec. 6 1. Not more than 90 days after a notice to reconfigure a school district is filed pursuant to section 3 of this act, the committee that circulated the petition shall submit each document of the petition that was signed by the registered voters of a county to the county clerk for verification. Each document of the petition that is submitted must have attached to it an affidavit signed by the person who circulated the document which attests that:
(a) He personally circulated the document;
(b) Each signature contained in the document was signed in his presence and is genuine to the best of his knowledge and belief; and
(c) Each person who signed the petition had an opportunity before signing to examine:
(1) The document; and
(2) The information which is required to be included with the document pursuant to section 5 of this act.
2. After a petition is submitted to a county clerk it may be handled only by:
(a) The county clerk; and
(b) Employees of the county clerk,
until the petition is filed with the secretary of state.
3. Not more than 15 days after a petition is submitted to a county clerk, a person who signed the petition may submit a written request to the county clerk, signed under penalty of perjury, that his name be removed from the petition.
Sec. 7 1. Not more than 10 days after a petition is submitted to a county clerk pursuant to section 6 of this act, the county clerk shall determine the total number of signatures affixed to each document of the petition and forward that information to the secretary of state. If the secretary of state finds that the total number of signatures submitted to the county clerks is less than 100 percent of the number of registered voters that are required to sign the petition pursuant to section 4 of this act, the secretary of state shall immediately notify the committee that submitted the petition and each participating county clerk. No further action may be taken on the petition.
2. If the secretary of state finds that the total number of signatures submitted to the county clerks is 100 percent or more of the number of registered voters that are required to sign the petition pursuant to section 4 of this act, the secretary of state shall immediately notify each county clerk to whom a document was submitted.
3. Not more than 20 days after receipt of notice pursuant to subsection 2 that the number of signatures on a petition is sufficient, each county clerk to whom a petition was submitted shall verify the signatures and issue a certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition. If the petition is insufficient, the county clerk shall include in the certificate the reasons for the insufficiency. A county clerk shall invalidate the signature of any person if the signature is not signed in ink or dated, or is executed before the notice to reconfigure a school district is filed pursuant to section 3 of this act. A county clerk shall not invalidate a signature because the signature does not correspond exactly to the signature on the official register of voters maintained by the county clerk if the identity of the signer can be determined from the signature on the petition.
4. Each county clerk shall attach the certificate regarding sufficiency to the petition and transmit the certificate and petition to the secretary of state. Each county clerk shall mail, by certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy of the certificate to the committee that submitted the petition.
Sec. 8 1. If the certificates received by the secretary of state from all of the county clerks establish that the number of signatures that have been verified is less than 100 percent of the number of signatures required pursuant to section 4 of this act, the petition shall be deemed insufficient, and the secretary of state shall immediately notify each county clerk who verified the signatures and the committee that submitted the petition.
2. If a petition is deemed insufficient because it lacks the required number of signatures, the committee that submitted the petition may amend the petition once by filing a notice to amend with the secretary of state and each county clerk of a county in which the amended petition will be circulated, not more than 10 days after the committee receives notice of the insufficiency of the petition. An amended petition containing the required number of additional signatures must be submitted to the county clerk of each county in which the amended petition was circulated not more than 20 days after the committee files a notice to amend. An amended petition must comply with the requirements of the petition as originally filed.
3. Not more than 20 days after an amended petition is filed, each county clerk shall verify the additional signatures and transmit an amended certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition to the secretary of state. The county clerk shall mail, by certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy of the amended certificate to the committee that submitted the amended petition.
4. If the amended certificates received by the secretary of state establish that the petition is still insufficient, the secretary of state shall immediately so notify the committee that submitted the amended petition and each county clerk who verified the signatures of the amended petition.
5. If the certificates and amended certificates received by the secretary of state establish that the number of signatures which have been verified is at least 100 percent of the number of signatures required pursuant to section 4 of this act, the petition shall be deemed sufficient, and the secretary of state shall immediately so notify each county clerk who verified the signatures and the committee that submitted the petition.
Sec. 9 1. If a petition to create a school district is deemed sufficient pursuant to section 8 of this act, the secretary of state shall immediately transmit the petition to the state board.
2. Upon receipt of a petition, the state board shall, in consultation with the attorney general, review the petition. In addition to the information that is contained in the petition, the state board may request additional information from the committee that submitted the petition relating to the type of educational services that the proposed school district intends to offer.
3. The review of a petition by the state board and the attorney general must include, without limitation, an analysis of whether the petition:
(a) Ensures that a general and uniform system of education will continue to be offered throughout this state;
(b) Complies with all applicable judicial precedents, constitutional requirements and statutory requirements, including, without limitation, requirements relating to racial and ethnic composition;
(c) Ensures that the proposed school district will be eligible for apportionments and allowances from the state distributive school account pursuant to NRS 387.121 to 387.126, inclusive; and
(d) Ensures that the proposed school district will remain fully liable for its proportional share of outstanding bonded indebtedness.
4. Not more than 90 days after the receipt of such a petition from the secretary of state, the state board, in consultation with the attorney general, shall make a determination on the petition. The state board shall approve a petition if it determines that the proposed reconfiguration meets the criteria set forth in subsection 3. If the petition does not meet the criteria set forth in subsection 3, the state board, in consultation with the attorney general, may:
(a) Deny the petition; or
(b) Revise the petition as necessary to ensure that the proposed reconfiguration meets the criteria set forth in subsection 3 and approve the petition as revised.
5. If the state board, in consultation with the attorney general, approves a petition, the state board shall submit the petition and any revisions made by the state board or the attorney general to the director of the legislative counsel bureau for transmission to the next regular session of the legislature.
6. If the state board, in consultation with the attorney general, denies a petition, no further action may be taken on the petition.
Sec. 10 1. If the legislature reviews a petition to reconfigure a school district and determines that the petition does not meet the criteria set forth in subsection 3 of section 9 of this act, no further action may be taken on the petition.
2. If the legislature takes no action on the petition, the petition shall be deemed denied by the legislature, and no further action may be taken on the petition.
3. If the legislature reviews a petition and revises the petition by concurrent resolution, any further consideration of the petition must be addressed to the revised version. If the legislature determines that a petition, whether or not revised, meets the criteria set forth in subsection 3 of section 9 of this act and approves the petition by concurrent resolution, the committee to reconfigure a school district may submit the petition in its approved form to the county clerk in each county whose school district will be reconfigured if the proposed school district is created. Upon receipt of such a petition, the county clerk shall include the petition on the next feasible ballot for a general election.
4. Each sample ballot that is mailed to the registered voters of a county who are voting on such a petition must include the full text of the petition in the form approved by the legislature. The ballot which is used in the general election of each county voting on such a petition must include the full text of the petition in the form approved by the legislature.
5. A petition to reconfigure a school district may be withdrawn not fewer than 30 days before the date of the general election if a notice of withdrawal signed by at least four members of the committee that filed the petition is filed with the secretary of state. Upon filing the notice of withdrawal, no further action may be taken on the petition.
Sec. 11 If a majority of the registered voters in each county whose school district will be reconfigured if the proposed school district is created approve the petition, the next regular session of the legislature shall provide by law for the procedures necessary to facilitate the creation and operation of the proposed school district and any necessary reconfiguration of the boundaries of the adjoining school districts.
Sec. 12 Section 5 of chapter 664, Statutes of Nevada 1993, as amended by section 1 of chapter 343, Statutes of Nevada 1995, at page 862, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 5. This act becomes effective on July 1, 1993 . [, and expires by limitation on June 30, 1999.]
Sec. 13 This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.