CS/HB 307

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


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.