S.F. 259 Section 1. Section 279.6, Code 2015, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 279.6 Vacancies —— qualification —— tenure. 3 1. a. Vacancies Except as provided in paragraph “b” and 4 subsection 2, vacancies occurring among the officers or members 5 of a school board shall be filled by the board by appointment. 6 A person so appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective office 7 shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified 8 pursuant to section 69.12 . To fill a vacancy occurring among 9 the members of a school board, the board shall publish notice 10 in the manner prescribed by section 279.36, stating that the 11 board intends to fill the vacancy by appointment but that 12 the electors of the school district have the right to file 13 a petition requiring that the vacancy be filled by a special 14 election conducted pursuant to section 279.7. The board may 15 publish notice in advance if a member of the board submits a 16 resignation to take effect at a future date. The board may 17 make an appointment to fill the vacancy after the notice is 18 published or after the vacancy occurs, whichever is later. 19 b. (1) If within fourteen days after publication of a 20 notice required pursuant to paragraph “a” for a vacancy that 21 occurs more than one hundred eighty days before the next 22 regular school election, or within fourteen days after the 23 appointment is made, there is filed with the secretary of the 24 school board a petition requesting a special election to fill 25 the vacancy, an appointment to fill the vacancy is temporary 26 and the board shall call a special election pursuant to section 27 279.7, to fill the vacancy for the remaining balance of the 28 unexpired term. 29 (2) If within fourteen days after publication of a notice 30 required pursuant to paragraph “a” for a vacancy that occurs 31 one hundred eighty days or less before the next regular school 32 election, or within fourteen days after the appointment is 33 made, there is filed with the secretary of the school board 34 a petition requesting to fill the vacancy by election, an 35 -1- LSB 1719SV (2) 86 aw/sc 1/ 4

S.F. 259 appointment to fill the vacancy is temporary and the school 1 board shall require that the remaining balance of the unexpired 2 term be filled at the next regular school election. 3 (3) For a petition to be valid under this paragraph “b” , the 4 petition must be signed by eligible electors equal in number 5 to not less than one hundred or thirty percent of the number of 6 voters at the last preceding regular school election, whichever 7 is greater. 8 (4) Notwithstanding any requirement of this paragraph to 9 the contrary, when the board is reduced below a quorum, the 10 secretary of the board, or if there is no secretary, the area 11 education agency administrator, shall call a special election 12 in the district, subdistrict, or subdistricts, as the case may 13 be, to fill the vacancies. 14 c. A person appointed to fill a vacancy in an appointive 15 office shall hold such office for the residue of the unexpired 16 term and until a successor is appointed and qualified. Any 17 person so appointed shall qualify within ten days thereafter in 18 the manner required by section 277.28 . 19 2. A vacancy shall be filled at the next regular school 20 election if a member of a school board resigns from the board 21 not later than forty-five days before the election and the 22 notice of resignation specifies an effective date at the 23 beginning of the next term of office for elective school 24 officials. The president of the board shall declare the office 25 vacant as of the date of the next organizational meeting. 26 Nomination papers shall be received for the unexpired term of 27 the resigning member. The person elected at the next regular 28 school election to fill the vacancy shall take office at the 29 same time and place as the other elected school board members. 30 Sec. 2. Section 279.7, subsection 1, Code 2015, is amended 31 to read as follows: 32 1. If a vacancy or vacancies occur among the elective 33 officers or members of a school board and the remaining 34 members of the board have not filled the vacancy within thirty 35 -2- LSB 1719SV (2) 86 aw/sc 2/ 4

S.F. 259 days after the vacancy becomes known by the secretary or the 1 board or if a valid petition is submitted to the secretary 2 of the board pursuant to section 279.6, subsection 1 , or 3 when the board is reduced below a quorum, the secretary of 4 the board, or if there is no secretary, the area education 5 agency administrator, shall call a special election in the 6 district, subdistrict, or subdistricts, as the case may be, 7 to fill the vacancy or vacancies. The county commissioner of 8 elections shall publish the notices required by law for special 9 elections, and the election shall be held not sooner than 10 thirty days nor later than forty days after the thirtieth day 11 following the day the vacancy becomes known by the secretary or 12 the board. If the secretary fails for more than three days to 13 call an election, the administrator shall call it. 14 EXPLANATION 15 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 16 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 17 This bill relates to the filling of school district board 18 vacancies. 19 The bill maintains current law for the filling of a vacancy 20 that occurs not later than 45 days before a regular school 21 election. The bill also maintains current law requiring that 22 the school board fill all other vacancies occurring among the 23 officers and members of the school board by appointment. 24 The bill requires that the board publish notice of the intent 25 of the board to fill a vacancy among the members of a school 26 board by appointment, but that the electors of the school 27 district have the right to file a petition requiring that the 28 vacancy be filled by a special election. The bill allows the 29 board to publish the notice in advance of a vacancy if the 30 officer or member of the board submits a resignation that will 31 take effect at a future date. The bill allows the board to 32 make an appointment after the notice is published or after the 33 vacancy occurs, whichever is later. The bill provides that the 34 appointment is considered temporary if a valid petition to call 35 -3- LSB 1719SV (2) 86 aw/sc 3/ 4

S.F. 259 a special election is filed with the secretary of the school 1 board within 14 days after publication of the notice or within 2 14 days after the appointment is made. 3 The bill provides that a valid petition must be signed by 4 at least 100 eligible electors or eligible electors equaling 5 at least 30 percent of the number of voters at the preceding 6 regular school election, whichever is greater. 7 The bill requires that a special election be called by the 8 school board upon the filing of a valid petition for a vacancy 9 that occurs more than 180 days before the next regular school 10 election. The special election shall be held in accordance 11 with requirements under current law for filling school district 12 board vacancies. The bill requires that a school district 13 fill such a vacancy at the next regular school election if a 14 valid petition is filed for a vacancy that occurs 180 days or 15 less before the next regular school election. If the board 16 is reduced below a quorum, the secretary of the board, or if 17 there is no secretary, the area education agency administrator, 18 shall call a special election in the district, subdistrict, or 19 subdistricts, as the case may be, to fill the vacancies. 20 -4- LSB 1719SV (2) 86 aw/sc 4/ 4