HF 501 (LSB 2414YH (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE 501

BY  SORENSEN

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to school districts, including by modifying provisions related to school district dissolution proposals and election dates for school district mergers, consolidations, or dissolutions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 275.18, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  When the boundaries of the territory to be included in a proposed school corporation and the number and method of the election of the school directors of the proposed school corporation have been determined as provided in this chapter, the area education agency administrator with whom the petition is filed shall give written notice of the election to the county commissioner of elections of the county in the proposed school corporation which has the greatest taxable base. The question shall be submitted to the voters at an election held on a date specified in section 39.2, subsection 4, paragraph “c” in the calendar year prior to the calendar year in which the reorganization will take effect; provided, however, that if the question relates to the merger or consolidation of school districts, the question shall be submitted to the voters at an election held on a date determined by the county commissioner of elections that is in the calendar year prior to the calendar year in which the merger or consolidation will take effect.
    Sec. 2.  Section 275.53, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  a.  The Within one year after the date of the organizational meeting of the commission, the commission shall send a copy of its agree upon and develop a dissolution proposal or shall inform the board that it cannot agree upon a dissolution proposal not later than one year following the date of the organizational meeting of the commission and send a copy of the dissolution proposal to the department of education for approval.  The department of education shall either approve the dissolution proposal or recommend changes to the dissolution proposal. If the department of education recommends changes to the dissolution proposal, the commission shall make such changes and send the revised dissolution proposal to the department of education for approval. Once the department of education has approved the dissolution proposal, the commission shall file a copy of the dissolution proposal with the board.
   b.  Notwithstanding paragraph “a”, if the commission cannot agree upon a dissolution proposal within one year after the date of the organizational meeting of the commission, the commission shall inform the board that it cannot agree upon a dissolution proposal.
   c.  If the dissolving school district has outstanding bonds issued under section 423E.5 or 423F.4, the proposal shall require each school district receiving territory from the dissolving district to assume liability for the payment of a portion of such bonds that is equal to the percentage of the total number of resident pupils from the dissolving district who lived in the territory received during the last year of the dissolving district’s existence.
   d.  The commission shall also send a copy of the approved dissolution proposal to the boards of directors of all school districts to which area of the dissolving school district will be attached. If the board of a district to which area of the dissolving school district will be attached objects to the attachment, within ten days following receipt of the dissolution proposal the board shall send its objections in writing to the commission department of education. The commission may department of education shall consider the objections and may direct the commission to modify the dissolution proposal if the department of education determines that the objections are reasonable. If the dissolution proposal is modified, the commission shall notify the boards of directors of all school districts to which area of the dissolving school district will be attached.
    Sec. 3.  Section 275.55, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  After the final hearing on the dissolution proposal, the board of the school district shall submit the proposition to the voters at the next election held on a date specified in section 39.2, subsection 4, paragraph “c” an election held on a date determined by the county commissioner of elections. However, the date of the final hearing on the dissolution proposal must be not less than thirty nor more than sixty days before the election. The proposition submitted to the voters residing in the school district shall describe each separate area to be attached to a contiguous school district and shall name the school district to which it will be attached. In addition to the description, a map may be included in the summary of the question on the ballot.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to school districts, including by modifying provisions related to school district dissolution proposals and election dates for school district mergers, consolidations, or dissolutions.
   Current law requires that elections related to school district mergers, consolidations, or dissolutions must be held, in odd-numbered years, on the first Tuesday in March, the second Tuesday in September, or the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and in even-numbered years, on the first Tuesday in March, or the second Tuesday in September. The bill modifies these provisions to provide that elections related to school district mergers or consolidations must be held on a date determined by the county commissioner of elections that is in the calendar year prior to the calendar year in which the merger or consolidation will take effect, and that elections related to school district dissolutions must be held on a date determined by the county commissioner of elections.
   Current law requires a school district dissolution commission to send a copy of its dissolution proposal to the board of directors of the school district, or inform the board that it cannot agree upon a dissolution proposal, not later than one year following the date of the commission’s organizational meeting. Current law also requires the commission to send a copy of the proposal to the boards of directors of all school districts to which area of the dissolving school district will be attached, and if the board to which area of the dissolving school district will be attached objects to the attachment, the board is required to send its objections in writing to the commission. The bill modifies this provision to provide that, within one year after the date of the organizational meeting of the commission, the commission is required to agree upon and develop a dissolution proposal and send a copy of the proposal to the department of education (DE) for approval. DE is required to either approve the proposal or recommend changes. Once DE has approved the proposal, the bill requires the commission to file a copy of the proposal with the board of directors of the school district and send a copy of the approved proposal to the boards of directors of all school districts to which area of the dissolving school district will be attached. If the commission cannot agree upon a proposal within one year after the date of the organizational meeting, the commission is required to inform the board of directors of the school district that it cannot agree. If the board of directors of a district to which area of the dissolving school district will be attached objects to the attachment, the board is required to send its objections in writing to DE, and DE is required to consider the objections and may direct the commission to modify the proposal if DE determines that the objections are reasonable.