1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; establishing single-member 
  1.3             school board election districts equal in population as 
  1.4             practicable for certain districts; proposing coding 
  1.5             for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 205A. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [205A.121] [SINGLE-MEMBER SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION 
  1.8   DISTRICTS.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL PROVISIONS.] Notwithstanding 
  1.10  section 205A.12, the school board of a school district must 
  1.11  alter its organization into separate election districts for the 
  1.12  purpose of electing board members by the procedure in this 
  1.13  section if the district in the 2002-2003 school year: 
  1.14     (1) had between 20,000 and 25,000 pupils in average daily 
  1.15  membership; 
  1.16     (2) included more than one city; 
  1.17     (3) included all or part of a city with at least 60,000 
  1.18  residents; and 
  1.19     (4) was located entirely within a single county. 
  1.20     Subd. 2.  [ELECTION.] A school board that meets the 
  1.21  conditions under subdivision 1, must divide the district into 
  1.22  single-member districts, from which one board member each must 
  1.23  be elected. 
  1.24     Subd. 3.  [ELECTION DISTRICT BOUNDARIES.] Each election 
  1.25  district must be as equal in population as practicable and must 
  2.1   be composed of compact, contiguous territory.  The district may 
  2.2   use the most recent federal decennial census figures available 
  2.3   or may conduct a special census for this purpose.  The board 
  2.4   shall designate each election district by number. 
  2.5      Subd. 4.  [BOARD ELECTIONS.] The board shall specify the 
  2.6   election districts from which vacancies shall be filled as they 
  2.7   occur until such time as each board member represents an 
  2.8   election district.  A candidate for school board in a subsequent 
  2.9   election must file an affidavit of candidacy to be elected as a 
  2.10  school board member for the election district in which the 
  2.11  candidate resides.  Each board member must be a resident of the 
  2.12  election district for which elected but the creation of an 
  2.13  election district or a change in election district boundaries 
  2.14  shall not disqualify a board member from serving for the 
  2.15  remainder of a term. 
  2.16     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective immediately and 
  2.17  applies to the November 2004 general election and later.