AB 854

This bill eliminates the authority of the school board of a school district to

approve or deny an owner-initiated petition to detach territory from the school

district and attach the territory to an adjoining school district (reorganization).

Under the bill, only the school board of the adjoining school district has the authority

to approve or deny the proposed reorganization.

Under current law, this type of owner-initiated petition process is available if

1) the assessed value of the territory proposed to be transferred divided by the

assessment ratio of the taxation district is less than 7 percent of the equalized

valuation of the school district from which the territory would be detached; and 2)

less than 7 percent of the enrollment of the school district from which the territory

would be detached resides in that territory (small territory). A petition can be filed

by a majority of the electors residing in the small territory or the owners of 50 percent

or more of the small territory.

Under current law, the petitioners must file a written petition with the clerk of

the school district in which the small territory is located requesting the

reorganization, and the clerk must send a certified copy of the petition to the school

board of the adjoining school district. Under the bill, the petitioners must file the

petition with the clerk of the adjoining school district, who must send a certified copy

to the school board of the school district in which the small territory is located.

Currently, in the first February beginning after receipt of a petition, the school

boards of both affected school districts may grant or deny the reorganization by

adopting resolutions ordering the reorganization, and, if both school boards order the

reorganization, the reorganization takes effect on July 1. Under current law, if a

school board adopts such a resolution, the school board must send a certified copy of

the resolution to the other school board. Under the bill, only the school board of the

adjoining school district has the authority to grant or deny the reorganization.

Under current law, the petitioners may appeal a denial of their petition to an

appeal panel appointed by the state superintendent of public instruction or, if certain

conditions are met, to the School District Boundary Appeal Board, and notice of the

appeal is sent to the school boards of both affected school districts. The bill does not

change the appeal process.

Finally, the bill modifies a waiting period that prohibits the filing of multiple

petitions involving the same territory within a certain period of time. Under current

law, in addition to the process for an owner-initiated petition for reorganization of

small territory described above, there is also a similar process for an owner-initiated

petition for reorganization of large territory, which is defined as any territory that

does not meet the definition of small territory. Current law provides that, if an

owner-initiated petition is filed using either process, another owner-initiated

petition may not be filed before the second July 1 following the filing of the first

petition if the subsequent petition involves any of the same territory.