The authority of school boards to approve or deny owner-initiated petitions to detach and attach small territories of school districts and modifying a waiting period that applies to filing multiple petitions. (FE)

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.

The bill modifies the waiting period so that it no longer applies to owner-initiated petitions related to small territory. In other words, under the bill, the waiting period applies only if more than one owner-initiated petition related to large territory that involves any of the same territory is filed within the statutory time frame.