ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-sixth Legislature

First Regular Session

House: MOE DP 6-3-1-0

HB 2546: large school districts; division; election

Sponsor: Representative Jones, LD 17

Caucus & COW

Overview

Outlines the circumstances in which a county school superintendent must call an election to determine whether a qualifying school district should be divided.

History

Division of School Districts

A county school superintendent is required to call an election to determine if a school district with a student count of at least 601 should be divided and new school district(s) formed upon request from a school district governing board or qualified electors. The election is held concurrently whereby a majority of votes cast by the qualified electors in each of the proposed areas must approve the division of the existing school district and the formation of the new school district. The boundaries of the proposed school district must meet certain minimum requirements, such as containing a sufficient number of pupils to ensure that educational programs and services will be of a similar or better quality after the subdivision (A.R.S. § 16-458).

Average Daily Membership (ADM)

ADM is the total enrollment of part-time and full-time students, minus withdrawals of each school day through the first 100 or 200 days of the school year. ADM is a key component in the Arizona school finance system (A.R.S. § 15-901 et. seq.).

Provisions

1. Instructs county school superintendents to call an election for school districts that have an unweighted ADM of at least 35,000 for the purpose of determining whether the school district should be divided. (Sec. 1)

2. Specifies that the election must be called within one year after the end of the fiscal year. (Sec. 1)

3. Instructs a county school superintendent, if a school district had an FY 2022 unweighted ADM of at least 35,000, to call an election within one year after the end of FY 2023 to determine whether the school district should be divided. (Sec. 3)

4. Prohibits a county school superintendent, if an election to divide a qualifying school district was called and not approved by the voters, from calling subsequent elections to divide a school district, unless such an election is requested by a governing board or electors as statutorily prescribed. (Sec. 1)

5. Makes technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 1, 2)

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9. HB 2546

10. Initials JH Page 0 Caucus & COW

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