STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6179--A Cal. No. 1177 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 21, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged and said bill committed to the Committee on Rules -- ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the establishment of school election wards in the Warwick Valley Central School District The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 1804 of the education law is amended by adding a 2 new subdivision 13 to read as follows: 3 13. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 4 board of education of the Warwick Valley Central School District may, by 5 resolution and subject to a mandatory referendum, establish school 6 election wards for purposes of electing individual school board members. 7 There shall be five, seven or nine school election wards within the 8 school district. One member shall be chosen from each ward by the quali- 9 fied voters therein. Within such resolution, the board of education may 10 require that a member elected to represent a ward shall be a resident of 11 such ward. Such resolution shall also provide for the signature require- 12 ments for nominating petitions consistent with the applicable provisions 13 of this chapter. 14 b. (i) A resolution by the board of education, which shall be passed 15 no less than one hundred eighty days prior to a related referendum being 16 placed before the qualified voters of the school district during the 17 annual meeting and election, shall include an assessment and finding, 18 which shall take into account any historic disenfranchisement or 19 discrimination against any group of individuals within the school 20 district based upon race, gender, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic 21 status, or sexual orientation, including that no disenfranchisement or 22 discrimination would result from the adoption of the proposed resol- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11957-03-9S. 6179--A 2 1 ution. The board of education shall conduct no fewer than three public 2 hearings on such resolution. 3 (ii) Such public hearings shall be conducted not less than thirty nor 4 more than ninety days prior to a vote on the resolution by a majority of 5 the qualified voters of the district. The public hearings shall be held 6 at a school district building or other appropriate building, each within 7 a different proposed school election ward. If there is no school 8 district building or other appropriate building within three separate 9 proposed school election wards, a meeting shall be held at the school 10 building or other appropriate building closest in proximity to the 11 proposed school election ward or wards containing no school district 12 buildings or other appropriate buildings. The district clerk shall give 13 notice of the public hearing by publishing a notice five times within 14 fifteen days preceding the hearings, on the district's website and in 15 two newspapers if there shall be two, or in one newspaper if there shall 16 be but one, having general circulation within such district. But if no 17 newspaper shall then have general circulation therein, said notice shall 18 be posted in at least twenty of the most public places in said district 19 fifteen days before the time of the first hearing. 20 (iii) Following such public hearings, a proposition for approval of 21 such resolution and the boundaries of proposed school election wards by 22 a majority of the qualified voters of such district shall be submitted 23 at the next succeeding annual meeting and election. The district clerk 24 shall give notice of such proposition by publishing notice prior to the 25 election, in the same manner and publication as the public hearing, set 26 forth in this section, specifying the time when and place or places 27 where such election will be held, the hours during which the polls will 28 remain open for the purpose of receiving ballots, and setting forth in 29 full the language of the proposition to be approved at such election. In 30 any event, there shall be at least one polling location for every 31 fifteen thousand eligible voters in the district, and the hours of the 32 election shall commence no later than six o'clock in the morning and 33 shall end no earlier than nine o'clock in the evening. 34 (iv) At least fifteen days prior to conducting public hearings, the 35 board of education shall define and publish, by resolution, boundaries 36 of each of the school election wards. Should such map be altered as a 37 result of the public hearings, the amended map shall be published pursu- 38 ant to this paragraph no later than fifteen days before the election. 39 Such wards shall be contiguous and each ward shall contain as nearly as 40 possible the same number of inhabitants. Each ward shall also conform as 41 closely as possible with the attendance zone of the school district, 42 conform as closely as possible with geographic and other physical bound- 43 aries, and retain contiguous communities of interest. 44 (v) A map of each ward and the boundaries thereof shall be created 45 with the original filed with the district clerk within ten days of the 46 resolution and copies thereof filed in the board of elections of the 47 county. Upon each issuance of a federal decennial census, the board of 48 education shall either: (1) make a written finding that, upon examina- 49 tion of the decennial census, the current school election wards contain 50 nearly as possible the same number of inhabitants and that no discrimi- 51 nation or disenfranchisement would result if the wards remained as 52 established; or (2) the school election wards shall be redefined by 53 resolution of the board of education, after a public hearing thereon, 54 and approval by the qualified voters of the school district. If the 55 qualified voters of the school district shall not approve of the resol- 56 ution, the board of education shall submit a second resolution forS. 6179--A 3 1 approval by the qualified voters of the school district, after a public 2 hearing thereon, within ninety days. If the qualified voters of the 3 school district shall not approve of such resolution for a second time, 4 the board of education shall continue the membership and terms of the 5 current board until the next annual meeting and election at which time 6 the terms of all current members shall terminate. At the next annual 7 meeting and election, members shall be elected by a vote of the quali- 8 fied voters of the school district pursuant to article forty-three of 9 this chapter. 10 (vi) After a school election ward system shall have been established, 11 the term of every existing member shall terminate on the thirtieth day 12 of June next succeeding the first annual meeting and election following 13 voter approval of the referendum, at which time the terms for each 14 elected school ward member shall commence. 15 c. The term of office of each school board member from a school 16 election ward shall be three, four, or five years, to be determined at 17 the discretion of the board of education by resolution prior to the 18 referendum; provided however that the resolution shall also designate 19 that in the first annual meeting and election after the adoption of a 20 school election ward system, the initial terms shall be divided into 21 terms of three, four, or five years so that as nearly as possible an 22 equal number of trustees shall be elected each year. In each election 23 cycle thereafter, the terms of office shall be uniform. In each election 24 ward, the candidate receiving a plurality of votes in each election ward 25 shall be declared elected to that position. 26 d. Whenever a vacancy shall occur or exist in the office of a member 27 of the board of education, such vacancy shall be filled pursuant to this 28 article and part one of article forty-three of this chapter. 29 e. Except as provided in this subdivision, all provisions of this 30 article, article forty-one, and article forty-three of this chapter or 31 of any other general law relating to or affecting the election of school 32 board members in the Warwick Valley Central School District shall apply 33 to school election wards organized pursuant to this subdivision and to 34 the election of members by the qualified voters of a school district as 35 established pursuant to paragraph f and subparagraph (iv) of paragraph b 36 of this subdivision. 37 f. The board of education of the Warwick Valley Central School 38 District which has established school election wards pursuant to this 39 subdivision may, by resolution and subject to a mandatory referendum, 40 abolish the school election ward system and return to election of trus- 41 tees by a vote of the qualified voters of the school district. Adoption, 42 assessment, public hearing and notice, and voting requirements of such 43 resolution and referendum shall comply with the provisions of subpara- 44 graphs (i), (ii), and (iii) of paragraph b of this subdivision. 45 g. For the purpose of this subdivision, "contiguous community of 46 interest" means a contiguous population which shares common social and 47 economic interests that should be included within a single district for 48 purposes of its effective and fair representation. 49 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.