Bill Summaries: S248 (2023-2024 Session)

Tracking:
  • Summary date: Jun 13 2023 - View summary

    AN ACT TO DECREASE THE SIZE OF THE NASH BOARD OF EDUCATION TO SEVEN MEMBERS; TO ALIGN THE DISTRICTS FOR THE NASH BOARD OF EDUCATION WITH THE DISTRICTS OF NASH COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS; TO PROVIDE FOR THE BOUNDARIES OF THE NASH SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT TO BE IDENTICAL TO THE BOUNDARIES OF NASH COUNTY EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024; AND TO PROVIDE FOR PARTISAN ELECTIONS FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE CATAWBA COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, HICKORY CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, AND NEWTON-CONOVER CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION. SL 2023-37. Enacted June 12, 2023. Effective June 12, 2023, except as otherwise provided. 


  • Summary date: May 31 2023 - View summary

    House committee substitute to the 3rd edition adds the following new content.

    Amends SL 1969-874, as amended, as follows. Renames the Board of Education of Catawba County as the Catawba County Board of Education. Removes outdated language. Requires members to be elected to staggered four-year terms. Requires membership to be filled by nomination in the primaries and election in the general elections. Changes the timing of the notice of candidacy to now require notice to be filed at the same time as candidates for other county offices. Requires members to be elected on a partisan basis instead of a nonpartisan basis. Requires vacancies to be filled according to GS 115C-37.1. Makes additional conforming, clarifying, and technical changes. Specifies that this act does not affect the term of office of members elected to the Catawba County Board of Education in 2020 or 2022 and sets out provisions governing the filling of vacancies in office for those that were elected in 2020 or 2022. Applies to elections held in 2024 and thereafter.

    Amends SL 1971-930 as follows. Renames the Board of Education of the Hickory Administrative School Unit as the Hickory City Board of Education. Removes outdated language. Requires members to be elected to staggered four-year terms. Requires members to be elected on a partisan basis instead of a nonpartisan basis and requires the election to be at the time of the general election in each even-numbered year as terms expire. Requires candidates to be nominated at the same time and manner as county officers. Requires the election to be conducted in accordance with GS Chapter 115C and 163. No longer requires the expense of the election to be paid by Catawba County. Requires Board candidates in any primary or general election to be qualified voters of Catawba County residing within the boundaries of the Hickory Administrative School Unit, and if filling a seat representing a ward, reside within the ward. Requires vacancies to be filled in accordance with GS 115C-37.1. Makes additional conforming, clarifying, and technical changes. Repeals Sections 5 (requiring a run-off election when there is a tie between two or more) and 6 (outdated language concerning the election of successors for the members from Ward 4 and Ward 6 and the member-at-large) of SL 1971-930. Prohibits elections for the Hickory City Board of Education in 2023, and extends the terms of the three members whose terms are set to expire in 2023 by one year and the terms of the four members with terms set to expire in 2025 by one year. Requires that regular elections for the Board be conducted in even-numbered years beginning in 2024. Requires members elected in 2019 and 2021, or any member appointed to fill a vacancy for the remainder of an unexpired term for one of those members, to serve until a successor has been elected and qualified; sets out provisions governing the filling of vacancies for those members.

    Amends SL 1935-200, as amended, as follows. Removes language related to the election of members to the Board of Trustees by voters residing in the Newton-Conover City Administrative Unit. Instead, requires the six member Newton-Conover City Board of Education to consist of three members representing the Newton district and three representing the Conover district, with members serving staggered four-year terms. Updates language to refer to Board members instead of Trustees. Requires members to be elected on a partisan basis at the time of the general election in each even-numbered year as terms expire. Requires Board candidates to be nominated at the same time and manner as county officers. Requires elections to be conducted according to GS Chapters 115C and 163. Requires candidate to file notice at the same time as candidates for county officers. Requires all candidates in the primary or general election to be qualified voters of Catawba County residing in the Newton-Conover Administrative School Unit who reside in the district for the seat apportioned to that district. Requires members to take office on the first Monday in December. Requires the election to be held and conducted by the Catawba County Board of Elections. Requires vacancies to be filled in accordance with GS 115C-37.1. Prohibits elections for the Newton-Conover City Board of Education in 2023, and extends the terms of the three members whose terms are set to expire in 2023 by one year and the terms of the four members with terms set to expire in 2025 by one year. Requires that regular elections for the Board be conducted in even-numbered years beginning in 2024. Requires members elected in 2019 and 2021, or any member appointed to fill a vacancy for the remainder of an unexpired term for one of those members, to serve until a successor has been elected and qualified; sets out provisions governing the filling of vacancies for those members.

    Makes conforming changes to GS 115C-37.1, effective December 1, 2024.

    Amends the act's long title.


  • Summary date: May 23 2023 - View summary

    Senate amendment to the 2nd edition makes the following changes.

    Amends the provision related to the Nash Board of Education as follows. No longer requires a person elected to the Board to take office on the first Monday in December following their election, with terms of office dating and extending from that time. Requires the Board to organize according to GS 115C-41 and for vacancies to be filled in accordance with GS 115C-37(f). Requires, in order to be eligible to fill a vacancy, that a member reside in the district in which the vacating member was elected to serve. Provides that members elected to the board in 2022 continue to serve until the end of the elected term; if a member elected in 2022 vacates office for any reason before the end of the elected term, the vacancy must not be filled (was, all members residing in Nash County who were elected to the Board in 2022 continue to serve on the Board until the end of their term or a vacancy occurs due to resignation or other causes). Makes additional clarifying changes.

    Adds the following new content.

    Requires, effective July 1, 2024, that the boundaries of the Nash School Administrative Unit (Unit) be identical to the boundaries of Nash County. Requires territory that was previously part of the Unit located outside of the County's boundaries be annexed to the unit of the county in which the territory is located and requires those local boards of education gaining territory annexed into the school unit to revise electoral districts. Also effective July 1, 2024, requires the Nash Board of Education to operate and administer all of the public schools located in the Unit. 

    Repeals SL 2016-14 (revising Senate bill 612, which provided for the merger and consolidation of the school administrative units in Nash County and the City of Rocky Mount). Leaves in place the name of the Nash School Administrative Unit and the Nash Board of Education.

    Requires that the boards of the school administrative units of Nash and Edgecombe, in consultation with the boards of county commissioners of Nash and Edgecombe counties, by November 15, 2023, submit a written plan of transfer that includes the agreement of those four boards as to the transfer of the portion of the Unit located in Edgecombe County to the Edgecombe County Public School System. Sets out items that must be included in the plan related to employment, preparation of budgets, student assignments, and other related matters; transfer of funds, contracts, obligations, assets, and liabilities; and any other appropriate subjects or functions necessary for the orderly transfer. If a plan is not submitted by that date, the State Board of Education is required to prepare a written plan of transfer. Prohibits modifying the agreement unless agreed to by all four boards and requires an act of the NCGA to do so. 

    Vests title to and ownership of all property of the Nash Board of Education located in Edgecombe County in the Edgecombe County Board of Education and sets out related requirements and deadlines.

    Sets out provision governing the transfer of claims and demands related to the Unit's public schools, and the Unit's obligations and liabilities.

    Instead of repealing specified provisions, repeals all of SL 1991-391, which merged the Rocky Mount City and the Nash County School Administrative Units, and makes this repeal and the repeal of Section 1 of SL 2006-87 effective July 1, 2024. 

    Repeals Section 4 of SL 2003-346, and SL 2007-316, which amended SL 1991-391 by changing the boundary line, effective July 1, 2024.

    Makes additional organizational changes. Amends the act's titles.


  • Summary date: May 10 2023 - View summary

    Senate committee substitute to the 1st edition makes the following changes.

    Removes outdated language by repealing Sections 7 and 8 (providing for an interim Nash-Rocky Mount Board of Education that sunsets on July 1, 1993) of SL 1991-391. Repeals Section 1 of SL 2006-87 (pertaining to runoff procedures, including absentee balloting process for Nash-Rocky Mount Board of Education).

    Removes statutory citations so now just specifies that Nash-Rocky Mount Board of Education (Board) member elections will be conducted using the nonpartisan plurality basis (was, the nonpartisan method as provided in GS Chapter 115C and Chapter 163). Reduces the candidate filing time by approximately two weeks by changing the end-date of the filing period from noon on the first Friday in August to noon on the third Friday in July of the even-numbered year (filing period still opens on the first Friday in July at noon). 

    Changes the date that persons elected to the Board take office from the second Monday in December following their election to the first Monday in December following their election. Changes the staggering of terms as follows: now members from Districts 1,3, and 4 (was, Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7) will be elected to four-year terms in 2024, and members from Districts 2, 5, 6 (was, Districts 2, 4, and 6) will be elected to a two-year term in 2024 and to four-year terms thereafter.

    Makes technical and organizational changes. Makes conforming changes to the act’s long title.


  • Summary date: Mar 8 2023 - View summary

    Repeals Sections 9, 10, and 11 of SL 1991-391 (pertaining to districts to be used for elections of the Interim Board and for the Nash-Rocky Mount Board of Education (Board); elections of the Board pertaining to 1992; and providing for nonpartisan elections every two years from 1994 and onwards). Repeals Section 7(3) of SL 2016-14 (requiring before July 1 of the following calendar year, the boards of the school administrative units of Nash and Edgecombe to revise the electoral districts for the respective boards to reflect the boundaries of each school administrative unit as of July 1, when upon failure to provide the required funding pertaining to the Nash-Rocky Mount School Administrative District).

    Beginning in 2024, the Board will consist of seven members elected from each district used to elect county commissioners for staggered four-year terms of office on a nonpartisan basis as provided in GS Chapter 115C and Chapter 163, with the results determined in accordance with GS 163-292. Provides for a filing period time. Specifies that persons elected to the Board will take office on the second Monday in December following their election, and the terms of their office will date and extend from that time. Requires a person to be a qualified voter and resident of the district from which the person seeks to be elected in order to file for candidacy/be elected to the Board.  Specifies that candidates will be voted on by the electors residing in the district from which they seek election. All members of the Board will be elected in 2024. In order to implement staggered terms, for elections held in 2024, members from Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 will be elected to four-year terms and members from Districts 2, 4, and 6 will be elected to a two-year term and to four-year terms thereafter.

    Specifies that all members residing in Nash County who were elected to the Board in 2022 will continue to hold at-large positions on the Board until the end of their term or a vacancy occurs due to resignation or other causes.  

    Applies to elections held beginning in 2024.