§ 15-431 — Alternative election procedure of governing board members

A. If, for the prior school year, a school district had an average daily membership of at least one thousand and the total minority enrollment in the district, as reported to the department of education, was at least twenty-five per cent of the total enrollment of the district, the governing board may vote to implement an alternative election system for the election of governing board members. The alternative election system implemented by the board may include a vote by the board to divide the school district into as many single member districts as there are governing board members or a vote by the board to implement any other election method that is consistent with section 2 of the voting rights act of 1965 (42 United States Code section 1973), as amended. A school district that has implemented an alternative election system for the election of governing board members as provided by this subsection may continue to elect governing board members using the alternative election system even if the average daily membership of the school district or percentage of minority pupils enrolled in the district falls below the levels prescribed in this subsection. If the average daily membership of the school district or percentage of minority pupils enrolled in the district falls below the levels prescribed in this subsection, the governing board may vote to elect governing board members using the at large election method as prescribed in section 15-429.

B. If the governing board of a school district has implemented a single member district election system as provided in subsection A of this section, the system shall be implemented as follows:

1. The governing board shall define the boundaries of the single member district so that the single member districts are as nearly equal in population as is practicable, except that if the school district lies in part in each of two or more counties, at least one single member district may be entirely within each of the counties comprising the school district if this district design is consistent with the obligation to equalize the population among single member districts.

2. The boundaries of the single member district shall follow election precinct boundary lines, as far as practicable, in order to avoid further segmentation of the precincts.

3. A number shall be assigned to each of the new single member districts in ascending order according to the percentage of the district's minority population in each single member district.

4. As the terms of the governing board members who were elected at large expire, the members shall be replaced by members who are elected from the single member districts in ascending order of single member district number.

5. A person who is a registered voter of this state and who is a resident of the single member district is eligible for election to the office of school board member from the single member district.

6. Nominating petitions shall be signed by the number of qualified electors of the single member district as provided in section 16-322.

C. If the governing board has voted to implement any other alternative election system for the election of governing board members, as provided in subsection A of this section, the implementation of the system shall be as approved by the United States justice department.