§ 2105 — Terms of office

§ 2105. Terms of office. 1. In a common school district having a sole\ntrustee the term of office of trustee shall be one year.\n 2. In a common school district having three trustees the full term of\noffice of trustee shall be three years.\n 3. In a central school district or a union-free school district, the\nfull term of office of trustee shall be three, four or five years. Any\nsuch school district may decrease the full term of a school trustee to\nthree or four years or increase the full term of a school trustee to\nfour or five years by adopting a proposition at any annual meeting or\nelection to do so; provided, however, that the term of office of each\nincumbent trustee shall not be increased or decreased thereby; and\nprovided, further, that whenever a proposition shall be adopted to\nincrease the term of office from three or four years to five years, or\nto decrease the term of office from four or five years to three years,\nsuch proposition shall provide that one or more of the vacancies to be\nfilled, during each of the three years next succeeding the adoption of\nsuch proposition, shall be for three or four years only in order that,\nas nearly as possible, an equal number of trustees shall be elected to\nthe board each year.\n 4. Trustees may be elected for shorter periods as otherwise provided\nin this chapter.\n 5. The term of office of a trustee elected at the first meeting of a\nnewly created common school district having a sole trustee shall expire\non the first Tuesday of May next thereafter.\n 6. The term of office of all other district officers shall be one\nyear.\n 7. One year, within the meaning of this section, is a school year.\n 8. When a new union free school district is formed, the meeting, after\ndetermining the number of members of the board of education to be\nelected, shall proceed to elect members of the board of education for\nvarious terms not in excess of five years so that as nearly as possible\nan equal number of vacancies shall occur on the board of education each\nyear.\n 9. When the number of members of the board of education of a union\nfree school district is increased, the additional members shall be\nelected for such terms not in excess of five years so that thereafter as\nnearly as possible an equal number of terms shall expire each year.\n 10. When the number of members of the board of education of a union\nfree school district is decreased, no election shall be held until the\nnumber of members of the board of education shall be equal to or be less\nthan the number of members to which the board of education is decreased.\nAt elections thereafter, the members of the board of education shall be\nelected for such terms not in excess of five years so that as nearly as\npossible an equal number of members shall be elected to the board each\nyear.\n 11. a. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary,\nin any union free school district whose boundaries are not coterminous\nwith those of an incorporated village, except a central school district,\nwhich under the provisions of law in effect on May first, nineteen\nhundred fifty-seven, elected members to the board of education for a\nterm of three years, the qualified voters of the district present and\nvoting at the annual meeting of such district held during the year\nnineteen hundred fifty-eight, may adopt a resolution determining that\nmembers of the board of education of such district shall be elected for\na term of three years. A certified copy of such resolution shall be\nfiled with the commissioner of education on or before August first,\nnineteen hundred fifty-eight. The voters of any such district may\nrescind such resolution by a majority vote of the voters present and\nvoting at a special or annual meeting of the district.\n b. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, in\nany central school district whose boundaries are not coterminous with\nthose of an incorporated village, the qualified voters of the district\npresent and voting at the annual meeting of such district held during\nthe year nineteen hundred fifty-nine may adopt a resolution determining\nthat members of the board of education of such district shall be elected\nfor a term of three years. A certified copy of such resolution shall be\nfiled with the commissioner of education on or before August first,\nnineteen hundred fifty-nine. The voters of any such district may\nrescind any such resolution by a majority vote of the voters present and\nvoting at a special or annual meeting of the district.\n c. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, in\nany union free school district, the boundaries of which are coterminous\nwith those of an incorporated village, which under the provisions of law\nin effect on April twenty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-nine, elected\nmembers of the board of education for terms of three years, the\nqualified voters of the district present and voting at the annual\nmeeting of such district held during the year nineteen hundred\nsixty-one, may adopt a resolution determining that members of the board\nof education of such district shall be elected for a term of three\nyears. A certified copy of such resolution shall be filed with the\ncommissioner of education on or before August first, nineteen hundred\nsixty-one. The voters of any such district may rescind such resolution\nby a majority vote of the voters present and voting at a special or\nannual meeting of the district.\n 12. The term of office of trustees of union free school district\nnumber one of the town of Tonawanda, Erie county, shall be three years.\n 13. Until the terms of all members of the board of education of a\nunion free school district, have become five years, or three years when\na resolution pursuant to subdivision three or subdivision eleven of this\nsection has been adopted, members of such board of education shall be\nelected in such numbers and for such terms not in excess of five years,\nor three years when a resolution pursuant to subdivision three or\nsubdivision eleven of this section has been adopted, so that as soon as\npracticable an equal number of members of such board of education will\nbe elected each year.\n 14. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the\ncontrary, where a term of office expires at the end of a school year and\nsuch position is or becomes vacant at the time of the annual meeting or\nelection, the person elected to fill the full term vacancy shall also be\ndeemed elected to fill the remainder of the term preceding the\ncommencement of the full term.\n