Report Title:

Board of Education; Electoral College

 

Description:

Replaces current election process for member of the board of education to require members to be elected via an electoral process.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2056

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

PART I

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Part is to propose an amendment to Article X, section 2, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to provide that members of the board of education shall be elected by appointed electors.

SECTION 2. Article 10, section 2, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"BOARD OF EDUCATION

Section 2. There shall be a board of education composed of members who shall be elected in a nonpartisan manner by [qualified voters] appointed electors, as provided by law, from two at-large school board districts. The first school board district shall be comprised of the island of Oahu and all other islands not specifically enumerated. The second school board district shall be comprised of the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe, Kauai and Niihau. Each at-large school board district shall be divided into departmental school districts, as may be provided by law. There shall be at least one member residing in each departmental school district. The Hawaii State Student Council shall select a public high school student to serve as a nonvoting member on the board of education."

SECTION 3. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

"Shall members of the board of education be elected by appointed electors?"

SECTION 4. Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New constitutional material is underscored.

PART II

SECTION 5. Section 13-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The board of education shall consist of thirteen members who shall be elected by the [registered voters] appointed electors of two at-large school board districts as follows:

First school board district: the island of Oahu, comprised of the 11th through the 48th and a portion of the 49th (that portion found on the island of Oahu) representative districts, and the

Second school board district: the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe, Kauai, and Niihau, comprised of the 1st through the 10th, a portion of the 49th (that portion found on the island of Kauai), and the 50th and 51st representative districts."

SECTION 6. Section 13-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§13-3 Election of members. [(a) Members of the board of education shall be nominated at a primary election and elected at the general election. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the candidates for the board of education shall be elected in the manner prescribed by this title.

(1) Nomination papers, preparation of. The chief election officer shall prepare nomination papers in such a manner that a candidate desiring to file for election to the board of education shall be able to specify whether the candidate is seeking a seat requiring residency in a particular departmental school district or a seat without such residency requirement.

(2) Ballot. The school board ballot shall be prepared in such a manner as to afford every voter eligible to vote in a school board district race the opportunity to vote for each and every candidate seeking election from that school board district.

The school board ballot shall contain the names of all board candidates arranged alphabetically in a nonpartisan manner; provided that the names of candidates seeking seats requiring residency in a particular departmental school district shall be grouped alphabetically according to departmental school districts.

(3) Primary election. Two candidates receiving the most votes for each available seat shall be nominated for the general election. If, after the close of filing of nomination papers, there are only two qualified candidates for any seat requiring residency in a particular departmental school district, the chief election officer shall declare those two candidates duly nominated for the general election. The names of those two candidates shall not appear on the primary election ballot.

(4) General election. Each voter in the general election shall be entitled to receive the school board ballot and to vote for the number of seats available in the respective school board districts.

(b) In the event that there is only one qualified candidate for any seat requiring residency in a particular departmental school district, after the close of filing of nomination papers, the chief election officer shall declare such candidate to be duly and legally elected. In the event that the number of qualified candidates for seats without such residency requirement is equal to or less than the number of such seats to be filled, after the close of filing of nomination papers, the chief election officer shall declare such candidates to be duly and legally elected.]

(a) Members of the board of education shall be nominated at a primary election and elected at the general election by the electors appointed pursuant to subsections (b) and (c).

(b) Two electors shall be appointed to represent each public school, charter school, and private school licensed by the Hawaii Council of Private Schools as follows:

(1) One elector shall be appointed by the teachers and administrators of the school; and

(2) One elector shall be appointed by the parent/teacher association affiliated with the school.

(c) Three electors shall be appointed by members of the legislature as follows:

(1) Each member of the house of representatives shall appoint one elector from the legislator's respective legislative district; and

(2) Each member of the senate shall appoint two electors from the legislator's respective legislative district.

(d) An individual must be a qualified voter to be appointed as an elector. Appointing bodies shall not appoint a member of the legislature as an elector.

(e) The respective appointing bodies shall file the names and addresses of the appointed electors with the office of elections no less than sixty days before the date of the primary election. If an appointing body fails to file the names of the electors pursuant to this section, the appointing body shall not have an elector participating in the primary or general election.

(f) The chief election officer shall transmit the names and addresses of the appointed electors to the clerk of each county. The respective clerks shall register the appointed electors as eligible voters for the election of members to the board of education. The register may be maintained in conjunction with the general county register; provided that the clerk shall be able to prepare a separate list of eligible voters for the election of members to the board of education, capable of segregation by precinct and representative district. The maintenance, reproduction, and transmittal of records and affidavits to a central file shall be in accordance with section 11-14.

(g) Election process.

(1) Nomination papers. The chief election officer shall prepare nomination papers in a manner that a candidate desiring to file for election to the board of education shall be able to specify whether the candidate is seeking a seat requiring residency in a particular departmental school district or a seat without such residency requirement.

(2) Ballot. The school board ballot shall afford every appointed elector in a school board district race the opportunity to vote for each and every candidate seeking election from that school board district.

The school board ballot shall contain the names of all board candidates arranged alphabetically in a nonpartisan manner; provided that the names of candidates seeking seats requiring residency in a particular departmental school district shall be grouped alphabetically according to departmental school districts.

Only an appointed elector in the primary election or general election shall be entitled to receive the school board ballot and to vote for the number of seats available in the respective school board districts.

(3) Primary election. Two candidates receiving the most votes for each available seat shall be nominated for the general election. If, after the close of filing of nomination papers, there are only two qualified candidates for any seat requiring residency in a particular departmental school district, the chief election officer shall declare those two candidates duly nominated for the general election. The names of those two candidates shall not appear on the primary election ballot.

(h) No less than thirty days before the date of the general election, there shall be a meeting of all the electors to allow all nominees for the general election the opportunity to present their qualifications and other information relevant to their election to the board of education. The meeting shall be organized and coordinated by the chief election officer."

SECTION 7. Section 13-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) Members of the board elected at the [special election held in conjunction with the] general election in [1984] 2004 shall be divided into two classes. There shall be seven members in the first class who shall hold office for a term of four years beginning with their election and ending on the day of the [special election held in conjunction with the] second general election after their election. The remaining members shall comprise the second class and shall hold office for a term of two years beginning with their election and ending on the day of the [special election held in conjunction with the] next general election after their election, and then members of the second class shall be elected to four year terms.

Membership in the first class shall consist of: three members who are elected with the highest number of votes from the first school board district as designated under section 13-1, who are not required to reside in any particular departmental school district and one member elected from each odd-numbered departmental school district. Membership of the second class shall consist of the remaining elected school board members."

SECTION 8. Regardless of whether or not a member of the board of education is serving a term that would have extended past the 2004 general election, the term of office of all members of the board of education shall end at the 2004 general election. An election for all members of the board of education shall be held at the 2004 general election and the staggered terms of the members of the board of education shall be recomputed as established by section 13-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

SECTION 9. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

PART III

SECTION 10. This Act shall take effect upon approval, provided that:

(1) The constitutional amendment provided in Part I of this Act shall take effect upon compliance with Article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii; and

(2) Part II shall take effect on November 6, 2002; provided that the constitutional amendment enumerated in Part I of this Act is ratified pursuant to Article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________