(a) The county board of education shall be composed of five members, who shall be elected by the qualified electors of the county.

(b) County boards of education unless otherwise provided by law may use the provisions of this subsection to establish single member election districts with one board member elected from each district. School boards exercising this option may establish five or seven such districts. Such plan shall be considered only after two weeks public notice has been given, outlining generally the school districts under consideration. The members so elected must be residents of the district in which election is sought. Such residency shall have been established at least one year before the general election at which the candidate is to be elected. The boundaries of such single member districts shall be determined by a majority vote of the county board of education. The county board of education shall apportion the districts according to the last federal decennial census for the county utilizing the principle of equal representation. Thereafter, each county board of education choosing to implement single member election districts shall reapportion those districts within six months following the publication of the results of each federal decennial census. They shall be persons of good moral character, with at least a fair elementary education, of good standing in their respective communities and known for their honesty, business ability, public spirit and interest in the good of public education. No member of the county board of education shall be an employee of said board; provided, that in counties having populations of not less than 96,000 nor more than 106,000 according to the most recent federal decennial census, not more than one classroom teacher employed by the board may serve as a board member and also as a teacher. Members shall not be required to hold teachers' certificates.

The county boards of education shall maintain a uniform and effective system of public schools throughout their respective counties.

In addition to all authority previously granted by statute, county boards of education may enter into cooperative agreements, projects and programs with the county commission, and may take such other actions as they deem necessary and appropriate for the proper management of the public schools; provided, however, that such agreements, projects, and programs shall not be in conflict with nor inconsistent with any law or policy of the State Board of Education and shall not conflict with the purposes for which the school system is established. Provided, further, that such authority shall not be used to deny any employee any legal or constitutional rights to which he or she is entitled, nor shall such authority be used in such a way that employees are denied any benefits established and required by law, nor shall such authority be construed as authorizing county boards of education to levy any taxes not otherwise authorized by law.

(a) All the property, estate, effects, money, funds, claims, and donations now or hereafter vested by law in the public school authorities of any county for the benefit of the public schools of any county are hereby transferred and vested in the county board of education, and their successors in office. Real and personal estate granted, conveyed, devised, or bequeathed for the use of any particular county, school district, or public school shall be held in trust by the county board of education for the benefit of any such county school district or school.

(b) A county board of education may convey property to a volunteer fire department in the county.

The county board of education shall consolidate schools wherever in its judgment it is practicable and arrange, if necessary, for the transportation of pupils to and from such consolidated schools, subject to the provisions of this title.

The county boards of two or more adjoining counties shall have the power, by resolution spread upon the minutes of such county boards of education in the counties so adjoining, to form a consolidated school to be composed of the territory bounded by the limits set out for each county by the county boards of education in the aforesaid resolution.

The government and control of any school in the consolidated territory lying within two counties formed in accordance with the resolution of the boards shall be vested in the county board of education of the county in which the school building is located or is to be located, unless otherwise provided by agreement between the boards of education of the counties concerned.

The county boards of education of the counties which have formed a consolidated school composed of territory lying within different counties shall apportion funds to the consolidated school or schools in the same manner as to any other school in the county. The funds apportioned to such consolidated school shall be paid over to the custodian of school funds of the county in which the school building is located or is to be located.

(a) Whenever a county board of education and the city board or boards of education in the county shall deem it advisable to consolidate the administration of their respective systems under the county board of education and shall reach an agreement to that effect through resolutions adopted by and recorded in the minutes of each board, which agreement shall provide for the payment of their respective indebtedness, said consolidation shall be made to become effective at the time designated in the resolutions providing for such consolidation; provided, that, if within 30 days after the adoption of said resolutions 25 percent of the qualified electors of the territory covered by either of the school systems concerned shall submit a protest in writing, the consolidation procedure shall be as follows:

(1) REQUEST FOR REFERENDUM. The boards concerned shall adopt resolutions asking for a referendum on the proposed consolidation; whereupon the chairman of each board shall certify to the judge of probate a copy of the agreement and of the resolution adopted by his board.

(2) ORDER OF ELECTION. Upon receipt by the judge of probate of certified copies of the agreement and resolutions, adopted as provided herein, he shall forthwith present them to the county commission, which shall order elections to be held simultaneously in the territories concerned and at the time requested by said boards, to determine whether or not the school system of the county and the school system or systems of the city or cities shall be administered by the county board of education.

(3) NOTICE OF ELECTION. At least 30 days before the elections are held, the sheriff shall give notice of the time and the purpose of the elections by publication in some newspaper in the county, if any is published therein and, if not, by writing posted at the courthouse and at three other public places in each school system concerned.

(4) APPOINTMENT, COMPENSATION AND DUTIES OF ELECTION OFFICERS. The officers of the elections shall be appointed, the elections shall be held and the results shall be declared as in regular elections for county or city officers; provided, that the elections may be held at the time of any regular election and, in that event, the officers of the general election shall serve without extra compensation. If the elections are held at a time other than that fixed for a regular election, the officers shall receive the same pay for a general election.

(5) BALLOTS FOR ELECTION. The ballots shall have printed at the top a statement of the purpose of the elections and directly underneath, in plain type and on different lines, the words, "For Consolidation," "Against Consolidation." The voter favoring the proposed consolidation will make a cross mark directly to the left of the words "For Consolidation," and the voter not in favor of the proposed consolidation will make a cross mark directly to the left of the words "Against Consolidation."

(6) WHO MAY VOTE; RESULT OF ELECTION. All qualified electors residing in the territories concerned shall have the right to vote and, if a majority of the qualified electors voting in the combined territories concerned shall vote in favor of the consolidation, the city board or boards of education shall stand abolished and thereafter the schools of the county and the schools of the city or cities involved shall be administered by the county board of education.

(b) The consolidation shall not operate to relieve any board of education, or other governing body, of liability for obligations previously incurred, or to impair rights existing prior to the consolidation. On the contrary, the agreement as to indebtedness shall be binding on both the county board of education and the board or boards of education of the city or cities whose school systems are consolidated; provided, that in the event of a consolidation, the county board of education shall have the right to compel the execution of contractual obligations made to either of the boards prior to consolidation.

The county boards of education of two or more counties shall have power to provide jointly for the maintenance of schools in or near the dividing line of such counties on the basis of the enrollment in such school from the counties represented. Each pupil who lives within five miles of a county boundary line shall attend the school nearest to his residence. The administration and supervision of such school shall be placed under one of the county boards of education of said counties by agreement between the county boards of education, and if no agreement as to administration and supervision is made, it shall be under the board of education of the county in which the schoolhouse is located.

When a county board of education desires to provide for the joint maintenance of a public school by a county in this state and an adjoining county in another state, said board shall ascertain what agreement with the authority having power to bind the county in the other state may be secured for such joint maintenance, and if the county board deems the conditions of the agreement mutually advantageous, it shall certify the same, together with all the facts, to the State Superintendent of Education. The State Superintendent of Education shall investigate and, if he deems the proposed arrangement advantageous, shall approve the same. Such approval shall authorize the joint maintenance of such state-line schools.

At the general election of state and county officers, a member or members shall be elected for terms of six years to succeed the member or members whose term or terms of office expire at that time. The members of the county board of education shall hold office until their successors have been elected and qualified. Before exercising any authority or performing any duties as a member of the county board of education, each member thereof shall qualify by taking and subscribing to the oath of office prescribed by Article XVI of the state constitution, the certificate whereof shall be filed in the office of the judge of probate of the county.

When any part of the territory embracing a school under the supervision and control of the county board of education is annexed to a city having a city board of education by extension of the corporate limits of such city, the county board of education shall retain supervision and control of said school and for school purposes shall retain the same control of the territory and revenues which it exercised prior to such annexation, for the purpose of using and devoting said school to the benefit of all children who were or would be entitled to the use and benefit of the school so long as it was a county school, until an agreement has been made between the county board of education and the city board of education, and the city council or commission or other governing body of the city to which the territory was annexed, with reference to the matter of existing indebtedness and of providing the same or equivalent school facilities for the children in that part of the territory in the school district or districts not annexed or made a part of such city.

If an agreement under Section 16-8-20 is not reached within 30 days after the annexation, wherever such annexation occurs in any county having a population of less than 400,000 according to the last or any succeeding federal census, or within three years after the annexation, if such annexation occurs in a county having a population of 400,000 or more according to the last or any succeeding federal census, it shall then be mandatory to refer the final disposition of the matter to arbitration by a board consisting of three members, one to be selected by the county board of education, one to be selected by the city board of education and the third member to be selected by these two members. If the two said members are unable to agree upon the third member of the Board of Arbitration, the State Superintendent of Education shall appoint the third member.

The Board of Arbitration shall secure all facts available relative to the matter, hold a public hearing for the purpose of giving an opportunity for every contention to be presented by both evidence and argument and determine all matters relative to the transfer of the control, existing indebtedness and use of such school. The findings of a majority of said Board of Arbitration shall be binding on all concerned.

The county board of education shall appoint, upon the written recommendation of the county superintendent, all principals, teachers, clerical and professional assistants authorized by the board. The county board may suspend or dismiss for immorality, misconduct in office, insubordination, incompetency or willful neglect of duty, or whenever, in the opinion of the board, the best interests of the school require it, superintendents, principals, teachers or any other employees or appointees of the board, subject to the provisions of Chapter 24 of this title.

Nothing shall be construed as preventing a county board of education from contracting with teachers and other employees for a longer period of time than that actually devoted to teaching or the conduct of the schools while actually in session. But no teacher or employee shall be entitled to receive any payment from public funds unless his time has been employed as required by the contract of employment and unless all current records for which such teacher or employee is responsible shall have been kept with care and accuracy, and no teacher or employee of the board shall be entitled to receive any payment from public funds unless all records and reports required by the State Superintendent of Education or county board of education shall have been properly made and submitted.

The county board of education shall have the authority, under the rules and regulations promulgated from time to time by the State Board of Education, to provide for leaves of absence and vacations by the employees of the boards and for the payment from public funds to the employees of the boards for leaves of absence or vacations, or both. The boards may provide leaves of absence during the times the schools are not in session for the teachers and employees on full pay when the teacher or employee devotes the leave of absence to instructing in or attending schools for teacher training or in the manner approved by the State Board of Education as beneficial to the educational work of the county and may also provide for the payment of any full-time teachers for absences during the time schools are in session where the absence results from sickness or some other unavoidable cause which prevents the teacher from discharging his or her duties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any teacher not utilizing or being paid for the sick leave accrued in any one year pursuant to regulations of the State Department of Education may accumulate days at the rate of one day per month for the months employed and carry over the unutilized days to the next consecutive year or years of employment for the same school system, or for any other school system in which the educator may later be employed, until he or she shall accumulate the maximum number of days as provided in subsection (b) of Section 16-1-18.1. Pay for the absences resulting from unavoidable causes other than sickness shall not be allowed for a longer time than one week during any one year. The allowance of such pay shall at all times be in the discretion of the county board of education.

Repealed by Acts 1997, No. 97-444, p. 751, § 2, effective August 1, 1997.

(a) When used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) BOARD. Any public city or county board of education; the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind; the Alabama Youth Services Board in its capacity as the Board of Education for the Youth Services School District; the Board of Directors of the Alabama School of Fine Arts; the Board of Directors of the Alabama High School of Mathematics and Science; and, as applied to two-year postsecondary education institutions, the State Board of Education.

(2) SUPPORT PERSONNEL or SUPPORT EMPLOYEE. Maid, custodian, adult bus driver, lunchroom or cafeteria worker, secretary, clerk, clerical assistant, maintenance worker, or other non-certificated employee who works an average of at least 20 hours weekly, excluding those employees who are covered by the State Merit System and the employees at the Alabama Industries for the Blind.

(3) TEACHER. Any certificated employee in the public schools; and for postsecondary institutions, any instructor, professor, or any other position requiring at least a baccalaureate degree.

(b) Each board may grant up to five days of personal leave to each teacher and support employee annually noncumulative, during the time the schools are in session for teachers, and during the regularly scheduled work year for support personnel. The board shall enact written policies providing for the uniform administration of personal leave consistent with Section 16-1-30. The board shall determine whether personal leave is to be with part pay, full pay, or without pay. Any approved leave for which the state's Foundation Program includes funding shall be with pay. Each board shall grant not less than two days of paid personal leave to its support personnel each scholastic year. Personal leave may, at the discretion of the teacher, be reimbursed to the teacher at the end of the school year at the same daily rate as is paid to substitute teachers for each day of personal leave not taken by the teacher. The number of unused personal leave days subject to reimbursement shall be limited to the number of personal leave days for which state or local funding is provided. No teacher, or support employee, as a condition to receive personal leave, shall be required to divulge his or her reasons for requesting such leave.

(c) The teacher or support employee may choose to convert personal leave days to sick leave days at the end of the school year. Only those unused or unreimbursed personal leave days which are funded by the state or the board shall be eligible for conversion to sick leave days.

County boards of education may at their discretion provide for the transportation of employees of such boards of education to and from schools along with pupils on established pupil transportation route schedules where such transportation can be provided without extra mileage or the overcrowding of school buses; provided, that the county board of education shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to such employee of the school board so transported.

The county board of education shall prescribe, on the written recommendation of the county superintendent of education, courses of study for the schools under its jurisdiction, and a printed copy of these courses of study shall be supplied to every teacher and to every interested citizen of the county, subject to the provisions of this title.

The county board of education shall, upon the written recommendation of the county superintendent of education, grade and standardize all the schools under its jurisdiction, subject to the provisions of this title.

The county board of education shall hold a meeting each year for the purpose of giving the public an opportunity of presenting to the board matters relating to the allotment of public school funds or any other matter relating to the administration of the public schools of the county. The time and location of such meeting shall be determined by each local board of education and shall be given public notice.

The county board of education, in order to expedite the payment of teachers' salaries and to make possible efficient supervision, shall fix a uniform date each year for the opening of all schools in the county under its jurisdiction, and all schools as far as in the opinion of the county board of education may be practicable shall open on said date. If for any reason the board shall permit any schools to open at later date, the reports and records of such schools shall be made so as to conform to the scholastic months, counting from the uniform date hereinabove mentioned.

The county board of education, subject to the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education, shall cause to be taken, under the direction of the county superintendent of education, a quadrennial school census of the children in the county between the ages of six and 19, inclusive. The school census shall be taken in July of 1946, and thereafter every four years, and the county superintendent of education, upon the direction at any time of the State Superintendent of Education, shall cause the whole or any part of any school census in his county to be retaken.

The county board of education, upon the recommendation of the county superintendent of education, shall appoint a sufficient number of enumerators to take the census of the county during the month of July or at such other time as the State Superintendent of Education shall cause the whole or any part of any school census in a county to be retaken. The county board of education, upon the recommendation of the county superintendent of education, shall fix the compensation of the enumerators taking any school census and shall order them paid out of the treasury of the county. The report of the enumerators shall be made under oath to the county superintendent of education not later than the fifteenth day of August next succeeding for the census taken during the month of July, and not later than seven days after the direction of the State Superintendent of Education where the census or part thereof has been caused by the State Superintendent of Education to be retaken.

The county board of education shall appoint a custodian of the public school funds of the county, which custodian may be the county treasurer, the secretary to the county superintendent of education or some other qualified person. The custodian of school funds shall give bond with a surety company authorized to do business in Alabama, shall receive and take charge of all moneys to which the county board of education may be entitled by law or which may come into its possession for public school purposes, shall pay out such moneys only on written order of the county superintendent of education, approved by the chairman of the county board of education, shall keep an accurate record of all receipts and expenditures and shall make such reports as may be required by law, by the county board of education or by rules and regulations of the State Board of Education. The amount of the bond of the custodian shall be fixed by the county board of education and approved by the State Board of Education through its executive officer, the State Superintendent of Education, with whom a certified copy shall be filed.

The county board of education shall, upon the recommendation of the county superintendent of education, arrange the county into one or more appropriate and convenient compulsory school attendance districts, shall keep full and complete records of the boundaries thereof and shall see to it that the compulsory attendance law is enforced.

The county board of education, upon the recommendation of the county superintendent of education, shall prescribe the conditions on which pupils in the elementary schools, limited to the first six grades of elementary instruction, may be admitted to junior high schools, and also the conditions upon which pupils in junior high schools may be admitted to senior high schools.

The public schools of the county shall include elementary schools, that is, grades one to six, inclusive; junior high schools, that is, grades seven to nine, inclusive; and senior high schools, that is, grades 10 to 12, inclusive, except as otherwise authorized by the State Board of Education.

The county board of education shall publish annually in the month of October in the county newspaper at the county seat of each county a full and complete statement of the receipts by source and disbursements by function of the county for the 12 months' period ending September 30 in such form as is required by the State Superintendent of Education at the same time it forwards said statement to the State Superintendent of Education. The county board of education shall also publish annually in the county newspaper at the county seat of each county in the month of October, a statement of the outstanding indebtedness of the board of education on September 30, which statement must show the schedule by years for retiring said indebtedness and shall separate funded indebtedness from unfunded indebtedness, and the statement shall show the resources available to pay such unfunded indebtedness. The county board of education may also cause to be prepared and published annually in sufficient quantities for distribution among the citizens of the county a report covering the condition, current accomplishments and needs for the improvement of the schools. The refusal or negligent failure of any member of the county board of education to comply with the provisions of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor, and the State Superintendent of Education shall withhold the payment of public school funds until the provisions of this section have been complied with.

The county board of education shall prescribe, upon the recommendation of the county superintendent of education, forms and blanks on which school trustees, supervisors, attendance officers, principals, teachers, janitors and other regular employees shall make such reports as shall be required from them by the county board of education.

The county board of education shall make all the reports required to the State Board of Education at such time, upon such items and in such form and on such blanks as may be prescribed by the State Board of Education.

The county board of education shall hold an annual meeting each year in November. At this meeting the board shall elect each year one of its members to serve as president and one to serve as vice-president. Each board shall hold at least five additional regular meetings during the school year, and such special meetings may be held, at such place as the duties and the business of the board may require. Public notice shall be given of regular meetings. The rules generally adopted by deliberative bodies for their government shall be observed by the county board of education. No motion or resolution shall be declared adopted without the concurrence of the majority of the whole board.

(a) The county board of education shall have the right to acquire, purchase by the institution of condemnation proceedings if necessary, lease, receive, hold, transmit and convey the title to real and personal property for school purposes.

(b) It may sue and contract. All contracts shall be made after resolutions have been adopted by the board and spread upon its minutes.

(c) All processes shall be executed by service on the executive officer of the board.

The county boards of education shall have power to establish and maintain within their systems of public schools kindergartens and playgrounds for the children who are bona fide residents of and living within their respective jurisdictions. If kindergartens are established and maintained, children from five to eight years of age may be admitted on such terms and conditions which county boards of education may prescribe.

(a) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following terms shall have the meanings subscribed to them by this section:

(1) RISK MANAGEMENT COOPERATIVE. An entity or entities, to be formed by local boards of education in any combination of 25 or more for the purpose of pooling resources and funds to jointly purchase insurance or to self-insure such boards of education, their members and employees, against risks to which they are exposed.

(2) MEMBER BOARDS OF EDUCATION. A city board of education, county board of education, Department of Youth Services School District, Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, State Board of Education or other public education governing board which elects to pool its resources and funds with one or more other boards of education for the purpose of forming a risk management cooperative.

(b) Boards of education in any combination of 25 or more may establish a risk management cooperative for the purpose of pooling resources and funds to provide risk management alternatives for each member board of education and other named insureds. Member boards of education may appropriate such funds as necessary to the risk management cooperative created hereunder.

(c) Each risk management cooperative established under provisions of this section shall have the power and authority to establish a governing body of trustees; establish bylaws for the governing of such group; enter into contracts with member boards of education; establish a schedule of benefits payable; establish a schedule of charges to be collected from member boards of education for benefits provided; enter into contracts with solvent insurers to provide excess coverage; enter into management and consultant contracts; hire attorneys and employees; and, exercise such powers and authority incident to the purposes of this section.

(d) Each risk management cooperative established under the provisions of this section shall file with the State Insurance Commissioner a copy of its bylaws and schedule of benefits and charges. Each risk management cooperative shall also annually file with the State Insurance Commissioner a certified financial audit.

(e) Any insurance and/or excess insurance purchased by each risk management cooperative established under the provisions of this section shall only be procured from sources meeting the requirements of the Department of Insurance of Alabama and/or federal Risk Retention Amendments of 1986. Copies of insurance contracts, if any, purchased by each risk management cooperative will be filed annually with the State Insurance Commissioner.

(f) Each risk management cooperative established under the provisions of this section shall specifically be exempt from the payment of any insurance premium tax levied by the Insurance Department on premiums or charges collected.

(g) This section is not intended and shall not be construed to subject any board of education to liability for tort claims where liability therefor does not already exist by law.

(h) No risk management cooperative nor the trustees, employees or agents thereof, shall be subject to suit by any third party on account of claim against a member board of education. It shall incur no liability to any party other than that authorized and contracted for under provisions of this section. Provided, however, that this section shall not prohibit an action for fraud brought directly against said risk management cooperative or its agents.

(i) No risk management cooperative established under the provisions of this section shall provide coverage or benefits as authorized under the Public Education Employees' Health Insurance Plan or the State Insurance Fund.

The county board of education is charged with the duty of seeing that every school building whose title is vested in the state, county or school district is insured for its insurable value and to this end may use a part of the proceeds of incidental fees, district tax levies or such other funds as may be specifically set apart for such purpose by the county board of education.

The county board of education shall provide sanitary, hygienic, suitable and convenient rest rooms for the children of the public schools under its jurisdiction, not less than two for each school or building when both sexes are in attendance, with separate means of access to each. It shall be the duty of said boards to make provisions for keeping the said rest rooms in a clean, comfortable, sanitary and hygienic condition.

The members of the county board of education shall receive from the public school funds of the county $7.50 a day and their actual traveling and hotel expenses incurred in attending meetings of the board and transacting the business of the board. The members of the county board shall not be allowed pay for more than 24 days in any one year, and their expenses shall be paid in like manner as provided for the compensation of teachers; provided, that in counties having a population of 600,000 persons or more according to the last or any succeeding federal census, members of the county board of education shall receive from the public school funds of the county $35.00 per day and their actual traveling and hotel expenses incurred in attending meetings of the board and transacting the business of the board, not to exceed 52 days in any one year, said compensation and expenses to be paid in like manner as provided for the compensation of teachers.

In the event a vacancy occurs in the office of members of the county board of education, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by a majority of the remaining members of the county board of education, and the appointee shall hold for the unexpired term. In the event the vacancy is not filled by the remaining members of the county board within 30 days, the State Superintendent of Education shall fill such vacancy by appointment. The county superintendent of education shall notify the State Superintendent of Education when a vacancy in the office of a member of the county board of education has not been filled within 30 days.

The county board of education shall appoint as its executive officer a county superintendent of education who shall also be the secretary of the county board of education. As secretary he shall conduct all correspondence of the board, keep and preserve all of its records, receive all reports required by the board and see that such reports are in proper form, complete and accurate. He shall have the right to advise on any question under consideration by the board, but shall have no vote. In case the office of the county superintendent of education is temporarily vacant, or when the county superintendent of education is absent by reason of the nature of business in hand, or otherwise, the board shall appoint one of its members to act for the time being as secretary. The bond of the county superintendent of education shall be responsible for the faithful performance of duties by the member of the county board of education appointed to act as secretary in the absence of the county superintendent.

The general administration and supervision of the public schools of the educational interests of each county, with the exception of cities having a city board of education, shall be vested in the county board of education; provided, that such general administration and supervision of any city having a city board of education may be consolidated with the administration and control of educational matters affecting the county and vested in the county board of education.

The county board of education shall exercise through its executive officer, the county superintendent of education and his professional assistants control and supervision of the public school system of the county. The board shall consult and advise through its executive officer and his professional assistants with school trustees, principals, teachers and interested citizens and shall seek in every way to promote the interest of the schools under its jurisdiction.