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USA Statutes : oregon
Title : TITLE 30 EDUCATION AND CULTURE
Chapter : Chapter 330 Boundary Changes; Mergers
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For purposes of
this chapter:
(1)(a) “Merger” includes any alteration, annexation, merger,
consolidation, lengthening the course of study or other change under ORS
330.090 to 330.107, 334.710 to 334.770 and 335.490 to 335.505.
(b) “Merger” includes only those proceedings in which the entire
territory of an involved school district is merged. The permanent rate
limit for operating taxes for a school district after merger shall be the
rate that would produce the same operating tax revenue as the school
districts prior to merger would have cumulatively produced in the year of
merger if the merger, not taking into account any applicable statutory
rate limit, had not occurred.
(2) “School district” means a taxing district providing public
elementary or secondary education, or any combination thereof, within
this state, and specifically includes a component school district of an
education service district that levies taxes for its component school
districts and the education service district itself. “School district”
does not include any other education service district. [1989 c.629 §1;
1993 c.18 §89; 1993 c.270 §67; 1993 c.784 §21; 1995 c.611 §1; 1997 c.541
§371; 2001 c.695 §36; 2003 c.226 §§10,11] (1)
For public school purposes, this state is divided into subdivisions known
as school districts.
(2) For purposes of the school laws of this state, unless the
context requires otherwise:
(a) “School district” includes a common school district, a joint
school district and a union high school district.
(b) “Common school district” means a school district, other than a
union high school district, formed primarily to provide education in all
or part of kindergarten through grade 12 to pupils residing within the
district.
(c) “Joint school district” means a common or union high school
district with territory in more than one county.
(d) “Union high school district” means a school district, other
than a common school district, that is responsible for education in high
school grades but not in primary grades, formed in accordance with ORS
335.210 to 335.485 (1963 Replacement Part).
(e) “Governing body of the county” means the county court, the
board of county commissioners or the unit of government designated by the
county charter to exercise the power or duty prescribed in the section in
which the term occurs.
(f) “Most populous district” means the school district that has the
largest number of pupils in average daily membership, as defined in ORS
327.006. [1965 c.100 §71; 1971 c.513 §86; 1989 c.819 §1a; 1991 c.167 §5;
1991 c.586 §1; 2003 c.226 §12]BOUNDARY CHANGE AND MERGER PROCEDURES(1) The education service district board shall constitute the
district boundary board for laying off the county in convenient school
districts. In any county in which there is no education service district
board, the governing body of the county shall constitute the district
boundary board. The district boundary board shall have jurisdiction over
all school districts in the county and over all joint districts, the
administrative offices of which are in the county.
(2) The district boundary board shall make alterations and changes
in the school districts in the manner specified by law. The board shall
maintain a record showing the boundaries and numbers of the districts in
the county based on records in the office of the county assessor.
[Formerly 329.710; 1965 c.100 §72; 1989 c.819 §2] (1) The district boundary board shall enter an
order directing a school district to be merged with an adjoining school
district designated by the board if it finds that continuation of the
district is not required because of geographic factors affecting
transportation or because of sparsity of population and if:
(a) The school district fails to maintain and operate a school for
one year without approval of the State Board of Education;
(b) The school district is in a county with 35,000 or less
population and has an average daily membership of fewer than six children
for each of two successive years, as certified by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction; or
(c) The school district is in a county with more than 35,000
population and has an average daily membership of fewer than 18 children
for each of two successive years, as certified by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction.
(2) The order of the district boundary board shall take effect as
provided in ORS 330.103.
(3) Subject to the provisions of ORS 330.092 to 330.101, the
district boundary board on the request of the district school boards of
the affected districts or on petition of five percent or 500 electors of
each affected district, whichever is less, shall merge smaller districts
into larger districts or change the boundaries of common or union high
school districts.
(4) No boundary change or merger shall be made which results in a
school district having fewer than 20 children of school age on the date
the change or merger becomes effective.
(5) No boundary change or merger shall be made which results in a
school district that consists of noncontiguous areas.
(6) If the district boundary board fails to follow the time
schedules prescribed in ORS 330.107 or to approve a request or petition
under subsection (3) of this section, the district school boards of the
affected school districts or the petitioners may appeal to the State
Board of Education to order the proposed boundary change or merger. The
state board shall order the change or merger and shall direct the
district boundary board to perform the duties described in ORS 330.101 in
the same manner as if the district boundary board had ordered the
boundary change or merger.
(7) As used in this section, “affected district” includes:
(a) Two or more districts providing education in kindergarten and
grades 1 through 12 involved in the merger.
(b) All component school districts, not including any split school
districts, as defined in ORS 335.482, and the union high school district
if merger procedures are used for the unification of the union high
school district and its component districts.
(c) The union high school district and the component school
districts, not including split school districts, in a secession from the
union high school district by one or more of the component districts and
the unified district they wish to join.
(d) Two or more districts offering education in kindergarten and
grades 1 through 6 or 8 that would create a split school district by
merger and the union high school district and the component school
districts of the union high school district. [1963 c.282 §13(1), (8);
1965 c.100 §73; 1967 c.298 §1; 1969 c.235 §1; 1979 c.256 §1; 1985 c.364
§1; 1989 c.491 §14; 1989 c.819 §3; 1991 c.167 §7; 1993 c.112 §2; 1993
c.329 §1] The boundaries of a school
district may not be changed except:
(1) Pursuant to ORS 330.090 (1) or (3).
(2) By a vote of the people pursuant to the lengthening of the
course of study under ORS chapter 335.
(3) By the mutual consent of the district school boards of the two
or more affected districts in the manner prescribed in ORS 330.080 to
330.107.
(4) On a request for change or merger proposal submitted to the
district boundary board by electors of the affected districts in the
manner prescribed in ORS 330.080 to 330.107. [1989 c.819 §1; 1991 c.167
§8; 2003 c.226 §13] (1)
Subject to ORS 332.118, the request or petition for proposed change or
merger in school districts shall:
(a) Be directed to the district boundary board of the county or
counties having jurisdiction over the affected school districts;
(b) Contain the names and numbers of districts affected by the
change;
(c) Contain a concise statement of the type of change requested
and, if only a portion of the school district is involved, contain a
legal description thereof; and
(d) If a petition of electors from affected districts is involved,
contain the signatures and residence addresses or mailing addresses of
the petitioners and the names of the school districts in which they
reside.
(2) If a merger is requested or petitioned, the request or petition
shall also contain proposals for distribution of debt.
(3) When any proposed boundary change or merger affects school
districts under the jurisdiction of different district boundary boards,
the proposed change or merger shall first be acted upon by the district
boundary board of the county in which lies the most populous district,
and must be submitted to the district boundary board of the other
affected county or counties.
(4) Any proposed merger may contain a recommendation that the new
district retain the same name and number as the most populous school
district in the merger or a recommendation for a new name for the
district, a request for the formation of school committees as described
in ORS 330.425 and a request that the number of members of the district
school board be increased to seven members. [1963 c.282 §13(2); 1965
c.100 §74; 1967 c.328 §1; 1989 c.819 §4; 1991 c.167 §9; 1993 c.136 §2;
1999 c.21 §63; 2005 c.209 §16] (1) Before the
proposed change or merger is ordered, the district boundary board shall
give notice in the manner provided in ORS 330.400 of the proposed change
or merger and the session of the board at which it will be ordered. If no
remonstrance petition on the change or merger is submitted requiring an
election as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the board shall
issue an order that the change or merger shall become effective as
provided in ORS 330.103. The remonstrance petition is subject to ORS
332.118. However, the boundary board shall not issue an order until all
affected boundary boards have had opportunity to consider the proposed
change or merger.
(2) If a remonstrance petition on a proposed change or merger
signed by at least five percent or at least 500, whichever is less, of
the electors of a school district affected by the proposed change or
merger is filed with the district boundary board within 20 days after the
date of the order to effect the proposed change or merger, and when all
district boundary boards have acted on the change or merger as provided
in ORS 330.095 (3), the board shall submit the question of the proposed
change or merger to the electors of each affected school district from
which a remonstrance petition was filed, with the district boundary board
acting as the district elections authority on behalf of the school
districts. Separate elections shall be held in sequence in the districts
from which remonstrance petitions have been filed, commencing with the
least populous district and progressing in order of population to the
most populous district. If the majority of votes in each election favor
the change or merger, an election shall be held in the next most populous
district. The cost of an election on a proposed boundary change or merger
shall be prorated between or among the district school boards involved in
accordance with ORS 255.305.
(3) If the majority of votes cast in any affected district oppose
the change or merger, the change or merger shall be defeated, and the
same or a substantially similar change or merger shall not be ordered
until 12 months have elapsed from the date of the election at which the
change or merger was defeated, unless otherwise required by law. If the
vote is favorable in all remonstrating districts, the district boundary
board shall declare the change or merger effective as provided in ORS
330.103 and issue an order without further elections.
(4) For any school district merger that is initiated under ORS
327.106 (3), no remonstrance petition or election shall be allowed.
(5) When a unified elementary district with an average daily
membership of greater than 50 that has, prior to the merger, paid tuition
for the majority of its high school students to attend an out-of-state
high school merges with a district that provides education in
kindergarten and grades 1 through 12, the following shall apply after the
merger:
(a) The students who reside in the former unified elementary
district shall be authorized to attend the out-of-state high school that
the majority of the high school students of the unified elementary
district were attending during the 1992-1993 school year;
(b) The merged district shall pay tuition for the students
described in paragraph (a) of this subsection but not in an amount
greater than the district’s average expenditure for high school students;
and
(c) The parents of a student who wish the student to attend the
out-of-state high school must agree to pay the difference, if any,
between what the district is authorized to pay as tuition under paragraph
(b) of this subsection and the amount of tuition charged by the
out-of-state high school. [1965 c.100 §76 (330.101 enacted in lieu of
330.100); 1965 c.244 §1; 1965 c.621 §5; 1967 c.313 §1; 1967 s.s. c.8 §4;
1975 c.326 §3; 1979 c.772 §19; 1983 c.83 §48; 1983 c.284 §10; 1983 c.350
§140; 1985 c.364 §2; 1989 c.819 §5; 1991 c.13 §1; 1991 c.167 §10; 1993
c.136 §3; 1993 c.329 §2; 1997 c.521 §14; 2005 c.209 §17](1) When a school district
boundary change or merger becomes final according to ORS 308.225 (2)(a)
and the change or merger:
(a) Occurs on or after July 1 and prior to March 31, the change or
merger shall take effect May 31 following the declaration or election.
(b) Occurs between March 31 and June 30, inclusive, the change or
merger shall take effect May 31 of the following year.
(2) Districts subject to the boundary changes or mergers under this
section shall, for the purposes of administration and operation, continue
to operate separately until the end of the fiscal year in which the
boundary changes or mergers are effective. No additional audit shall be
necessary.
(3) Notwithstanding the effective dates specified in subsection (1)
of this section, electors shall be entitled to vote in any school
elections affecting the school district in which they will reside when
the boundary change or merger takes effect, including voting on
candidates to serve on the district school board and on taxes to be
levied after the effective date of the boundary change or merger if the
electors are eligible to vote in the district in which the electors
reside prior to the change or merger. Notwithstanding ORS 332.018, such
electors shall be eligible to be candidates for the district school
board, to serve thereon and to serve on the budget committee if the
electors are eligible to be candidates or budget committee members in the
district in which the electors reside prior to the change or merger.
[1967 s.s. c.8 §2; 1973 c.501 §3; 1989 c.819 §8; 1991 c.167 §11] During
the period following the declaration or last election under ORS 330.101
and prior to the date when the boundary change or merger takes effect,
the district school board of the most populous district, as defined in
ORS 330.005, or the district school board of a district to which
territory has been annexed may take such action as is essential in order
that the district may carry out its required functions when the boundary
change takes effect, including the preparation and adoption of a budget
for the district and the reference of questions relating to the budget to
the electors of the district. Expenditures of the board under this
section shall be charged to each affected school district in the manner
provided in ORS 330.123. [1967 s.s. c.8 §3; 1991 c.167 §12] The district
boundary board shall complete all action on a request or petition for
boundary change or a merger required under ORS 330.101 within 100 days of
the date of receipt of the request or petition if the boundary change or
merger requested or petitioned lies totally within the jurisdiction of
that board. If the boundary change or merger requested or petitioned
requires ratification of an adjacent boundary board as in ORS 330.095
(3), an additional 60 days may be utilized for action of the second
boundary board. However, upon request of the district boundary board and
a showing of special circumstances which require additional time, the
State Board of Education may grant a reasonable extension of time for
completion of the required action. [1965 c.621 §2; 1979 c.256 §2; 1983
c.83 §49; 1989 c.819 §9] (1) When two or more school districts are
merged as provided by law, the affected districts shall be considered
merged into the most populous district and:
(a) Unless the district school boards or the petitioners requesting
the merger recommend that the enlarged school district retain the same
name and number which was previously assigned to the most populous
district included in the merger, the district boundary board shall give
the enlarged district the new name recommended under ORS 330.095, and the
county assessor shall assign a new number that has not previously been
used. However, if the boundaries of the enlarged school district are the
same as the boundaries of the county, the official name of the enlarged
school district shall be ______ (name of county) County School District.
(b) The school districts included in the merger shall become
identified with the newly named district or the most populous district.
(c) The employees of the component districts shall be considered to
be employees of the enlarged district, which shall succeed the other
districts in such merger as a party to their respective contracts of
employment.
(d) No school district employee shall be deprived of seniority or
accumulated sick leave solely because the duties of the employee have
been assumed or acquired by another school district as a result of a
merger or boundary change.
(2) The board of directors of the most populous district shall
constitute the board of directors of the enlarged district and the terms
of all other directors of component districts shall expire on the
effective date of the merger except that the number of directors may be
increased to seven members and school committees may be authorized
pursuant to ORS 330.425.
(3) All real and personal property belonging to the districts
within the enlarged district shall become the property of the enlarged
district.
(4) When a petition or request for a merger of school districts
contains proposals for distribution of debt as provided in ORS 330.095
and the district boundary board in the manner provided in ORS 330.101
declares such merger effective, the district school board of the enlarged
district is authorized to levy taxes in conformity with such proposals.
(5) Notwithstanding ORS 328.555, school districts requesting a
boundary change in response to chapter 393, Oregon Laws 1991, shall, as
part of the boundary change request under ORS 330.092, provide for the
distribution of existing debt, if any. [Formerly 330.300; 1973 c.522 §1;
1989 c.819 §10; 1991 c.167 §13; 1993 c.329 §3; 1999 c.21 §64] (1) When changes in
school district boundaries are made by the detachment of territory or
annexation of less than an entire school district to another, the
district school boards of the districts affected by each change shall
immediately after the change make an equitable division of the then
existing assets and liabilities between the districts affected by such
change and provide the manner of consummating the division.
(2) In case of failure to agree within 20 days from the time the
district boundary board issues its order, the matter shall be decided by
a board of arbitrators. The board of arbitrators shall consist of one
member appointed by each of the boards of the school districts affected
and an additional member appointed by the other appointees.
(3) In the event any such district school board fails to appoint an
arbitrator within 30 days, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall
appoint such arbitrator. In the event the arbitrators selected fail to
appoint the additional arbitrator within 30 days after the appointment of
the arbitrator last appointed, the Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall notify the judge of the circuit court senior in service of the
county in which the administrative office of the most populous school
district is located. Within 10 days after receiving such notice, the
judge shall appoint the additional arbitrator.
(4) Each member of the board of arbitrators shall be entitled to
the sum of $20 per day for each day’s service, and necessary traveling
expenses, while sitting in the official capacity of the member. Expenses
thus incurred shall be equally apportioned among the districts concerned.
(5) A party to an arbitration under this section may seek
confirmation, vacation, modification or correction of the arbitrator’s
decision as provided in ORS 36.700, 36.705 and 36.710. A court may vacate
an award only if there is a basis to vacate the award described in ORS
36.705 (1)(a) to (d). The court may modify or correct an award only for
the grounds given in ORS 36.710.
(6) Assets include all school property and moneys belonging to the
district at the time of the division. Liabilities include all debts for
which the respective districts in their corporate capacities are liable
at the time of division. In determining the assets, school property shall
be estimated at its real market value. The assets and liabilities shall
be divided between the districts in proportion to the last assessed value
of the real and personal property. The district retaining the real
property shall pay the other districts concerned such sums as are
determined in accordance with the provisions of this section. All funds
to be apportioned during the current school year, after such division,
shall be made in proportion to the resident average daily membership of
the districts divided, as shown by the report of such districts for the
period ending the preceding June 30 as certified by the districts to the
administrative office of the county. [Formerly 330.050; 1971 c.294 §7;
1979 c.772 §20; 1991 c.167 §14; 2003 c.598 §39] During the period
following an election or other action resulting in a boundary change in a
school district and prior to the date the change becomes effective, the
district or districts from which an area will be separated as a result of
the boundary change may hold elections for all legal purposes but the
electors registered in the area to be separated as a result of the
boundary change shall not be qualified to vote in any such election. The
election on any measure in such district or districts shall not affect or
encumber the area to be separated. [Formerly 331.060 and then 332.142]NOTICE Whenever notice by
publication of any hearing is expressly required by reference to this
section, it shall be given in a newspaper published in the county and of
general circulation in the county or district in which the hearing is to
be held. The notice shall be published in at least two issues of the
newspaper. The first publication shall be not sooner than the 25th day or
later than the 15th day preceding the hearing and the last publication
shall be not sooner than the 14th day or later than the eighth day
preceding the hearing. [Formerly 330.635]LOCAL SCHOOL COMMITTEES (1) Each local
school committee provided for in the reorganization plan under ORS
330.530 (1989 Edition) shall consist of three members elected by the
electors of the school district pursuant to ORS chapter 255. At the first
regular district election following the merger of the school district,
there shall be elected three members of each local school committee. Each
person elected shall serve a term of two years. Members of the local
school committee may be nominated and elected from the attendance area
determined by the district school board or may be nominated from such
areas but elected from the district or may be nominated and elected from
the district, the manner to be determined by the district school board.
(2) A person shall be nominated as a candidate for member of a
local school committee by filing a petition for nomination or a
declaration of candidacy under ORS 255.235. If a candidate is nominated
by petition and members are nominated from attendance areas, the petition
must be signed by at least 10 electors residing in the attendance area
from which the candidate seeks nomination.
(3) Each office of local school committee member shall be
designated by number as Position No. 1, Position No. 2 or Position No. 3
and so forth. The school district shall assign a position number to each
office on the local school committee and shall certify to the filing
officer the name of the committee member in office holding that position.
A copy of the certification shall be filed in the office of the filing
officer. As used in this section, “filing officer” means the:
(a) County clerk or county official in charge of elections of the
county in which the administrative office of the district is located
regarding a district located in more than one county; or
(b) County clerk or county official in charge of elections in a
district situated wholly within the county. [Formerly 330.665; 1995 c.258
§2; 1995 c.607 §72; 2005 c.209 §18] (1) Notwithstanding
ORS 332.172, under rules of the district school board, the local school
committee shall determine the use of the school property for civic
purposes not inconsistent with its primary use. The local school
committee also shall visit the school at frequent intervals, report to
and advise the district school board concerning the progress and needs of
the school and the wishes of the people concerning the school and
recommend improvements in the school property.
(2) By unanimous vote and not later than March 1 of each year, the
local school committee may recommend rejection for the ensuing year of
any teacher assigned to the school by the district school board. The
recommendation shall be delivered to the clerk of the district in writing
and shall specify the reason for the recommendation. The board shall
review the recommendation submitted by the local school committee and
make final determination.
(3) The district school board may submit the question of
establishing additional local school committees or abolishing existing
local school committees to the electors at any regular district election.
The district school board shall submit either question at an election
when a petition filed as provided in this subsection requests an
election. The requirements for preparing, circulating and filing a
petition shall be as provided for an initiative petition in ORS 255.135
to 255.205. The election when a petition is filed must not be later than
the next regular district election.
(4) This section applies in school districts formed under ORS
330.505 to 330.780 (1989 Edition), in school districts resulting from
mergers and in unified school districts formed under ORS 330.092.
[Formerly 330.667] (1) A vacancy in an elected
office in the membership of a local school committee shall be filled by
appointment by a majority of the remaining members of the local school
committee. If a majority of the membership of the local school committee
is vacant or if a majority cannot agree, a vacancy on the local school
committee shall be filled by the district school board.
(2) The period of service of an appointee shall expire June 30 next
following the next regular district election at which a successor is
elected. The successor shall be elected to serve the remainder, if any,
of the term for which the appointment was made. If the term for which the
appointment was made expires June 30 after the election of the successor,
the successor shall be elected to a full term. In either case the
successor shall take office July 1 next following the election. [Formerly
330.765]
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