Select a different bill



HB 2139 - Candidate signs; prohibition; primary

Tracking Level: Oppose
Sponsor: John Fillmore
Last Action: 4/2/2019 - Senate APPROP Committee action: do pass amended/strike-everything, voting: (6-3-0-0)
House Committee: Rules
Senate Committee: Appropriations
Assigned To:
Local ControlNext Bill

Staff Analysis of the Legislation

HB 2139 was subject to a strike-everything amendment. 

NOW HB2139- schools, consolidation, unification 

This bill mandates that by July 1, 2024, each school district in Arizona must be a unified school district.

Requires each governing board to annually determine the cost savings that result from consolidation, unification or both with other school districts.

Requires school districts to retain and use the cost savings resulting from consolidation or unification for classroom expenditures, with at least 25 percent of the monies used for teacher salaries.

Requires, by June 30, 2022, each governing board, in cooperation with other school districts in the same county, to develop, adopt and publish a plan to consolidate school district with other school districts in that county based on the feasibility study and submitted to the superintendent. County Superintendents may extend deadline until June 30, 2023.

Requires the plan to include a process to unify or consolidate without an election if all affected governing boards:

a) approve the unification or consolidation through resolutions; and 

         b) certify approval of the unification or consolidation to the county superintendent of the county or counties in which the individual school districts are located.

Requires the county superintendent to assist districts in their plans AND develop and publish a plan to consolidate school districts in that county, if the governing boards within the county do not adopt a plan by June 30, 2022, or the extended deadline- to be executed without an election.

Requires, within 90 days after the effective date, the governing board of each school district that is not a unified district on the general effective date to develop a transition plan to comply with the requirements by July 1, 2024.

Repeals, on July 1, 2027, the small school districts general budget limit exemption and budget revisions.

Allows a school district that is unified or consolidated without an election according to plans adopted by the affected governing boards to increase the revenue control limit (RCL) and district support level for the first three years of operation by:

a) 7% of the RCL in the first year for which a budget is computed;

b) 5% of the RCL in the second year for which a budget is computed; and

c) 3% of the RCL in the third year for which a budget is computed.

Reduces the allowable small school district budget revisions by:

a) 25% in FY 2025;

b) 50% in FY 2026; and 

c) 75% in FY 2027.

Appropriates for costs associated with implementing this act, including feasibility studies:

a) $250,000 from the state GF in FY 2020 to each county BOS of a county with a population of 500,000 or less; and

b) $750,000 from the state GF in FY 2020 to each county BOS of a county with a population of more than 500,000.

Requires each county superintendent to commence a feasibility study on unification of school districts by September 15, 2020 and outlines requirements for the report.

Allows the county superintendent to include a recommendation on enlarging or diminishing the size of affected school districts if:

a) any combined school districts must have contiguous boundaries, must be adjacent to each other, or both;

b) a county with a three-member county Board of Supervisors (BOS) has a maximum of 3 school districts;

c) a county with a five-member county BOS and a population of less than 2,000,000 has a maximum of 7 school districts; and

d) a county a with five-member county BOS and a population of at least 2,000,000 has a maximum of 20 school districts.

Directs Legislative Council Staff to prepare conforming legislation.


Bill Summary from the State Site - Click for the State Summary Page / Click for Current Full Text / PDF
Summary:

Candidate signs; prohibition; primary

Title:

Candidate signs; prohibition; primary

Introduction Date:

Monday, January 28, 2019