NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1971 SESSION

CHAPTER 852
SENATE BILL 854

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER OF ELECTION OF MEMBERS TO THE DURHAM COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, PURSUANT TO PLAN OF MERGER ADOPTED BY THE DURHAM COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE DURHAM CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, SUBJECT TO APPROVAL OF SUCH MERGER BY THE QUALIFIED VOTERS OF DURHAM COUNTY.

Whereas, the Durham County Board of Education and the Durham City Board of Education, by action of their respective members in meeting duly assembled on June 14, 1971, acting pursuant to the power and authority granted by the provisions of G.S. 115-74.1, adopted a Plan of Merger of the Durham County School Administrative Unit and the Durham City School Administrative Unit, whereby said Units, subject among other things to the approval of the voters of Durham County in an election to be held for that purpose, would be merged into one Unit for the operation of all public schools in Durham County, to be known as the Durham County School Administrative Unit, with a board of education for such merged Unit to be known as the Durham County Board of Education; and
Whereas, it is deemed necessary and desirable to provide by enabling legislation for the composition of said Board of Education for such merged Unit, and for the time and manner of election of the members thereof; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. If a majority of the qualified voters of Durham County who vote in the election to be held for that purpose, shall approve the Plan of Merger of the Durham County School Administrative Unit and the Durham City School Administrative Unit, the Board of Education of such merged Unit shall be elected as hereinafter provided.
Sec. 2. The Board of Education of the merged Unit shall consist of nine residents of Durham County, elected on a non-partisan basis by County-wide vote, the first of such members to be elected at the time of the primary election of 1972.  The County shall be divided into six specified Districts, as provided in Section 3 hereinafter, and of the nine members elected at the time of the primary election of 1972, six shall consist of persons each of whom resides in a separate one of said Districts, and three shall consist of persons elected from the County at large, without regard to the District of residence.  The members elected at such first election to be held at the time of the primary election of 1972 shall be determined as follows:  the member elected from each of the six residential Districts shall be that candidate from such District who, as among all candidates from such District, receives the highest number of votes cast; and the three members elected at large shall be the three at-large candidates who, as among all at-large candidates, receive the highest numbers of votes cast. As the terms of office of members so elected shall thereafter expire, as hereinafter set out, their sucessors shall be elected at the time of the general election of 1974 and at the time of the biennial general elections thereafter, according to the same District and at-large allocation as is hereinabove specified.  The term of office of members, except as hereinafter specified, shall be for four years on a staggered basis.  The members elected at the time  of the primary election of 1972 shall qualify by taking the oath of office on or before the first Monday in June, 1972; and their terms of office shall commence on that date, with the five successful candidates receiving the highest numbers of votes serving for terms which shall expire on the first Monday in December, 1976, and the four successful candidates receiving the next highest numbers of votes serving for terms which shall expire on the first Monday in December, 1974.  Thereafter, candidates shall be elected biennially, at the time of the general election, for terms of four years commencing on the first Monday in December following their election, with four members to be elected for four-year terms at the time of the general election of 1974; and all members elected at the time of the general election of 1974 and at the time of the biennial general elections thereafter, shall qualify by taking the oath of office on the first Monday in December following their election.
Any vacancy in the membership of the Board of the merged Unit occurring from any cause shall be filled by appointment by the remaining members of the Board, the person so appointed to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. If any member of the Board elected from a particular residential District shall remove his residence from such District, such change of residence shall automatically disqualify him from membership, and shall operate to create a vacancy within the meaning of this section; and such vacancy shall be filled by appointment of some person who shall reside within such District.
Sec. 3. The six residential Districts prescribed by Section 2 hereinabove are defined as follows:
Each District shall consist of all of the area that is comprised within certain City of Durham Precincts (as hereinafter specified for each such District) and certain Durham County Precincts (as hereinafter specified for each such District), all such City of Durham Precincts being as shown on Durham County Board of Elections map entitled "Map Showing the Voting Precinct Boundary Lines and Voting Places of the City of Durham," dated 1970, as maintained and on file with said Durham County Board of Elections, and all such Durham County Precincts being as shown on Durham County Board of Elections map entitled "Map Showing the Voting Precincts, Polling Places and Boundary Lines of the County of Durham," dated February 7, 1966, as maintained and on file with said Durham County Board of Elections; as follows:
DISTRICT 1: City Precinct No. 10, Whitted School; City Precinct No. 11, Hillside School; City Precinct No. 36, Hope Valley School; City Precinct No. 39, Fire Station No. 6; City Precinct No. 41, Durham Business College; County Precinct No. 33, Nelson Club House; County Precinct No. 34, Pearsontown School; County Precinct No. 35, South Patterson Community Center.
DISTRICT 2: City Precinct No. 5, Erwin Auditorium; City Precinct No. 6, Lakewood School; City Precinct No. 7, Carr Junior High School; City Precinct No. 8, Morehead School; City Precinct No. 9, Forest Hills Club House; City Precinct No. 40, Lyon Park School; County Precinct No. 38, Jordan Junior-Senior High School.
DISTRICT 3: City Precinct No. 1, Durham High School; City Precinct No. 2, Watts Street School; City Precinct No. 3, E. K. Powe School; City Precinct No. 4, West Durham Community Center; City Precinct No. 24, Hillandale School; County Precinct No. 37, Fellowship Building, Rose of Sharon Church.
DISTRICT 4: City Precinct No. 19, Mitchell Scout Building; City Precinct No. 22, Bragtown School; County Precinct No. 25, Northern High School; County Precinct No. 26, Ruritan Club Building, Rougemont; County Precinct No. 27, Bacon Fellowship Hall, Mount Tabor Church; County Precinct No. 28, Mangum School; County Precinct No. 29, Glenn School.
DISTRICT 5: City Precinct No. 17, Fuller School; City Precinct No. 18, Holloway Street School; City Precinct No. 20, North Durham School; City Precinct No. 21, Club Boulevard School; City Precinct No. 23, Holt School; County Precinct No. 30, Oak Grove School; County Precinct No. 32, Neal Junior High School.
DISTRICT 6: City Precinct No. 12, Pearson School; City Precinct No. 13, Burton School; City Precinct No. 14, Y. E. Smith School; City Precinct No. 15., Holton Junior High School; City Precinct No. 16, Edgemont School; City Precinct No. 42, Shepherd Junior High School; County Precinct No. 31, Bethesda School.
Sec. 4. If a majority of the qualified voters of Durham County who vote in the election to be held for that purpose shall approve merger of the two existing Units in accordance with the Plan of Merger, the Secretaries of the present Boards of Education shall promptly certify to the Chairman of the Durham County Board of Elections true copies of the maps defining the boundaries of the six Districts provided for in Section 3 hereinabove, which maps shall govern the residence qualifications of candidates filing for election as members from the respective Districts thereby established, in the elections provided for in Section 2 hereinabove.  All such elections shall be held, conducted and supervised by the Durham County Board of Elections and, except as otherwise herein provided, the general election laws and regulations governing the filing for and election to County offices, and as set forth in Chapter 153 of the General Statutes as amended, shall apply and govern as to the holding of said elections.
Sec. 5. The Board of Education of the merged Unit, following the election, qualification and organization of its members, shall have and retain full power and authority from time to time, as it may by resolution determine to be in the best interests of the School Administrative Unit, to revise and redefine the boundaries of any one or more of the six Districts provided for in Section 3 hereinabove.  Any such revisions of any such District or Districts shall be evidenced by a new map or maps defining the Districts and the District lines so revised and redefined, and a true copy of any such map or maps, together with a certified copy of the Resolution of the Board approving and adopting the same shall be certified by the Secretary of the Board of Education to the Chairman of the Durham County Board of Elections not less than 90 days prior to the date of the next succeeding general election; and upon being so certified shall operate to supplant any such maps previously certified, and shall thereafter govern for all purposes in the determination of the residence qualifications of candidates filing for election as District members of the Board.
Sec. 6. If less than a majority of the qualified voters of Durham County who vote in the election to be held for that purpose shall vote to approve the Plan of Merger of the Durham County School Administrative Unit and the Durham City School Administrative Unit, then and in that event all of the provisions of this act shall become null and void.
Sec. 7. The purpose of this act is to provide an enabling statute for the matters herein provided for; it shall be regarded as granting powers supplemental and in addition to powers conferred by other laws, particularly those conferred by G.S. 115-74.1; and it shall not supplant or repeal such other laws or clauses of laws, except only to the extent that they may be in conflict with the provisions of this act, and to that extent only all other laws or clauses of laws are hereby repealed.
Sec. 8. This act shall apply only to Durham County.
Sec. 9. This act shall become effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 14th day of July, 1971.