GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

H                                                                                                                                                   2

HOUSE BILL 536

Senate Rules and Operations of the Senate Committee Substitute Adopted 6/14/11

Short Title:        Lincoln and Chatham School Board Districts.	(Local)
Sponsors:
Referred to:

March 31, 2011

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT requiring the lincoln county board of education to revise its residency districts after each decennial census as if they were electoral districts and requiring the Chatham county board of education to revise its election districts after each decennial census.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Section 3 of Chapter 876 of the 1973 Session Laws, as rewritten by S.L. 2002-22, reads as rewritten:

"Sec. 3. (a) The newly constituted and established Lincoln County Board of Education shall consist of seven members, and each of said members shall be residents and qualified voters of the districts according to the membership allocations hereinafter made as follows:

(1)        North Brook Township,

(2)        The area of Howard's Creek Township outside the city limits of Lincolnton,

(3)        The area of Lincolnton Township outside the city limits of Lincolnton,

(4)        The area inside the city limits of Lincolnton,

(5)        The area of Ironton Township outside the city limits of Lincolnton, and

(6)        Catawba Springs Township.

Each district shall each be entitled to one member on the Lincoln County Board of Education. For the purpose of this section, the city limits of the City of Lincolnton are as of the opening of candidate filing.

One member shall be elected from the county at large, without regard to township.

(b) The Lincoln County Board of Education shall revise the district boundaries set out in subsection (a) of this section after each federal census as provided by this subsection, beginning in 2011, so as to correct population imbalances among the districts. After revising district boundaries under this subsection, the board of education shall not revise them again until a new federal census of population is taken. The population of each district shall be within five percent (5%) of the ideal population, being one-sixth of the total population of the county."

SECTION 2.  Section 3(f) of Chapter 80 of the 1995 Session Laws reads as rewritten:

"(f)       The provisions of G.S. 115C-37, except for subsection (i), shall be applicable to the members of the Chatham County Board of Education. Using population data from the 2010 federal decennial census, the Chatham County Board of Education shall before the filing period for the 2012 Board elections to revise the district boundaries set out in subsection (b), above, to equalize the population in each district and to divide District Number Four into two resident districts to be denominated District Number Four and District Number Five. The Board shall adopt the revisions as a resolution and notify the county board of elections. Board members elected from Districts Number Four and Five shall serve the same terms as the two members previously elected from District Number Four. After each subsequent federal decennial census, the Board of Education shall revise the Board's resident district boundaries if appropriate to equalize the population among districts. The Board shall complete its revision of resident district boundaries in time for the first Board election following the decennial census year. In revising resident district boundaries under this subsection, the Board shall make the districts as close to equal in population as practicable while maintaining compactness and avoiding the division of towns and other communities of interest. After revising district boundaries under this subsection, the Board of Education shall not revise them again until the next federal decennial census of population is returned. Before adopting a resolution to revise district boundaries pursuant to this subsection, the Board shall conduct a public hearing on the resolution. No change in the boundaries of a residency district may affect the unexpired term of office of a member of the Board of Education."

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.