HBA-MPM C.S.H.B. 328 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 328
By: Gallego
Public Education
4/20/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, the board of trustees (board) of an independent school district
(district), on its own motion, may order trustees of the district to be
elected from single-member trustee districts or that no fewer than 70
percent of the trustees be elected from single-member trustee districts,
with the remainder elected from the district at large.  Smaller districts
can have difficulty finding individuals to fill seats in single member
districts. C.S.H.B. 328 authorizes a board, if a majority of the district
is located in a county with a population of less than 10,000, to order that
no fewer than 50 percent of trustees be elected from single member trustee
districts, with the remainder of the trustees elected at large. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 328 amends the Education Code to authorize the board of trustees
of an independent school district (district) located in a county with less
than 10,000 people to order that trustees of the district be elected from
single-member trustee districts or that not fewer than 50 percent of the
board members be elected from single-member trustee districts, with the
remaining trustees to be elected from the district at large.  The bill
specifies that a candidate seeking to represent or a trustee representing a
single-member trustee district under this provision is not required at any
time to be a resident of the trustee district, but the candidate or trustee
must be a resident of the independent school district.  The bill authorizes
the board of trustees of a district that adopts a redistricting plan to
provide for the trustees in office when the plan is adopted or the district
is redistricted to serve the remainder of their terms.  The bill requires
the board of trustees to determine the order in which positions may be
filled after each redistricting. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 328 differs from the original by increasing from 5,000 to 10,000
the population of a county affected by this bill.  The substitute specifies
that a candidate seeking to represent or a trustee representing a
single-member trustee district is not required to be a resident of the
trustee district, but must be a resident of the independent school
district.  The substitute also makes provisions if a redistricting plan is
adopted by the board of trustees to allow a trustee to serve the remainder
of a term, and requires the board to determine the order in which positions
will be filled after each redistricting.