71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1139
B-Engrossed
Senate Bill 259
Ordered by the House May 23
Including Senate Amendments dated April 11 and House Amendments
dated May 23
Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28 by order of the
President of the Senate in conformance with presession filing
rules, indicating neither advocacy nor opposition on the part
of the President (at the request of Superintendent of Public
Instruction Stan Bunn for the Legislative Task Force of
Education Service Districts)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
Modifies provisions relating to zones within education service
districts, services provided by education service districts and
merger of education service districts.
Declares emergency, effective July 1, 2001.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to education service districts; amending ORS 334.003,
334.005, 334.025, 334.032, 334.125, 334.145, 334.710, 334.720,
334.730 and 334.740; repealing ORS 334.725; and declaring an
emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 334.003 is amended to read:
334.003. For purposes of this chapter:
(1) 'Component school district' means a common school district
or a union high school district located within the territory of
an education service district.
{ + (2) 'Education service district' means a district created
under ORS 334.010 that provides regional educational services to
component school districts. + }
{ - (2) - } { + (3) + } 'Joint school district' means a
common school district or a union high school district located
within the territory of more than one education service district.
SECTION 2. ORS 334.005 is amended to read:
334.005. { - (1) An equitable and excellent education must be
provided to all children in the state. Assuring an opportunity
for such an education has been and will continue to be a major
purpose of education service districts. - }
{ - (2) Education service districts are needed to assist the
State Board of Education in providing state level services, to
deliver essential support services to school districts so that
the districts meet state standards and comply with state laws and
to respond to district needs. Education service districts offer
expertise and specialized resources that few school districts can
provide on their own. - }
{ - (3) All child- and youth-serving organizations must work
closely together for the mutual benefit of those they serve.
Education service districts shall play an important role in
achieving such interorganizational cooperation and coordination
in their regions with school districts and working with county
governments, among health care agencies, social service agencies
and employment training agencies. Private agencies should be
enabled to participate in the regional service delivery system
through contractual agreements. - }
{ - (4) As client-centered organizations, education service
districts must respect the differences in needs of school
districts by using varied and flexible service delivery modes and
by giving school districts the opportunity to participate in
decisions about what services will be offered. - }
{ + (1) The mission of education service districts is to
assist school districts and the Department of Education in
achieving Oregon's educational goals by providing equitable, high
quality, cost-effective and locally responsive educational
services at a regional level.
(2) An education service district plays a key role in:
(a) Ensuring an equitable and excellent education for all
children in the state;
(b) Implementing the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st
Century;
(c) Fostering the attainment of high standards of performance
by all students in Oregon's public schools; and
(d) Facilitating interorganizational coordination and
cooperation among educational, social service, health care and
employment training agencies.
(3) An education service district's role is one of leadership
and service. Education service districts shall maintain the
distinction between their role as service organizations and the
regulatory role of the Department of Education and other state
agencies.
(4) To ensure that an education service district is locally
responsive, an education service district shall provide:
(a) Opportunities for component school districts to participate
in decisions about the services that are offered by the education
service district; and
(b) A variety of flexible service delivery models.
(5) An education service district shall remain accountable to:
(a) The public at large;
(b) The component school districts; and
(c) The State Board of Education. + }
SECTION 3. ORS 334.025 is amended to read:
334.025. (1) The board of directors of an education service
district shall consist of seven, nine or 11 members.
(2) In education service districts, not { - less - }
{ + fewer + } than five of the directors shall be elected, one
from each of the zones established under ORS 334.032. At the
discretion of the board of directors, one or two board members
may be elected from the district at large.
{ - (3) The board shall appoint two additional members as
nonvoting advisory members, one to represent employment training
agencies and the other to represent social service agencies in
the area served by the district. The advisory members shall be
appointed to two-year terms and may be reappointed. - }
{ - (4) - } { + (3) + } On the petition of two component
school districts, the board shall establish local advisory
committees to represent the interests of areas within the
petitioning districts. The local advisory committees shall advise
the board on matters of concern within the advisory committee's
area. Local advisory committees shall represent two or more
component school districts.
{ - (5) - } { + (4) + } The board of directors may by
resolution increase or decrease the number of members of the
board. The board's resolution shall be entered with sufficient
time for the board to give the required information to the
elections officer under ORS 255.069, and the board's resolution
shall have no effect on the terms of any current board members.
SECTION 4. ORS 334.032 is amended to read:
334.032. (1) The board of directors of { - the - }
{ + an + } education service district shall divide
{ - each - } { + the + } education service district into not
more than 11 zones as nearly equal in census population as may be
practicable, measured along common school district boundary lines
except that zones may be established using voting precinct
boundaries in order to achieve greater equality of
population. { + If possible, the board shall establish the zones
so that each county within the education service district, the
majority of the land area of which lies within the boundaries of
the education service district, has at least one member on the
board.
(2) Each county within the education service district, the
majority of the land area of which lies within the boundaries of
the education service district, shall have at least one member on
the board or shall have at least one member on the budget
committee of the education service district. + }
{ - (2) - } { + (3) + } The board may readjust the
boundaries of { - such - } { + the + } zones once each year
and shall readjust the boundaries of the zones immediately upon
any change of the boundaries of the education service district.
SECTION 5. ORS 334.125 is amended to read:
334.125. (1) The education service district is a body
corporate.
(2) The education service district board is authorized to
transact all business coming within the jurisdiction of the
education service district and may sue and be sued.
(3) The education service district board shall perform all
duties required by law, including but not limited to:
(a) Distribution of such school funds as it is empowered to
apportion;
(b) Conduct of audits;
(c) Duties as district boundary board;
(d) Budget and tax levying duties, including the levying of
taxes under ORS 280.060;
{ - (e) Curriculum improvement; - }
{ - (f) Special education programs; - }
{ - (g) - } { + (e) + } Contracting a bonded indebtedness
and levying direct ad valorem taxes on all taxable property
within the education service district in the manner that
component school districts are authorized to issue bonds and levy
taxes under ORS 328.205 to 328.304 and other laws applicable to
the issuance of bonds and levying of taxes by school districts;
and
{ - (h) - } { + (f) + } Creating a county education bond
district under ORS 328.304 from a county within the district.
(4) In addition to its duties under subsection (3) of this
section and duties arising under ORS 334.175, { - in
cooperation - } with { + the approval of + } the
{ + component + } school districts { + through the resolution
process described in ORS 334.175, + } the board may:
(a) Plan for the provision and delivery of education { + ,
including curriculum improvement and special education
programs + };
(b) Provide staff development;
(c) Conduct assessment, evaluation and research;
(d) Plan and provide for new learning environments;
(e) Plan and provide for educational communication and
distribution services, including telecommunications systems;
{ - and - }
(f) Collaborate in jointly planning for the delivery of health
care, employment training and social services in the region { + ;
and
(g) Provide funds to component school districts to provide
services in lieu of those school districts receiving services
from the education service district + }.
(5) The education service district board may employ and fix the
compensation of such personnel as it considers necessary for
carrying out duties of the board.
(6) In carrying out its duties, the education service district
board:
(a) May locate, buy, accept by gift or lease such land,
buildings and facilities as may be required for district
purposes. Leases authorized by this section may be for a term of
up to 30 years and include lease-purchase agreements whereunder
the district may acquire ownership of the leased property.
(b) May acquire personal property by a lease-purchase agreement
or contract of purchase for a term exceeding one year. A
lease-purchase agreement is one in which the rent payable by the
district is expressly agreed to have been established to reflect
the savings resulting from the exemption from taxation, and the
district is entitled to ownership of the property at a nominal or
other price which is stated or determinable by the terms of the
agreement and was not intended to reflect the true value of the
property.
(c) May lease property or sell and convey property of the
district as the board considers unnecessary to its purposes.
(d) May purchase relocatable structures in installment
transactions in which deferred installments of the purchase price
are payable over not more than 10 years from the date of delivery
of the property to the district and are secured by a security
interest in the property. The transactions may take the form of,
but are not limited to, lease-purchase agreements.
(e) May accept money or property donated for the use or benefit
of the district and use the money or property for the purpose for
which it was donated.
(7) The education service district board may adopt rules it
considers necessary to carry out the duties of the board.
(8) The education service district may contract with public and
private entities for service delivery.
(9)(a) The education service district shall work cooperatively
with component school districts and review periodically with
component school districts the operations of component school
districts and shall submit to the component school districts
plans for operations that achieve economies and efficiencies
through consolidation of various operations of all or some of the
districts. The education service district and its component
school districts shall submit an annual report on the
effectiveness of the consolidation of operations to the State
Board of Education.
(b) As used in this subsection, 'operations' means services
involving transportation, payroll, student records, auditing,
legal services, insurance, printing, investment and other similar
services.
SECTION 6. ORS 334.145 is amended to read:
334.145. (1) At the discretion of the county court or board of
county commissioners of any county within the education service
district, the county may provide space for the board,
superintendent and staff of the education service district and
may charge the district a reasonable sum as rent for this space.
(2) The board of an education service district may rent such
space as may be required when the space offered by the county, if
any, is considered to be inadequate. Subject to ORS 334.125 { +
and the funding allocation of the education service district + },
the board may purchase such required space.
(3) The education service district may provide space for the
offices of other education, employment training and human service
providers.
SECTION 7. ORS 334.710 is amended to read:
334.710. (1) { - Whenever - } { + If + } two or more
education service districts desire to join together for the
purpose of forming one education service district, a petition
from each such district shall be presented to the State Board of
Education { - . The petition shall contain the signatures of at
least 100 electors of the district or a number of electors of the
district equal to at least five percent of the electors of each
proposing district, whichever is less. - } { + when:
(a) Resolutions are presented to each of the education service
district boards by the boards of the component school districts
that represent two-thirds of the component school districts that
are a part of each of the education service districts and that
have at least a majority of the pupils included in the average
daily membership of the education service district, as determined
by the reports of such school districts for the preceding school
year, enrolled in the schools of the districts; or
(b) The education service district boards mutually consent to
the merger and a majority vote of each board has approved a
petition. + }
(2) The State Board of Education shall review the
{ - petition - } { + petitions + } and within 15 days after the
board meeting at which the
{ - petition is - } { + petitions are + } reviewed, shall
notify the education service district boards of each district
designated by the
{ - petition - } { + petitions + }, fix the date of and be
responsible for supervising the giving of notices as provided in
ORS 330.400 and conducting the public hearings in each proposing
district to discuss the proposal contained in the
{ - petition - } { + petitions + }.
SECTION 8. ORS 334.720 is amended to read:
334.720. (1) At the public hearings { + conducted pursuant to
ORS 334.710, + } the State Board of Education shall cause to have
discussed the effect of the proposed district and any resident of
the affected districts may be heard with reference to the
proposal.
(2) If, after the hearings, the State Board of Education
determines that the proposal is feasible, { - the question of
the proposed district shall be submitted to the electors of each
education service district at the next regular district election
after the board's determination. - } { + the board shall order
the proposed merger of the districts based on the proposal. + }
{ - (3) The votes cast in each education service district
shall be counted separately and if a majority of the votes cast
by the electors of each district within the boundaries of the
proposed district is in favor of the formation of the proposed
district, the new education service district shall be organized
in the manner provided in ORS 334.730 to 334.770. If the majority
of the votes cast in any education service district is opposed to
the formation of the new district, the districts shall remain as
they were prior to the election. - }
{ - (4) - } { + (3) + } When two or more education service
districts join together in the manner provided in this section,
the new district shall come into existence effective May 31 of
the year following the { - election - } { + order of the
State Board of Education issued under subsection (2) of this
section + }.
SECTION 9. ORS 334.730 is amended to read:
334.730. (1) Immediately after the { - election - }
{ + order + } to join two or more education service districts
together, { - if the election supported such action, - } the
boards of directors of all education service districts within the
boundaries of the new district shall meet together upon the call
of the chairperson of the board of the most populous district.
{ - Except as provided in ORS 334.725, and - } Notwithstanding
ORS 334.025 or ORS chapter 255, the joint board of directors
shall divide the new district into as many zones as the board
considers necessary, but not fewer than seven nor more than 11.
The zones shall be as nearly equal in population as may be
practicable. { + If possible, the joint board shall establish
the zones so that each county within the new education service
district, the majority of the land area of which lies within the
boundaries of the education service district, has at least one
member on the board. + }
(2) Within 90 days after the zones required in subsection (1)
of this section are established, the joint board of directors
shall call a special election in the new district for the purpose
of electing directors, one of whom shall be elected from each
zone established under subsection (1) of this section by the
electors of the zone.
SECTION 10. ORS 334.740 is amended to read:
334.740. { - Except as provided in ORS 334.725, - } The
nomination of a candidate to serve as a director of the new
education service district from a zone, when made by a petition,
shall be signed by electors registered in the zone in which the
candidate is a resident. The nomination of a candidate to serve
as a director of the new education service district at large,
when made by a petition, shall be signed by electors of the
district. A candidate must be qualified to vote in the election
in which the individual is a candidate and must be qualified to
hold office as a director of an education service district.
SECTION 11. { + ORS 334.725 is repealed. + }
SECTION 12. { + This 2001 Act being necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an
emergency is declared to exist, and this 2001 Act takes effect
July 1, 2001. + }
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