S 0478 {Rat #3} General Bill, By K.Johnson
 AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 2 OF ACT 183 OF 2020, RELATING TO THE CONSOLIDATION OF
 CLARENDON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS ONE AND THREE INTO CLARENDON COUNTY SCHOOL
 DISTRICT NO. 4, SO AS TO INCREASE THE INITIAL MEMBERSHIP OF THE CLARENDON
 COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES FROM SEVEN TO NINE MEMBERS, TO
 PROVIDE THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES SHALL BE COMPRISED OF SEVEN MEMBERS
 BEGINNING WITH THE 2024 GENERAL ELECTION, AND TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES. -
 ratified title

   01/21/21  Senate Introduced, read first time, placed on local &
                     uncontested calendar (Senate Journal-page 6)
   01/26/21  Senate Read second time (Senate Journal-page 4)
   01/28/21  Senate Read third time and sent to House
                     (Senate Journal-page 11)
   02/02/21  House  Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 7)
   02/02/21  House  Referred to Clarendon Delegation (House Journal-page 7)
   02/04/21  House  Delegation report: Favorable Clarendon Delegation
                     (House Journal-page 2)
   02/09/21  House  Read second time (House Journal-page 13)
   02/09/21  House  Roll call Yeas-90  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 13)
   02/10/21  House  Read third time and enrolled (House Journal-page 14)
   02/18/21         Ratified R  3
   02/24/21         Vetoed by Governor
   03/03/21  Senate Recommitted to delegation from  Clarendon County
                     (Senate Journal-page 30)

NOTE: THIS IS A TEMPORARY VERSION. THIS DOCUMENT WILL REMAIN IN THIS VERSION UNTIL FINAL APPROVAL BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

(R3, S478)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 2 OF ACT 183 OF 2020, RELATING TO THE CONSOLIDATION OF CLARENDON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS ONE AND THREE INTO CLARENDON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 4, SO AS TO INCREASE THE INITIAL MEMBERSHIP OF THE CLARENDON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES FROM SEVEN TO NINE MEMBERS, TO PROVIDE THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES SHALL BE COMPRISED OF SEVEN MEMBERS BEGINNING WITH THE 2024 GENERAL ELECTION, AND TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Composition, Clarendon County School District No. 4

SECTION    1.    SECTION 2 of Act 183 of 2020 is amended to read:

"SECTION    2.    (A)    At its inception, the Clarendon County School District No. 4 must be governed by a board of trustees of nine members to be appointed initially by a majority of the Clarendon County Legislative Delegation. The nine members initially appointed by the legislative delegation after the effective date of this act must be qualified electors of either Clarendon County School District No. 1 or Clarendon County School District No. 3, and these appointed members shall serve on the Clarendon County School District No. 4 Board of Trustees until their successors are elected in school district elections conducted at the same time as the 2022 General Election and qualify.

(B)    Beginning in 2024, the Clarendon County School District No. 4 must be governed by a board of trustees of seven members elected in nonpartisan elections to be conducted at the same time as the general election and every four years thereafter, except as provided in this act to stagger the members' terms. Also beginning in 2024, six members of the Clarendon County School District No. 4 Board of Trustees must be elected from defined single-member election districts to be established in subsequent legislation after the release of pertinent demographic data obtained in the 2020 decennial census, but prior to the opening of the filing period for the 2024 school district elections. Each of these six members must be a qualified elector of the election district from which he is elected. A seventh member must be elected at large by the qualified electors residing in Clarendon County School District No. 4, which consists of the combined geographic area encompassed by the two present school districts as they existed on the effective date of this act. The seventh member also must be a qualified elector of Clarendon County School District No. 4. Members of the consolidated school district board of trustees must be elected for four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify; however, in order to stagger the members' terms, of the seven trustees elected in 2024, the trustees elected from election districts two, four, and six shall serve initial two-year terms, and the successors to these members must be elected in school district elections to be conducted at the same time as the 2026 General Election. The trustees elected in the 2026 school district elections and their successors shall serve full four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify. The members elected in 2024 from election districts one, three, five, and at-large seat seven shall serve full four-year terms to expire in November 2028, when their successors elected at the 2028 school district elections qualify and take office. In the event of a vacancy on the board occurring for any reason other than the expiration of a term, the vacancy must be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term through appointment by the county legislative delegation.

(C)    All persons desiring to qualify as a candidate for the Clarendon County School District No. 4 Board of Trustees shall file written notice of candidacy with the Clarendon County Board of Voter Registration and Elections on forms furnished by the board. The filing period shall open at 12:00 p.m. on August first or, if August first falls on Saturday or Sunday, then 12:00 p.m. on the following Monday and shall run until 12:00 p.m. on August fifteenth or, if August fifteenth falls on Saturday or Sunday, no later than 12:00 p.m. on the following Monday. This notice of candidacy must be a sworn statement and shall include the candidate's name, age, election district in which he resides and from which he seeks election, voting precinct, period of residence in the county and election district, and other information that the board requires. The Clarendon County Board of Voter Registration and Elections shall conduct and supervise the elections for members of the Clarendon County School District No. 4 Board of Trustees in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The board shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the elections, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results. The commission shall publish notices of the elections pursuant to Section 7-13-35. The results of the elections must be determined by the nonpartisan plurality method contained in Section 5-15-61. The members of the consolidated school district elected in these nonpartisan elections shall take office one week following certification of their election pursuant to Section 59-19-315."

Time effective

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 18th day of February, 2021.

__________________________________________

President of the Senate

___________________________________________

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Approved the ____________ day of _____________________2021.

___________________________________________

Governor