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TO ESTABLISH A TASK FORCE TO STUDY AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF GREENVILLE COUNTY SHOULD BE SUBDIVIDED INTO NOT LESS THAN THREE SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IF A MAJORITY OF THE ELECTORS OF THE DISTRICT AT A REFERENDUM TO BE HELD AT THE SAME TIME AS THE 2004 GENERAL ELECTION VOTE IN FAVOR OF ESTABLISHING THE TASK FORCE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. (A) A task force is hereby created to study and make recommendations as to whether or not the School District of Greenville County should be subdivided into not less than three separate school districts. Each member of the Greenville County Legislative Delegation shall appoint one member to serve on the task force. Subject to the provisions of subsection (D), each member of the delegation must make his appointment by January 15, 2005. Vacancies on the task force must be filled in the manner of original appointment. The task force initially shall meet on January 17, 2005 and at that time shall organize and elect officers. Future meetings of the task force must be upon the call of the chairman or a majority of its members. The members of the task force shall serve without compensation, and the task force shall render its report to the Greenville County Legislative Delegation and the Board of Trustees of the School District of Greenville County by January 10, 2006. Upon the rendering of its report, the task force must be abolished. The School District of Greenville County shall provide the place for meetings of the task force and also shall provide such staff support to the task force as it shall require. Meetings of the task force must be open to the public unless closed as necessary and as allowed by the Freedom of Information Act.
(B) The task force shall consider the feasibility of dividing the School District of Greenville County into not less than three separate districts. The task force shall gather information from all sources needed for this inquiry, and may bring in additional persons or entities where needed to assist in gathering and reporting the most accurate information available. The School District of Greenville County, the Greenville County Planning Commission, the Greenville County Tax Department, all of the Greenville area's chambers of commerce, and any other private agency or governmental body as needed are requested to cooperate with the task force. The chairman of the task force shall notify the chairman of the Greenville County Legislative Delegation of any agency, board, body, or subdivision of government that refuses to cooperate to the fullest extent in this matter. This notice must be in writing and shall contain specifics as to the lack of cooperation.
(C) The report of the task force shall include, but is not limited to, information on or recommendations regarding the following:
(1) various plans for division of the school district;
(2) ensuring racial equality;
(3) ensuring equitable financing for the education of all children;
(4) developing a harmonious transition plan;
(5) retiring of current and future school district debts and disposal of school district property not currently being used;
(6) providing for the number and duties of the board of trustees of the new districts, and their terms of office and method of election;
(7) providing for the continuance of the Fine Arts Center, the Roper Mountain Science Center, the Washington Center, and the Vocational Education Program; and
(8) examinations and recommendations on limited fiscal autonomy for each district, at what level, and provision for a method for exceeding that established limit.
(D)(1) Before the task force may be established and before the provisions of subsections (A), (B), and (C) may take effect, the qualified electors of the School District of Greenville County must first approve of the establishment of the task force in a referendum for this purpose to be conducted by the election commissions of the respective counties in the school district at the same time as the 2004 general election. The county commissioners of election shall conduct and supervise the referendum in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The commissioners shall frame the question for the ballot, prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the referendum, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results. The commissioners shall advertise the date of the referendum sixty days preceding it in a newspaper of general circulation in the district and shall publish a second notice thirty days before the referendum. The costs of the referendum must be borne by the school district.
(2) The question put before the qualified electors of the district at the 2004 referendum shall read as follows:
"Do you favor establishing a task force to be appointed by the Greenville County Legislative Delegation to study and make recommendations to the delegation and the school board as to whether or not the School District of Greenville County should be subdivided into not less than three separate school districts?"
Those voting in favor of the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word "Yes", and those voting against the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word "No".
If the result of this referendum is in favor of establishing the task force, it must be established in the manner provided by this act. If the result of this referendum is not in favor of establishing the task force, it must not be established and the provisions of subsections (A), (B), and (C) of this act are null and void.
SECTION 2. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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