South Carolina General Assembly
116th Session, 2005-2006

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H. 4879

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Vaughn, Walker, Pinson, Owens, Townsend, Loftis, Davenport, Bannister, Cato, Cooper, Hamilton, Harrell, Haskins, Leach, Littlejohn, Mahaffey, Merrill, E.H. Pitts, Rice, G.R. Smith, Taylor, Tripp and Mitchell
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ggs\22481sj06.doc

Introduced in the House on March 23, 2006
Currently residing in the House Committee on Education and Public Works

Summary: Education Board

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   3/23/2006  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-13
   3/23/2006  House   Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works HJ-13
    4/5/2006  House   Recalled from Committee on Education and Public Works 
                        HJ-23
    4/6/2006  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Mitchell
   4/18/2006  House   Requests for debate-Rep(s). McLeod, Funderburk, Ott, JE 
                        Smith, Clyburn, JH Neal, Jefferson, Scott, J Brown, 
                        Anthony, Miller, Jennings, Branham, Moody-Lawrence, R 
                        Brown, and Breeland HJ-22
   4/26/2006  House   Recommitted to Committee on Education and Public Works 
                        HJ-64
   4/26/2006  House   Roll call Yeas-57  Nays-46 HJ-69

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

3/23/2006
4/5/2006

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

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RECALLED

April 5, 2006

H. 4879

Introduced by Reps. Vaughn, Walker, Pinson, Owens, Townsend, Loftis, Davenport, Bannister, Cato, Cooper, Hamilton, Harrell, Haskins, Leach, Littlejohn, Mahaffey, Merrill, E.H. Pitts, Rice, G.R. Smith, Taylor and Tripp

S. Printed 4/5/06--H.

Read the first time March 23, 2006.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 59-5-10, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, SO AS TO REVISE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE BOARD BY PROVIDING FOR THE ELECTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FROM THE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS OF THE STATE AND FROM THE STATE AT LARGE WITH ONE MEMBER APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR AND TO NUMBER THE SEATS, PROVIDE THE TERMS, PROVIDE FOR VACANCIES, PROVIDE FOR REMOVAL OF A MEMBER, AND PROVIDE THAT A PERSON MAY NOT SERVE ON THE BOARD IF A MEMBER OF HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY IS EMPLOYED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OR A SCHOOL DISTRICT.

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

SECTION    1.    Section 59-5-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A)    The State Board of Education shall must be composed of one member from each judicial circuit. The members shall serve terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify, except of those first elected, the members from the fifth, tenth and fourteenth circuits shall serve terms of one year; the members from the first, sixth, eighth and twelfth circuits shall serve terms of two years and the members from the fourth, seventh, ninth and eleventh circuits shall serve terms of three years. The terms of all members shall commence on January first following their election.

The legislative delegations representing the counties of each judicial circuit shall meet upon written call of a majority of the members of the delegations of each judicial circuit at a time and place to be designated in such call for the purpose of electing a member of the Board to represent such circuit. A majority present, either in person or by written proxy, of the members of the county legislative delegations from a given circuit shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of electing a member, but no person shall be declared elected who shall fail to receive a majority vote of all the members of the county legislative delegations from the circuit. The joint county legislative delegations of each circuit shall be organized by the election of a chairman and a secretary and such joint legislative delegations shall, subject to the provisions herein, adopt such rules as they deem proper to govern the election. Any absentee may vote by written proxy. When the election is completed, the chairman and secretary of the joint county legislative delegations of each circuit shall immediately transmit the name of the person elected to the Secretary of State who shall forthwith issue to such person, after he has taken the usual oath of office, a certificate of election as a member of the State Board of Education. The Governor shall thereupon issue a commission to such person and pending such issuance the certificate of election shall be a sufficient warrant to such person to perform all of the duties and functions of his office.

Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment for the unexpired portion of the term.

Representation of a given judicial circuit on the State Board of Education shall be rotated among the counties of the circuit, except by unanimous consent of all members of the county legislative delegations from the circuit. No member shall succeed himself in office except by unanimous consent of the members of the county legislative delegations from the circuit. Members of the legislative delegation of any county entitled to a member of the Board shall nominate persons for the office, one of whom shall be elected to the Board. the State Superintendent of Education, who is an ex officio member of the board, and seventeen members, with sixteen of these members to be elected by the General Assembly and one member to be appointed from the State at large by the Governor. The General Assembly shall elect and the Governor shall appoint these members based on merit regardless of race, color, creed, or gender and shall strive to assure that the membership of the board is representative of all citizens of this State.

(B)    Of the sixteen members to be elected by the General Assembly, two members must be elected from each congressional district and the remaining four members must be elected from the State at large.

(C)    The term of office of the at-large trustee appointed by the Governor is effective upon certification to the Secretary of State and is coterminous with the term of the Governor appointing him.

(D)    Each position on the board constitutes a separate office and the seats on the board are numbered consecutively as follows: for the First Congressional District, Seats One and Two; for the Second Congressional District, Seats Three and Four; for the Third Congressional District, Seats Five and Six; for the Fourth Congressional District, Seats Seven and Eight; for the Fifth Congressional District, Seats Nine and Ten; for the Sixth Congressional District, Seats Eleven and Twelve; for the at-large positions elected by the General Assembly, Seats Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, and Sixteen. The member appointed by the Governor shall occupy Seat Seventeen.

(E)    In the initial elections, the General Assembly shall elect those members of the board of trustees from Seats One, Five, Nine, and Thirteen in 2007, members from Seats Two, Six, Ten, and Fourteen in 2008, members from seats Three, Seven, Eleven, and Fifteen in 2009, and members from seats Four, Eight, Twelve, and Sixteen in 2010. Each of the members elected by the General Assembly shall serve a term of four years.

(F)    The General Assembly shall hold elections every year to select successors of the trustees whose terms are expiring in that year. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no election may be held before April first of the year in which the successor's term is to commence. The term of office of an elective trustee commences on the first day of July of the year in which the trustee is elected and all members shall serve until their successors are elected or appointed and qualify.

(G)    If an elective office becomes vacant, the Governor may fill it by appointment until the next session of the General Assembly. The General Assembly shall hold an election at any time during the session to fill the vacancy for the unexpired portion of the term. A vacancy occurring in the appointed office on the board must be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by appointment in the same manner of the original appointment.

(H)    A member of the board may be removed from office by the Governor for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetence, absenteeism, conflicts of interest, misconduct, persistent neglect of duty in office, or incapacity.

(I)    A person may not serve on the board if his family member is employed by the Department of Education or a school district. For purposes of this subsection, family member includes spouse, child, parent, sibling, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, stepparent, stepchild, grandparent, or grandchild.

(J)    The board shall select its chairman and other officers to serve for such terms as the board may designate. Provided, and the Superintendent of Education shall serve as secretary and administrative officer to the board. The board shall adopt its own rules and procedures. The chairman and other officers shall have such powers and duties as may be determined by the board not inconsistent with the law.

At the initial meeting of the legislative delegations representing the counties of each circuit, it shall be determined by lot the sequence in which each county shall be entitled to nominate persons for the office."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon the ratification of a constitutional amendment providing that the State Board of Education shall consist of two members from each congressional district of this State elected by the General Assembly and one additional member appointed by the Governor from the State at large.

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