Section 3-302.1 - School board in first class A school districts; apportionment of seats, and numbers, terms, and methods for election of school directors in first class A school districts(a) Composition of school board.(1) In each school district of the first class A, the school board shall be known as the Board of Public Education and shall consist of an odd number of members not less than seven nor more than fifteen school directors, to be elected by the qualified voters of the school district by specified districts.(2) There shall be a corresponding odd number, not less than seven nor more than fifteen separate districts for each of which only one candidate shall be elected. Each candidate shall be nominated only for the specified district in which he resides and each elected member shall represent only a specified district in which he resides, such districts to be constituted as hereinafter set forth.(b) Term of office. All elected members shall serve for a term of four years except the three, four, five, six or seven members elected at the initial election in even numbered school director districts, who shall serve for two years. In the event the first election occurs in an even-numbered year, the terms of the initial members shall be increased by one year, so that future elections can be held in odd-numbered years. In the case of death or resignation of elected members, the mayor of the most populous municipality contained in such school district shall fill the vacancy from the same school director district in which the vacancy occurred until the first Monday in December following the next municipal primary occurring one hundred twenty days after the vacancy occurred.(c) Apportionment.(1) In each school district of the first class A, a school director district apportionment commission shall be constituted for the purpose of establishing an odd number not less than seven nor more than fifteen school director districts within the first class A school district by assigning each election district within such school district into one of such school director districts. The commission shall select that odd number of districts from seven to fifteen which will best provide for racial balance and proportional representation of all segments of the population at the time of the apportionment. Such school director districts shall be compact, contiguous, and as nearly equal in population as practicable.(2) The commission shall consist of six members, two to be appointed by the mayor of the most populous municipality in such school district, three by the city council of such municipality and one by the mayor of any other municipality in such school district with the approval of the legislative body thereof. The commission shall elect one of its members chairman, and shall act by a majority of its entire membership. If any of the appointing authorities shall fail to make any or all of such appointments within fifteen days after enactment of this act, such appointment or appointments shall be made by the court of common pleas.(3) No later than forty-five days after the commission has been duly certified, the commission shall file an apportionment plan with the County Board of Elections to be submitted to the voters of the district at the next primary election occurring not less than ninety-one days after the plan is filed with the county board and at which primary election the candidates for members of the school board shall be nominated.(4) No later than September in the second year following the year in which Federal census data is officially gathered, a school director district reapportionment commission shall be appointed. Said reapportionment commission shall consist of seven members, three to be appointed by the mayor of the most populous municipality in the school district, three by the city council of such municipality and one by the mayor of any other municipality of the school district with the approval of the legislative body thereof. The duties of the reapportionment commission shall be, from the official data of the United States Bureau of the Census, to define the lines that divide the existing school director districts to make any new school director districts as nearly equal in population as practicable, and as compact and contiguous as possible, and to best provide for racial balance on the board of school directors of said school district. The number of school directors or school director districts shall not be increased or decreased. In addition, the reapportionment commission shall make every effort to maintain neighborhood boundary lines of communities of like interest whenever practicable. Such reapportionment commission shall file its plan no later than ninety days after either the commission has been appointed or the specified population data for the first class A school district as determined by the Federal decennial census are available, whichever is later in time.(5) The school district shall appropriate sufficient funds for the compensation and expenses of members and staff appointed by such apportionment and reapportionment commissions, and other necessary expenses. The members of such commissions shall be entitled to such compensation for their services as the school district from time to time shall determine.(6) If an apportionment or reapportionment plan is not filed by the commission within the time prescribed by this section, the court of common pleas of the county in which the district is located shall immediately proceed on its own motion to apportion or reapportion the school director districts, in accordance with the standards set forth in subsection (c)(4).(7) Any apportionment or reapportionment plan, filed by any such commission or prepared by the court of common pleas of the county in which the district is located upon the failure of the commission to act shall be published by the County Board of Elections once in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the most populous municipality of the school district, which publication shall contain a map of the school district showing the complete apportionment or reapportionment of the school director districts. The publication shall also state the population of the school director districts having the smallest and largest population and the percentage variation of such districts from the average population for such districts.(8) The County Board of Elections shall place upon the ballot to be submitted to the voters of each first class A school district under the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L. 1333, No. 320), known as the "Pennsylvania Election Code," the following question: | Shall the apportionment plan submitted | | | | | |
| by the School Director District Appor- | | Yes | | | |
| tionment Commission for the election | | | | | |
| of members of the Board of Public Ed- | | | | | |
| ucation of the school district of ........ | | No | | | |
| be approved? | | | | | |
Since the voters have accepted the apportionment plan, the number of school director districts contained in the apportionment plan shall be the permanent number of school director districts in said school district, and said permanent number of school director districts shall neither be increased nor decreased by any future reapportionment commission nor by the court of common pleas of the county in which the school district is located. The ballot question shall not be considered in the case of a reapportionment plan submitted by a reapportionment commission or the court of common pleas.
(d) Nomination and elections of school directors. School directors shall be nominated and elected in accordance with the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L. 1333, No. 320), known as the "Pennsylvania Election Code."(e) Applicable law upon adoption. After the election of school directors from specified districts in accordance therewith, the Board of Public Education of such first class A school district shall be governed by the provisions of this section and by all other provisions of the act to which this is an amendment and other provisions of general law relating to first class A school districts which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section. The provisions of this section shall supersede all other parts of the act to which this is an amendment and all other acts affecting the organization of school districts of the first class A to the extent that they are inconsistent or in conflict herewith. All existing acts or parts of acts and resolutions affecting the organization of first class A school districts not inconsistent or in conflict with the provisions of this section shall remain in full force until modified or repealed as provided by law.(f) Certain prohibitions of service. No superintendent, assistant superintendent, supervising principal, teacher or other employe shall serve either temporarily or permanently as a member of the school board by which employed.(g) Transition provisions and expiration of existing terms. The terms of existing appointed board members shall terminate on the first Monday of December in 1976 or in any subsequent year in which the initial elected members are elected, at which time the terms of all members to be elected as herein provided shall be deemed to begin. Thereafter the terms of all elected members shall expire on the first Monday of December in the year in which the length of term to which such members shall have been elected has been served.1949, March 10, P.L. 30, § 302.1, added 1975, Dec. 19, P.L. 511, No. 150, § 1, imd. effective. Amended 1983, Dec. 20, P.L. 267, No. 73, § 1, imd. effective.