15-445. Residents of unorganized territory; school district elections

A. The county school superintendent, on receiving notification from the state school superintendent pursuant to section 15-825.02, subsection B, shall do all of the following before calling an election:

1. Establish the boundaries of the proposed school district, taking into consideration communities of interest and excluding Indian reservations and other federal lands where reasonable to do so. During the period that the county school superintendent is considering the new school district boundaries, the county school superintendent shall conduct at least two public meetings at which public testimony is heard and questions are answered.

2. Identify adjacent school districts that accept at least twenty-five per cent of their open enrollment or certificate of educational convenience students from the unorganized territory and that are willing to accept the unorganized territory into the existing school district. If there is only one adjacent school district that meets these criteria, the boundaries of that school district shall be reestablished to include the unorganized territory without an election.

3. If there is more than one adjacent school district that meets the criteria prescribed in paragraph 2 of this subsection, prepare a pamphlet and a ballot question that includes the proposed boundaries and identifies existing adjacent school districts that are willing to accept the unorganized territory into the existing school district. The pamphlet shall be mailed to each household with one or more qualified electors. The pamphlet and ballot shall require the voters within the boundaries proposed by the county school superintendent to join an existing adjacent school district. The pamphlet and ballot shall include the full cash value, the assessed valuation and the estimated amount of the primary property taxes and the estimated amount of the secondary property taxes under each of the ballot options for each of the following:

(a) An owner occupied residence whose assessed valuation is the average assessed valuation of property classified as class three, as prescribed by section 42-12003 for the current year in the school district.

(b) An owner occupied residence whose assessed valuation is one-half of the assessed valuation of the residence in subdivision (a).

(c) An owner occupied residence whose assessed valuation is twice the assessed valuation of the residence in subdivision (a).

(d) A business whose assessed valuation is the average of the assessed valuation of property classified as class one, as prescribed by section 42-12001, paragraphs 12 and 13 for the current year in the school district.

B. The county school superintendent shall schedule the election on the next available general election date allowed by law.

C. On a canvass of the vote and a determination by the county school superintendent that a majority of the voters approve joining an existing adjacent school district, the county school superintendent shall notify the existing school district of the following:

1. That the boundaries of the school district shall be revised to include the property identified in the boundaries established by the county school superintendent.

2. That the school district shall provide the same educational services that are currently provided to students who reside in current boundaries of the school district to all students within the revised boundaries at the beginning of the next school year.

D. If the adjacent school district is a common school district that is within the boundaries of a union high school district, the unorganized territory shall join both the common school district and the union high school district. If the adjacent school district is a common school district that is not within the boundaries of a high school district, the unorganized territory shall join the common school district, and high school pupils who reside in the previously unorganized territory shall be educated in the same manner as high school pupils who reside in the common school district.