NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1967 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 262

HOUSE BILL 478

 

 

AN ACT TO CONSOLIDATE THE VANCE COUNTY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT AND THE HENDERSON CITY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT; TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELECTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CONSOLIDATED BOARD OF EDUCATION; TO PROVIDE FOR A REFERENDUM TO SUBMIT THE QUESTION OF CONSOLIDATION TO THE PEOPLE OF VANCE COUNTY.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1. As used in this Act certain terms are defined as follows:

(a)       The term "City Board" shall mean the Henderson City Board of Education.

(b)       The term "County Board" shall mean the Vance County Board of Education.

(c)       The term "City Administrative Unit" shall mean the geographical territory over which the City Board exercises authority in operating the public schools of said Unit.

(d)       The term "County Administrative Unit" shall mean the geographical territory over which the Vance County Board of Education exercises authority in operating the public schools of said Unit.

(e)       The term "Interim Board" shall mean the Vance County Interim Board of Education as constituted by adding certain members of the Henderson City Board of Education to the membership of the Vance County Board of Education as hereinafter provided and which Interim Board shall administer all the public schools within Vance County for the interim period of time hereinafter designated in this Act.

(f)        The term "Consolidated Board" shall mean the Vance County Board of Education, or the governing authority, or the administrative unit having charge of, operating and administering all of the public schools within Vance County after the merger or consolidation of the Vance County School Administrative Unit and the Henderson City School Administrative Unit, as provided by this Act.

(g)       The term "County Commissioners" shall mean the Board of County Commissioners of Vance County.

Sec. 2. The County Commissioners shall call an election in Vance County within 10 days from and after the effective date of this Act for the purpose of submitting to the electors of Vance County the question of whether or not the Vance County Board of Education and the Henderson City Board of Education shall be merged or consolidated into one board of education or school administrative unit to the end that all of the public schools of Vance County shall be administered or operated by one governing authority or administrative unit. The ballot to be printed and used in said referendum or election shall be substantially as follows:

VOTE FOR ONE:

[ ]     For a merger or consolidation of the Vance County Board of Education and the Henderson City Board of Education.

[ ]     Against the merger or consolidation of the Vance County Board of Education and the Henderson City Board of Education.

The said election shall be held and conducted under the laws and regulations contained in G. S. 115-122 and any other pertinent provisions of Article 14 of Chapter 115 of the General Statutes, as revised and amended. If these provisions do not deal with or cover all necessary election procedure, then the laws and regulations governing the election of county officers shall be in force and effect as provided in Chapter 163 of the General Statutes as revised and amended. The County Commissioners are hereby authorized to request the Vance County Board of Elections to hold and conduct said election, and when such request is made it shall be the duty of the said Board of Elections to hold and conduct such election according to the provisions of law heretofore referred to. The County Commissioners are hereby authorized to appropriate and make available a sufficient sum of money to defray the expenses of said election.

Sec. 3. If a majority of the electors voting in said election approve said merger or consolidation of the county board and the city board, then such merger or consolidation shall go into effect as hereinafter provided. If a majority of the electors voting in such election do not approve said merger or consolidation, then the same shall not go into effect and all provisions of this Act relating to such merger or consolidation shall be null and void notwithstanding provisions of the general law, and the status of the city board and the county board shall remain the same as existed prior to the passage of this Act.

Sec. 4. If a majority of those voting in the election heretofore provided and referred to shall approve a merger or consolidation of the county board and city board then, and in that event, the said county board and city board shall nevertheless continue to administer, operate and control their respective administrative units with the same powers and duties as before until the first Monday of December, 1967, when the county board and city board shall be replaced by the interim board as hereinafter provided. The county superintendent and the city superintendent shall continue to administer and supervise their respective administrative units separately in all respects under the Vance County Interim Board of Education until June 30, 1968.

Sec. 5. If a majority of those voting in the election heretofore provided and referred to shall approve a merger or consolidation of the county board and city board, then the terms of office of the two superintendents of schools heretofore employed by the City Board and the County Board, respectively, shall terminate on June 30, 1968. On the first Monday of April, 1968, the interim board hereinafter provided shall elect and employ a superintendent of schools who shall be the superintendent of schools for all of the public schools in Vance County, including the public schools located in the city administrative unit as well as the public schools located in the county administrative unit. The said superintendent of schools so elected shall assume his duties on July 1, 1968, and shall hold his office and serve as such superintendent of schools until June 30, 1969. On the first Monday of April, 1969, the superintendent of schools shall be elected by the consolidated board hereinafter provided and shall serve his term of office beginning July 1, 1969, until June 30, 1971. Thereafter, the election of all superintendents of schools for Vance County shall be in the regular statutory manner as provided by the general school law.

Sec. 6. If a majority of those voting in the election heretofore provided and referred to shall approve a merger or consolidation of the county board and city board then, an interim board is hereby established and constituted which shall be composed of 10 members, and shall be known and designated as "The Vance County Interim Board of Education". On July 1, 1967, or within 30 days thereafter, the city board shall appoint five of its members who serving together with the five members of the county board shall constitute the membership of said interim board which shall assume its powers, duties and responsibilities on the first Monday of December, 1967. The interim board shall have all the power, authority and duties provided by Chapter 115 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, as amended, and shall have control over all of the school facilities of the county and city administrative units during its tenure of authority and shall have access to all premises, facilities, buildings, books and records belonging thereto for the performance of its duties. The interim board shall also have the duty and responsibility of making effective plans for the operation of the merged or consolidated county and city administrative units and the duty for formulating such plans shall commence on the first Monday of December, 1967. The interim board shall elect a chairman from its members at its first meeting to be held on the first Monday of December, 1967, and shall appoint the superintendents of schools respectively to serve as co-secretaries to said board. The compensation and mileage of the interim board members appointed by the city board shall remain as now fixed for members of said city boards, and the compensation and mileage for the remaining interim board members shall remain as now fixed for members of the county board. At all meetings of the interim board six members shall be present before there shall be a quorum and all actions, motions and proceedings shall require a majority vote of two-thirds of the members present voting in the affirmative before such actions, motions, and proceedings shall become effective. Further, the expenditure by the interim board of any or all of any unencumbered capital outlay funds theretofore belonging to the city board shall be first approved by the County Commissioners before any such expenditure shall be made. On or before July 1, 1968, the interim board on recommendation of the superintendent-elect shall employ all other personnel and employees necessary for the operation of all of the public schools in Vance County and all such personnel and employees shall begin their duties on said date or as soon thereafter as possible. The interim board shall have the duty of fixing and determining the positions, status, salaries of all personnel and employees necessary for the operation of the entire public school system of Vance County for the school year 1968-1969. On the first Monday of December, 1968, or as soon thereafter as the members of the consolidated board hereinafter provided are inducted into and take the oath of office, all of the powers and duties of the interim board shall cease and terminate and the interim board as well as its members shall no longer have any status or exercise any power or authority over the public school system of Vance County.

Sec. 7. If the electors of Vance County approve the merger or consolidation of the county board and city board as herein provided, then there is hereby constituted and established a consolidated board which shall be known and designated as: "The Vance County Board of Education," and at the regular primary for the nomination of county officers for Vance County to be held in the year 1968, there shall be nominated five persons from the districts hereinafter designated, and these five persons shall be voted upon for membership of the consolidated board at the general election to be held for the election of county officers for Vance County in the year 1968. The said districts and the number of persons to be nominated from each district as candidates for membership on the consolidated board are hereby established and designated as follows:

District I. That portion of Henderson Township lying within the corporate limits of the City of Henderson; two persons.

District II. That portion of Henderson Township lying outside of the corporate limits of the City of Henderson; one person.

District III. Watkins, Kittrell and Sandy Creek Townships; one person.

District IV. Dabney, Williamsboro, Townsville, and Middleburg-Nutbush Townships; one person. The Vance County Board of Elections shall prepare a separate ballot for use in the primary on which shall be listed the candidates for each district separately and the name of the district. Each candidate for membership on the consolidated board shall be a resident and elector in the district which he seeks to represent, and each candidate for membership on the consolidated board must be nominated and elected by the electors in his particular district. Every candidate filing in said primary shall be subject to the provisions of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, as amended relating to a second primary and is required to have a majority of the votes cast by the electors of his district to be nominated for membership of said consolidated board. At the general election in 1968, for District I the member elected by the highest number of votes in said district shall serve a term of four years and the member receiving the next highest number of votes shall serve a term of two years; for District II the member elected by the highest number of votes in said district shall serve for a term of four years; for District III and District IV the member from District III shall serve for a term of four years and the member from District IV shall serve for a term of two years. Thereafter, all successors in office of such members shall serve for terms of four years on a staggered basis. All vacancies in the office of the members of the consolidated board shall be filled by the remaining members of the consolidated board and the person appointed to fill a vacancy must be a resident and elector from the district of the member he is appointed to replace. An appointment to fill a vacancy on the consolidated board shall be only for that portion of the unexpired term between the time of appointment and the next general election, and at such next general election the remaining portion of the unexpired term shall be filled by election. If a person who has been nominated as a candidate from any district dies or removes himself, or for any other reason cannot be a candidate in the general election, then the Executive Committee of the party he represents shall appoint a candidate from the district represented by the dead or disqualified candidate. Such appointee shall have his name placed upon the ballot to be voted upon in the general election the same as any candidate who has been nominated in a primary. The members of the consolidated board shall be inducted into and take the oath of office on the first Monday in December, 1968, unless prevented by sickness or other cause over which he has no control, and then as soon as reasonably possible. All members of the consolidated board shall hold office until their successors are duly elected and qualified. All candidates for membership on the consolidated board from the various election districts herein designated shall file a notice of such candidacy by 12:00 o'clock noon on or before the Friday preceding the sixth Saturday before such primary election is to be held, and each candidate shall pay a filing fee of ten dollars ($10.00), and in addition shall certify in writing the district for which he is filing and that he is a bona fide resident and elector thereof. The nomination and election of said members of the consolidated board shall be held, conducted and supervised by the Vance County Board of Elections and except as herein provided the laws and regulations for the nomination and election of county officers shall be in full force and effect.

Sec. 8. The consolidated board shall exercise all of the powers, authority and duties as now exercised and performed by county and city boards of education and as provided by Chapter 115 of the General Statutes, as revised and amended, and as provided by any Public-Local or Private Act of the General Assembly of North Carolina pertaining to the Vance County Board of Education.

Sec. 9. On or after the first Monday of December, 1968, the title of all property of any nature whatsoever now owned by the county board and the city board, and any and all property acquired by the interim board, shall, as soon as practical be vested in and transferred to the consolidated board. The consolidated board shall own and have control of all structures, buildings, facilities, land, papers, documents, books, records, accounts, letters, claims, demands, and all unexpended balances of funds, surplus funds, proceeds of State School Bonds, and all moneys whatsoever which heretofore belonged to the city board or belonged to or was controlled by the interim board; and the same shall be transferred to the consolidated board. The city board and the interim board and their members irrespective of any termination of office or authority set forth in the preceding Sections of this Act shall retain the power and authority to execute, and shall execute, any and all deeds, writings, instruments and documents necessary to vest title to any and all property of any kind or description whatsoever in which either board might have an interest of any kind, in the consolidated board. All claims and demands, liabilities and obligations of the city board or the interim board whatsoever shall become and be the claims, demands, liabilities and obligations of the consolidated board and shall be enforced for as well as against the consolidated board.

Sec. 10. The members of the consolidated board shall each receive the sum of fifty dollars ($50.00) per month as compensation for services, and the chairman shall be paid the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per month. The consolidated board shall hold at least one meeting each month but may hold as many meetings as are necessary.

Sec. 11. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 12. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 2nd day of May, 1967.