Timothy Schultz General Counsel
AGO 2018-11
Official Opinion 2018-11
Indiana Attorney General Opinion
State of Indiana Office of the Attorney General
November 13, 2018
Timothy
Schultz, General Counsel
Indiana
State Board of Education
143
West Market Street, Suite 500
Indianapolis,
IN 46204
RE:
2018 Reorganization of West Clark Community Schools
Dear
Mr. Schultz:
ISSUE
Pursuant
to Ind. Code § 4-6-2-5, the Indiana State Board of
Education (the "State Board") requested the opinion
of the Office of the Attorney General ("OAG") on
two related questions involving actions by the West Clark
County Community School Board:
(1) May
a school corporation that was previously created by a county
committee reorganize without creating a new committee?
(2) If
the school corporation may proceed under Ind. Code §
20-23-4-38 and reorganize without the creation of a
committee, what materials must be submitted to the State
Board in order to properly reorganize?
SHORT
ANSWER
(1) A
school corporation previously reorganized by a now-dissolved
county committee may submit reorganization changes to the
State Board without forming a new county committee.
(2) The
local governing body or the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction (the "State Superintendent") must
submit to the State Board the materials described in Ind.
Code § 20-23-4 et seq. in order for the
proposed change to become effective.
BACKGROUND
The
Indiana School Reorganization Act of 1959[1] (the "1959
Act"), which ultimately was responsible for reducing the
number of Indiana's local school districts from 966 to
under 400, provided the authorization and procedure for
reducing the number of local school districts through
consolidation, the purpose being to provide "more
equalized educational opportunities for publicly enrolled
students in grades 1-12 in the school corporations of
Indiana." [2]
In
summary, the 1959 Act required each county to form a County
Committee for the Reorganization of School Corporations (the
"County Committee") which was responsible for
preparing a preliminary plan of reorganization supported by
studies and surveys. After public hearings and receiving
comments, the County Committee was required to submit a final
plan for reorganization to the State Commission for the
Reorganization of School Corporations (the "State
Commission") for approval.
Upon
approval of a reorganization plan by the State Commission, a
community school corporation provided for in the plan could
be established by filing an appropriate petition with the
clerk or clerks of the circuit court or courts of the county
or counties where the voters reside signed by at least 55% of
the registered voters in the boundaries of the new school
corporation. After receiving certification from the
aforementioned clerk or clerks on the regularity of the
signatures on the petition, the County Committee was required
to publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in
the community school corporation that the steps necessary to
establish the community school corporation had been completed
and provide notice of the creation of the new school
corporation and its particulars.
If the
County Committee did not receive a petition with 55% of the
registered voters in the boundaries of the new school
corporation within 90 days of receiving the approved plan
from the State Commission, a special election was noticed and
held for the purpose of allowing the affected voters to vote
on the approved reorganization plan. If the plan should be
rejected...