The School Governance Companion Act of 1999
PR 13-470

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A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

To amend An Act To fix and regulate the salaries of teachers, school officers, and other employees of the board of education of the District of Columbia to set the term of office for the president of the District of Columbia Board of Education to four years; to cause the terms of members of the Board of Education representing wards to be coterminous with the terms of Councilmembers representing those wards; to require that candidates for the Board of Education be residents of the District of Columbia for I year; to clarify the role and obligations of the Board of Education; to provide that the Mayor can appoint the Superintendent of the public schools; to provide dates for electing members of the Board of Education and to require a memorandum of understanding between the Superintendent and the Board of Education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "School Governance Companion Amendment Act of 2000".

Sec. 2. An Act To fix and regulate the salaries of teachers, school officers, and other employees of the board of education of the District of Columbia, approved June 20, 1906 (34 Stat. 317; D.C. Code §31-101 et seq.), is amended as follows:

(a) Section 2 (D.C. Code §31-101 ) is amended as follows:

(1) Subsection (b) is amended as follows:

(A) Paragraph (3)(B) is amended to read as follows:

"(B) Except as provided in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of this paragraph, the term of office of a member of the Board of Education, including the President, shall be 4 years.".

(B) New subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) are added to read as follows:

"(C) The terms of office of the members of the Board of Education to be elected in the November, 2000, and November, 2002, general elections shall be as follows:

"(i) 2000 Elections: Two-year terms for the members from District I (Wards I & 3), District III (Wards 5 & 6), and one at-large member; and 4-year terms for the members from District II (Wards 2 & 4), District IV (Wards 7 & 8), two at-large members, including the President.

"(ii) 2002 Elections: Four-year terms for members from Districts I & III and one at-large member.

"(D) The non-President candidate for an at-large membership on the Board of Education during the 2000 elections receiving the highest number of votes shall receive the 4-year term.

"(E) Upon the enactment of the School Governance Charter Amendment Act of 2000, approved by the Council on second reading (Bill 13-469), terms of the members of the Board of Education elected in 1998 shall expire at noon of the 30th day after the Board of Elections certifies the results of the November, 2000, general election of the members of the Board of Education elected in accordance with subparagraph (C)(i) of this paragraph.".

(2) Subsection (c) is amended as follows:

(A) Paragraph (1) is amended by striking the phrase "have, for the 90-day period immediately preceding his nomination, resided in the school election ward from which he is nominated" and inserting the phrase "have, for one year immediately preceding the election, resided in the special school district from which he or she is nominated" in its place.

(B) Paragraph (2) is amended as follows:

(i) Strike the phrase "have, during the 90-day period next preceding his nomination" and insert the phrase "have, during the one year period immediately before the election".

(ii) The last sentence of the paragraph is amended by striking the word "his" and inserting the phrase "his or her" in its place.

(3) Subsection (e) is amended by striking the first sentence in its entirety.

(b) Section 2 (D.C. Code §31-102) is amended to read as follows:

"The Board shall determine all questions of general policy relating to the schools. All expenditures of public funds for such school purposes shall be made and accounted for as now provided by law under the direction and control of the Mayor of the District of Columbia.".

(c) Section 3 (D.C. Code §31-107) is amended to read as follows:

"(a) The Mayor shall appoint the Superintendent of the District of Columbia public schools who shall be confirmed by a majority of the Board. The Board shall evaluate the Superintendent who shall be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the public schools of the District of Columbia. The Superintendent may be removed by the Mayor with the approval of a majority of the Board at any time for cause affecting the Superintendent's character or performance as Superintendent.

"(b) The Board shall establish personnel policies and guidelines for the hiring of principals and other personnel by the Superintendent, but shall not have authority to make or approve personnel decisions or to negotiate with representatives of employee organizations.

"(c) The Superintendent shall recommend to the Board an annual budget for its approval. The budget recommendations shall be consistent with spending priorities and the goals and objectives established by the Board and the Superintendent for the operation of the public schools. The Board shall prepare and make public, within 60 days after an appropriations bill for the District of Columbia has been enacted by the Congress, a reconciled version of the public school budget that is in substantially the same format as the version approved by the Board of Education.

"(d) The Board of Education shall establish policies to guide the Superintendent's decisions regarding expenditures, but the Board of Education may not require that any contract, purchase order, or change order be submitted to the Board for approval except where the amount at issue exceeds one million dollars, to be identified in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Superintendent and the Board, as outlined in subsection (e) of this section.

"(e) The Board and the Superintendent shall, at least every 2 years, jointly adopt a Memorandum of Understanding that, consistent with District of Columbia law, establishes the general division of roles and responsibilities between them and recognizes the Board's policy setting and the Superintendent's management role. In the course of preparing the Memorandum of Understanding, the Board and Superintendent shall take into account the recommendation of organizations recognized as expert in such matters. The Memorandum of Understanding shall be published in the District of Columbia Register and a newspaper of general circulation in the District within 15 days of its adoption by the Board and the Superintendent.".

See. 3. The District of Columbia Election Code of 1955, approved August 12, 1955 (69 Stat. 669; D.C. Code §§1-1301 et seq.), is amended to read as follows:

(a) Section 8(m) is amended to read as follows:

"(m) The President of the Board of Education be elected by the duly registered voters of the District. An additional 2 Board members shall be elected at-large. Each of the remaining 4 members shall represent one of the 4 combined wards pursuant section 495 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 820; D.C. Code 31-l0l(a)).

(b) Section 10(e) (D.C. Code §1-1314(e)) is amended as follows:

(1) The existing language is designated as paragraph (1).

(2) A new paragraph (2) is added to read as follows:

"(2) When the office of the President becomes vacant, the Board of Education shall select one of the members of the Board to serve as the interim President until the election of a new President.".

See. 4. Fiscal Impact Statement. The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(e)(3) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code §1-233(e)(3)).

See. 5. This act shall apply upon the effective date of the School Governance Charter Amendment Act of 2000, approved by the Council on second reading (Bill 13-469).

Sec. 6. This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by Council to override the veto), approval by the Financial Responsibility Management Assistance Authority as provided in section 203(a) of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995, approved April 17, 1995 (109 Stat. 116; D.C. Code §47-392.3(a)), a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(1), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.