Z-0345.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5616
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State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senators Pelz, Oke and A. Smith; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Read first time 02/04/93. Referred to Committee on Education.
AN ACT Relating to election of regional committee members; and amending RCW 28A.315.060.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 28A.315.060 and 1990 c 33 s 295 are each amended to read as follows:
The members of each regional committee shall be elected in the following manner:
(1) On or before the
25th day of September, ((1986)) 1992, and not later than the 25th
day of September of every subsequent even-numbered year, each
superintendent of an educational service district shall call an election to be
held in each educational service district within which resides a member of a
regional committee whose term of office expires on the second Monday of January
next following, and shall give written notice thereof to each member of the
board of directors of each school district in the educational service
district. Such notice shall include instructions, and the rules and
regulations established by the state board of education for the conduct of the
election. The state board of education is hereby empowered to adopt rules
pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW which establish standards and procedures which
the state board deems necessary to conduct elections pursuant to this section;
to conduct run-off elections in the event an election for a position is
indecisive; and to decide run-off elections which result in tie votes, in a
fair and orderly manner.
(2) Candidates for membership on a regional committee shall file a declaration of candidacy with the superintendent of the educational service district wherein they reside. Declarations of candidacy may be filed by person or by mail not earlier than the 1st day of October, and not later than the 15th day of October of each even-numbered year. The superintendent may not accept any declaration of candidacy that is not on file in his or her office or not postmarked before the 16th day of October, or if not postmarked or the postmark is not legible, if received by mail after the 20th day of October of each even-numbered year.
(3) Each member of the regional committee shall be elected by a majority of the votes cast for all candidates for the position by the members of the boards of directors of school districts in the educational service district. All votes shall be cast by mail ballot addressed to the superintendent of the educational service district wherein the school director resides. No votes shall be accepted for counting if postmarked after the 16th day of November or if not postmarked or the postmark is not legible, if received by mail after the 21st day of November of each even-numbered year. An election board comprised of three persons appointed by the board of the educational service district shall count and tally the votes not later than the 25th day of November or the next business day if the 25th falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday of each even-numbered year. Each vote cast by a school director shall be recorded as one vote. Within ten days following the count of votes, the educational service district superintendent shall certify to the superintendent of public instruction the name or names of the person(s) elected to be members of the regional committee.
(4) In the event of a change in the number of educational service districts or in the number of educational service district board members pursuant to chapter 28A.310 RCW a new regional committee shall be elected for each affected educational service district at the next annual election conducted pursuant to this section. Those persons who were serving on a regional committee within an educational service district affected by a change in the number of districts or board members shall continue to constitute the regional committee for the educational service district within which they are registered to vote until the majority of a new board has been elected and certified.
(5) No member of a regional committee shall continue to serve thereon if he or she ceases to be a registered voter of the educational service district board member district or if he or she is absent from three consecutive meetings of the committee without an excuse acceptable to the committee.
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