§ 7.10. Public schools generally.

(a)

The public school system in operation in the city on the effective date of this Charter, established and continued under an Act of the General Assembly approved September 12, 1889, "to authorize the establishment of a system of public schools in the City of Decatur," as amended, is hereby continued under this Charter. The Board of Education of the City of Decatur that exists on the effective date of this Charter (sometimes referred to in this Charter as the "board of education") is continued in existence.

(b)

The Board of Education of the City of Decatur, so continued, shall continue to have the powers, duties, rights, obligations and liabilities of the Board of Education of the City of Decatur that exist on the effective date of this Charter and shall be subject to all constitutional and statutory provisions relating to boards of education that are not in conflict with this Charter.

(c)

The Board of Education of the City of Decatur shall be a body corporate and politic and shall be empowered to engage in legal process and to enact such policies, bylaws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of this state or of the United States, for the government of the members of the board of education, the superintendent of schools and teachers and students of such schools, as the board may deem proper.

(d)

The members of the Board of Education of the City of Decatur who are serving on such board of education on the effective date of this Charter, and any person selected to fill a vacancy in any such offices, shall continue to serve as such members until their terms of office expire. The Board of Education of the City of Decatur shall continue to consist of five members, four of whom shall be elected from election districts described in this subsection, and one member who shall be elected at large. For the purpose of electing the four district members of the board of education, the City of Decatur School District is divided into two election districts. The districts shall consist of the described territory of the City of Decatur School District contained in the description attached to this Act and made a part hereof as further identified as "Plan: dec1".

(e)

For the purposes of subsection (d) of this section:

(1)

The term "precinct" is synonymous with the term "voting precinct" and means a geographical area, established in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 21-2-260 et seq., within which all electors vote at one polling place.

(2)

The terms "tract," "block" and "VTD" shall mean and describe the same geographical boundaries as provided in the report of the Bureau of the Census for the United States decennial census of 2000 for the State of Georgia.

(3)

Whenever the description of any election district refers to a named city, it shall mean the geographical boundaries of that city as shown on the census map of the United States decennial census of 2000 for the State of Georgia.

(4)

Precinct names and designations following VTD designations are included for convenience only; and if the description of any election district contains a conflict between the geographical boundaries of any VTD and the boundaries of the subsequently named precinct, the geographical boundary as shown on the census maps for the United States decennial census of 2000 for the State of Georgia shall control.

(5)

Any part of the City of Decatur School District that is not included in any election district described in subsection (d) of this section shall be included within the election district contiguous to such part that contains the least population according to the United State Decennial census of 2000 for the State of Georgia.

(6)

Any part of the City of Decatur School District that is described in subsection (d) of this section as being included in a particular election district shall nevertheless not be included within such election district if such part is not contiguous to such election district. Such noncontiguous part shall instead be included within that election district contiguous to such part that contains the least population according to the United States decennial census of 2000 for the State of Georgia.

(f)

Two members shall be elected from each election district provided for in subsection (d) of this section. The members elected from an election district shall be elected solely by the voters of the election district voting in an election thereon. There shall be a Post A and a Post B in each election district, and each candidate must designate the post for which the candidate is offering. A candidate for the board of education from an election district shall have been a resident of the district from which the candidate is offering for at least one year prior to the election. A member elected to the board of education from an election district shall remain a resident of the respective district during the term for which elected.

(g)

A candidate for the at-large office on the board of education may reside anywhere within the City of Decatur School District and shall be elected by the voters of the City of Decatur School District voting in an election thereon.

(h)

All candidates for office on the board of education shall be at least 21 years of age. Persons employed by the City of Decatur School System shall not be eligible to be members of the board of education.

(i)

The first members of the Board of Education of the City of Decatur elected under this Charter shall be elected on the first Tuesday next following the first Monday in November 2001. Such members shall be the persons elected to Post A of Election District 1, Post A of Election District 2 and the at-large post. They shall take office on January 1, 2002, and shall serve terms of four years and until their successors are elected. Successors to such members shall be elected at the general municipal election held on the first Tuesday next following the first Monday in November 2005 and quadrennially thereafter for terms of office of four years.

(j)

Members shall be elected to Post B of Election District 1 and Post B of Election District 2 on the first Tuesday next following the first Monday in November 2003. Such members shall take office on January 1, 2004, and shall serve terms of four years and until their successors are elected. Successors to such members shall be elected at the general municipal election held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November 2007 and quadrennially thereafter for terms of office of four years.

(k)

Political parties shall not conduct primaries for board of education offices, and all names of candidates for such offices shall be listed without party designation.

(l)

The person receiving a plurality of the votes cast for any office on the board of education shall be elected.

(m)

Any vacancy in the board of education as a result of death, resignation, removal from the city, removal from an election district or otherwise, except for the expiration of a term of office, shall be filled as provided in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-54.1.

(Ord. No. O-03-04, §§ 3, 4, 5-19-03)