Hartselle School Board Member Referendum (2010)

A Hartselle Elected School Board Referendum did not appear on the November 2010 special election ballot in Morgan County, Alabama in the city of Hartselle.

Residents presented a petition to the city containing approximately 788 names calling for a referendum to change the way Hartselle chooses school board members. Petition organizers wanted the city system’s board to be elected rather than appointed. They asked that a referendum on the matter be set. If enacted, the referendum would have allowed voters in the Hartselle City School District to vote on whether they wanted, in the future, to elect members of their school board. At the time, school board members in the district were appointed. In order for the referendum to materialize, Morgan County Legislative Delegation had to set a date for the public to vote on the matter. However, prior to that, the delegation required a unanimous request from the city council. According to local reports, the council was not unanimous about holding a referendum to change the process of appointing school board members. Without the council being unanimous, the referendum did not make it to the ballot. Although Alabama state law does not mandate this path to a referendum, the tradition of the area does.

If the referendum went on the ballot and was passed, the school board would have also been paid up to $600 a month.

The bill was drafted by Senator Arthur Orr.

Support

Hartselle Enquirer writer Leada Gore said on June 4, 2009, that the decision to change the way school board officials are appointed should be up to the voters. She said, "The issue here is whether the people can have their say. Assuming the signatures on the petition are accurate - and that’s a major assumption with any petition - 788 people, roughly 25 percent of the people who cast a ballot in the school tax referendum, want to have their say. It’s not the business of the council or the Legislative Delegation to stand in their way."

Opposition

Councilman Tom Chapell voted against the measure on June 9, 2009, and was the only councilmember to do so. Chapell said, "The proponents of this issue keep saying, 'let the people vote.' That sounds good and politically correct, but what is it that they really want? Why can’t anyone show me with statistics how an elected school board will make our school system any better than it already is." Chappell argued that based on English and math test scores, 17 of the top 20 school systems in the state were city systems. Of those 17, 15 had appointed school boards.

Elected and appointed school boards

As of 2010, Alabama had county school systems and city school systems. School board members in the county school systems were elected. This was not the case in Alabama's 66 city school systems where 20 systems had elected board members. Alabama Constitutional Amendment 659 provided for the creation of city school boards of education through acts of the Alabama State Legislature. The Code of Alabama, Section §16-11-3.2, set out a procedure through which a city board of education could become an elected board rather than an appointed board.

Section 16-11-3.2 said:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Legislature may, by local act, provide for the election of the board of education in any Class 4 municipality by the qualified electors of the municipality and may further provide for the operation of the board. The change to an elected board of education shall require the approval of a majority of the qualified electors of the municipality who vote at a referendum election prior to the change becoming effective.

See also

• Hartselle school board referendum may still proceed

External links

• Hartselle Official Website (dead link)
• Alabama Senate Website