SB1838 Summary

• Creates the School District Efficiency Commission with 20 voting members representing educators, administrators, school boards, parents, and government officials to study school district consolidation.

• Commission must recommend to the Governor and General Assembly the optimal number of school districts, ideal enrollment sizes, and where district reorganization would be beneficial, with focus on reducing administrative duplication and property taxes.

• Commission must draft specific recommendations to reduce the statewide total number of school districts by at least 25% through reorganization into unit districts, with recommendations submitted by May 1, 2020.

• If the Commission approves recommendations by affirmative vote of at least 11 members, the proposals for district reorganization shall be placed on ballots in the next general election without the financial incentives normally available under Section 11E-135.

• Commission dissolves the day after filing its report and the entire section is repealed on February 1, 2021; also modifies Section 11E-135 to exclude financial incentives for reorganizations resulting from Commission-sponsored referenda.