NY S04434

Allows boards of education in union free and central school districts located entirely or partially within Orange County to establish school election wards for electing individual trustees/board members through resolution and mandatory voter referendum

Union free school districts may create 3-9 wards, while central school districts may create 5, 7, or 9 wards, with one trustee/member elected from each ward by qualified voters within that ward

Requires the board to conduct at least three public hearings and include an assessment finding that no historic disenfranchisement or discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, or sexual orientation would result from the ward system

Ward boundaries must be contiguous, contain approximately equal populations, conform to school attendance zones and geographic boundaries, and retain contiguous communities of interest, with mandatory review and potential redistricting after each federal decennial census

Trustee/member terms shall be 3, 4, or 5 years as determined by the board, with staggered initial terms to ensure roughly equal numbers of trustees are elected each year