20-6-325. Procedure for creation of new high school district out of existing districts -- limitation for creation. (1) To create a new high school district, a petition requesting the creation of a new high school district out of the territory of an existing high school district or districts must be addressed to the county superintendent and must:
     (a) describe the territory that is requested to be incorporated in the new district and the taxable value of such territory as shown by the last completed assessment roll;
     (b) state the reasons why the creation of a new district is requested; and
     (c) be signed by the parents or guardians of not less than 50 children who are at least 14 years old but less than 18 years old and who reside in the territory that would be included in the new district and who reside more than 20 miles over the shortest practical route from an operating high school.
     (2) When a county superintendent receives a valid petition requesting the creation of a new district, he shall:
     (a) file such petition;
     (b) set a hearing place, date, and time for consideration of the petition that is not more than 40 days after the receipt of the petition; and
     (c) give notice of the place, date, and time of the hearing. Notices must be posted in the high school districts affected by the request in the manner prescribed in 20-20-204 for school elections, with at least one such notice posted in the territory to be included in the new district.
     (3) The county superintendent shall conduct the hearing as scheduled unless before or at the time of the hearing he receives a protest petition signed by a majority of the electors of the proposed new district who are qualified to vote under the provisions of 20-20-301. A valid protest petition conclusively denies the creation of a new district. If a hearing is conducted, any resident or taxpayer of the affected districts must be heard. If the county superintendent considers it advisable and in the best interests of the residents of the proposed new district, he shall grant the petitioned request and order the creation of a new district with its boundaries coinciding with the boundaries defined in the petition. Otherwise, he shall by order deny the request. In the order creating the new district, the effective date for its creation must be the following July 1.
     (4) The county superintendent's order may be appealed to the superintendent of public instruction within 30 days after the date of such order. An appeal must be in writing and be signed by not less than 10 residents of the proposed new district. The superintendent of public instruction shall:
     (a) call a hearing on the appeal not less than 20 days or more than 30 days from receipt of the appeal;
     (b) provide notice of the hearing in the manner prescribed in subsection (2)(c);
     (c) consider the material presented at the county superintendent's hearing and pertinent other material; and
     (d) render a decision on the creation of such new high school district. The decision is final.
     (5) When a new high school district is created, the trustees of the elementary district in which the high school buildings are located are the trustees of the new district. A trustee appointed under the provisions of this section shall serve until a successor is elected at the next regular school election and is qualified.
     (6) If the district does not open and operate a school within 2 years after the effective date of the creation of the new district, the order of the county superintendent or, if his order is appealed, the decision of the superintendent of public instruction creating a new district under this section is void and the new district ceases to exist. If the new district does not satisfy this requirement, the territory must be reincorporated in the district or districts in which it was located before the creation of the new district and the trustees are without capacity to act.
     (7) If a petition has been filed under the provisions of this section and denied by the county superintendent, no new petition may be filed until 1 year after the final decision on the original petition.
     (8) For the purposes of this section, the taxable value of the taxable property of the territory proposed to be included in the new district must be at least $1 million, unless 50,000 acres or more of such proposed new district are nontaxable Indian land, and the taxable value of the taxable property of each existing district from which territory would be detached must be at least $2 million after the territory is detached.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 585, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 226, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 371, L. 1987.