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| SPONSOR: | Jennings | DATE TYPED: | 02/18/01 | HB | |||
| SHORT TITLE: | Appoint Branch Community College Boards | SB | 528 | ||||
| ANALYST: | Fernandez | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY01 | FY02 | FY01 | FY02 | ||
| NFI | |||||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Commission on Higher Education (CHE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 528 amends current statutes pertaining to branch community colleges to allow for an elected or appointed branch community college board and sets forth the provisions for an appointed board.
Significant Issues
According to CHE, the various types of post secondary institutions authorized in state include branch community colleges, community colleges, off-campus instructional centers and technical vocational institutes. The various institutions are required to implement a local tax and have an elected board. Since all two-year taxing districts are comprised of one or more public school districts, the elected local school board may also be given the responsibility for the two-year institutions as well. Current statutes allow community college taxing district to choose to elect a second community college board rather than delegating the responsibilities to the local public school board. The exception is that vocational institutes must establish districts, realign those districts after each census, and elect a separate board. In the case of branch community colleges, the members of the participating local school boards elect representatives to the branch community college board. This bill would allow the members of the participating local school boards to choose to appoint members to the branch community college board.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
This bill does not make an appropriation.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
CHE indicates statutes were recently amended to require an independently elected board for technical-vocational institutes.
According to CHE, several branch community colleges have only one participating school district and it is not clear what options exist, i.e. would the local school board be able to appoint five members to the branch board?
CTF/njw