§45-35A-53. Dothan City Board of Education.

(a) There is established a school board for the City of Dothan, Alabama, which board shall be called the Dothan City Board of Education. Members of the board shall be elected by vote of the qualified electors of the City of Dothan. The board shall be composed of seven members, with one member being elected from each of the six school districts as defined in subsection (b), and the chair being elected from the city at-large.

(b) The school districts shall be geographically identical to the districts from which the six commission members of the City of Dothan are elected. If the boundaries of a city commission district should be changed for any reason, the boundaries of the corresponding school board district within the City of Dothan shall automatically change accordingly without the necessity of further action by the Legislature.

(c) Candidates for each place on the city board of education shall be at least 21 years of age, residents of the school board district which they seek to represent on the board for at least 90 consecutive days immediately preceding the deadline date for qualifying as a candidate, and shall not have a record of conviction for any crime involving moral turpitude. Candidates for chair shall have the same qualifications as others except they shall have been a resident of the city for 90 days instead of the district. The qualification fee for the first election to be held for the board created by this section shall be twenty-five dollars ($25) for each candidate. Thereafter, each candidate shall pay a qualifying fee prescribed by the Dothan City Commission not later than six months prior to the qualifying deadline as provided by law.

(d)(1) Elected school board members shall serve four-year terms unless otherwise provided pursuant to this section. Board members shall serve from the date on which they are sworn into office until the swearing in of their successors following the next regularly scheduled school board elections. Board members elected in 1994, including the chair elected from the city-at-large, shall serve three-year terms expiring at noon on October 6, 1997. Elections shall be held every other year on the same date as municipal elections, beginning in 1997. Board members elected in 1997 from Districts 2, 4, and 6 shall serve terms of two years. Board members elected in 1997 from Districts 1, 3, and 5, and the chair elected from the city-at-large, shall serve four-year terms. Thereafter, all board members shall be elected to serve four-year terms commencing at noon on the same date as the commencement of the terms of the city governing body.

(2) Effective for the election of school board members in 2011, board members elected from Districts 2, 4, and 6 shall be elected for two-year terms. Effective in 2013, and thereafter, all school board members and the chair shall be elected for four-year terms.

(3) Effective for the election of school board members in 2013 and thereafter, the election of school board members shall be held on the same date as municipal elections.

(e) A vacancy in the city board of education shall be filled by appointment by a majority of the remaining members of the city board of education for the unexpired term. In the event the vacancy is not filled by the remaining members of the city board within 30 days, the State Superintendent of Education shall fill the vacancy by appointment. The city superintendent of education shall notify the State Superintendent of Education when a vacancy on the city board of education has not been filled within 30 days.

(f) In the event no candidate receives a majority of all of the votes cast for any one or more positions on the school board, the city commission shall order a run-off election to be held on the same date that a run-off election would be held for the election of the city governing body. At the run-off election the two candidates receiving the most votes for the office in the initial election shall be the only candidates. The candidate receiving the most votes in the run-off election shall be declared as elected. In the event of a tie vote between the run-off candidates, the city commission shall decide the election by majority vote at a special meeting called for the purpose by the commission’s presiding officer.

(g) All members of the elected city school board created by this section shall represent the interests of any student of the city school system who is not otherwise represented by a certain district school board member as provided for in this section.

(h) The compensation for the members of the school board shall be one hundred dollars ($100) per month to be paid from city school system funds. The board may change this amount by majority vote thereof, which changes shall be made not later than six months prior to the deadline for qualification of candidates for seats on the board of education. Thereafter, the compensation as set by the board from time to time shall be in effect for successor boards.

(i) The board of education shall have the financial records of the Dothan School System audited at least annually by an independent auditing firm with the results of the audit being a matter of public record.

(j) The members of the board shall have the powers, authority, duties, and responsibilities as are otherwise provided by law for members of boards of education as set forth in Chapter 11, Title 16.

(Act 93-684, p. 1307, §§1-10; Act 95-701, p. 1517, §1; Act 2006-349, p. 924, §1.)