School district reorganization.

(1) Existing law defines an action to reorganize school districts as an action to form, dissolve, or lapse a school district, to annex all or part of the territory of a district to another district, to transfer all or part of a district to another district, the unification or deunification of a school district, or to otherwise alter the boundaries of a school district, or any combination of those actions. This bill would revise and clarify that definition. (2) Existing law prescribes the procedure to reorganize school districts, including the filing of a petition with the county superintendent of schools by specified persons. Existing law authorizes a county committee on school district reorganization to approve petitions to transfer territory, other than petitions to transfer uninhabited territory from one district to another, or to transfer inhabited territory of less than 10% of the assessed valuation of the district from which the territory is being transferred, if it finds that certain specified conditions substantially are met. Existing law requires the committee, if it approves such a petition, to notify the county superintendent of schools, who in turn is required to call an election in the territory of the districts, as determined by the county committee, to be conducted at the next election of any kind in accordance with specified statutory provisions regarding elections. This bill would authorize a county committee to approve a petition to form one or more school districts if specified conditions are met, including the granting of approval authority by each county superintendent of schools with jurisdiction over an affected school district that elects to grant approval authority to the county committee on school district reorganization for which he or she is secretary and the governing board of each of the affected school districts consenting to the petition. (3) Existing law provides that any school district which has been organized for more than 3 years shall be lapsed, as provided, if the number of registered electors in the district is less than 6 or if specified conditions are satisfied. For purposes of these provisions regarding lapses, this bill would define lapse as an action to dissolve a school district and annex the entire territory of that district to one or more adjoining school districts. The bill would provide that an action to lapse a school district is subject to specified general statutory provisions regarding the reorganization of school districts. (4) The bill also would make related technical and conforming changes.