school district governing boards; training

HB2379 - 572R - S Ver

Senate Engrossed
House Bill

school district
governing boards; training

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 2379

AN
ACT

amending section 15-302, Arizona
Revised Statutes; amending title 15, chapter 3, article 3, Arizona Revised
Statutes, by adding section 15-349; amending section 15-421,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to school district governing boards.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-302, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-302.

Powers and duties

A. The county school superintendent shall:

1. Distribute all laws, reports, circulars,
instructions and forms that the county school superintendent may receive for
the use of school officers.

2. Record all official acts.

3. Appoint governing board members of school
districts to fill all vacancies, but the term of the appointment shall be until
the next regular election for governing board members, at which time a
successor shall be elected to serve the unexpired portion of the
term.
A person who is subject to registration as a sex
offender in this state or in any other jurisdiction is ineligible for
appointment under this paragraph.
Within thirty days after
notification of a vacancy, the school district governing board may submit up to
three names to the county school superintendent for consideration of an
appointment to fill the vacancy. The county school superintendent is
not required to appoint a governing board member from the list of names
submitted by the governing board. The county school superintendent,
if the county school superintendent deems it in the best interest of the
community, may call a special election to fill the vacancies. �If an election
is called, the newly elected member shall serve for the remainder of the
unexpired portion of the term.

a person is ineligible for appointment under this paragraph if either
of the following applies:

(
a
) The person
is subject to registration as a sex offender in this state or in any other
jurisdiction.

(
b
) The person
is ineligible to be a candidate for appointment to the office of school
district governing board member pursuant to section 15-349, subsection E.

4. Make reports, when directed by the superintendent
of public instruction, showing matters relating to schools in the county as may
be required on the forms furnished by the superintendent of public instruction.

5. Have such powers and perform such duties as
otherwise prescribed by law.

6. On or before October 1 of each year, report to
the superintendent of public instruction the amount of monies received from
state school funds, special school district taxes and other sources, the total
expenditures for school purposes and the balance on hand to the credit of each
school district at the close of the school year.

7. Contract with the board of supervisors for the
board of supervisors to conduct all regular school district elections.

8. Be responsible, in cooperation with the school
district governing boards and the board of supervisors, for all special school
district elections.

9. Maintain teacher and administrator certification
records of effective dates and expiration dates of teachers' and
administrators' certificates in compliance with guidelines prescribed in the
uniform system of financial records for those school districts for which the
county school superintendent is the fiscal agent. The county school
superintendent shall not draw a warrant in payment of a teacher's, substitute
teacher's or administrator's salary unless the teacher, substitute teacher or
administrator is legally certified during the fiscal year in which the term for
payment is demanded.

10. Notify a school district three years before the
expiration of a revenue control limit override that the school district's
budget must be adjusted in the final two years of the override pursuant to
section 15-481, subsections P and Q, if the voters do not approve another
override.

11. In collaboration with the department of
education and other state agencies, assist school districts, charter schools,
county free library districts, municipal libraries, nonprofit and public
libraries, tribal libraries, private schools and tribal schools on using
student data, staff development, curriculum alignment and technology to improve
student performance.

12. Assist schools in meeting yearly adequate
progress goals as defined by criteria established by the state board of
education and implemented by the department of education.

B. At the request of school districts and charter
schools, the county school superintendent may provide discretionary programs in
addition to the programs prescribed in subsection A of this section.

C. The county school
superintendent may:

1. Provide the
services prescribed in subsections A and B of this section in the county or
jointly with two or more counties pursuant to title 11, chapter 7, article 3.

2. Review the operations and finances, including
expenditures, of any school district that is located in the county.

D. Each county school superintendent may establish
an advisory committee to the office of the county school superintendent.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title 15, chapter 3, article 3, Arizona
Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-349, to read:

START_STATUTE
15-349.

Governing board members; training requirements; annual reports;
ineligibility; auditor general approval; joint legislative audit committee
hearing and approval

A.
Not later
than forty-five days after the first day of a school district governing
board member's term of office, the governing board member shall
complete a training program
that includes a
total of at least eight hours of instruction on school finance, including how
all of the following
topics relate to school finance:

1. School district governance.

2. The fiduciary duties of school
district governing board members.

3. How to develop, adopt and
implement school district governing board policies.

4. Community engagement and
collaboration with stakeholders.

5. Student outcome-focused
school district governance.

6. The legal and ethical
responsibilities of school district governing board members.

7. Any other
professional
development topics
that are relevant to service as a
school district governing board member.

B. tHE county school superintendent
OF THE COUNTY IN WHICH A SCHOOL DISTRICT IS LOCATED OR, IF A SCHOOL DISTRICT IS
LOCATED IN MORE THAN ONE COUNTY, THE COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COUNTY
IN WHICH a GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER RESIDES SHALL provide a training program that
is approved by the auditor general and that meets the requirements prescribed
by subsection A of this section for THE school district governing board
members. a COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT MAY enter into an
intergovernmental agreement or contract with another county school
superintendent to provide the training program through the other county school
superintendent's office.

C. On or before October 1, 2027 and
each year thereafter, each school district governing board member
who was elected or appointed in the immediately preceding year shall
notify the county school superintendent of the county in which the
school district is located the date on which the governing board member
completed the training. If the school district is located in more than one
county, the governing board member may notify the county school superintendent
of the county in which the governing board member resides. On or before
November 1, 2027 and each year thereafter, each county school superintendent shall
compile the notifications received pursuant to this subsection and submit a
report to the state board of education that indicates whether each school
district governing board member who is required to complete a training program
during the immediately preceding year has complied. �The state board of
education shall compile the reports received pursuant to this subsection and,
on or before December 1, 2027 and each year THEREAFTER, shall submit a report
to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of
representatives, the office of the auditor general and the superintendent of
public instruction that indicates whether each school district governing board
member completed the training.

D. The department of education shall
provide a training program that is approved by the auditor general and that
meets the requirements prescribed by subsection A of this section for each
school district governing board member who is required to complete the training
prescribed by subsection A of this section and who has not completed a training
program that is provided by a county school superintendent pursuant to
subsection B of this section. The department may charge each school
district for the cost of providing the training program to the school
district's governing board members pursuant to this subsection. Each
school district shall pay for any costs incurred by the department to provide
the training to the school district's governing board members.

E. A governing board member who fails
to comply with the requirements prescribed by subsections A and C of this
section is ineligible to be a candidate for nomination, election or appointment
to the office of governing board member in any school district in this state if
the school district governing board member both:

1. Was not appointed to the office of
governing board member during the current term.

2. Is a member of the school district
governing board of a school district that is identified by the auditor general
as one of the highest risk school districts in this state.

F. The department of EDUCATION and
each county school superintendent who provides a training program pursuant to
subsection
B of this section shall submit the training
program to the auditor general, in a form and manner prescribed by the auditor
general, for approval before providing the training program to any governing
board member. If the auditor general disapproves a training program submitted
pursuant to this subsection, the department may submit the training program to
the joint legislative audit committee for review and approval. The joint
legislative audit committee must hear and approve or disapprove the training
program at the first regular meeting after the program is submitted pursuant to
this subsection.� If the joint legislative audit committee approves the
training program by a majority vote, the department may provide the training
program to any governing board member without approval from the auditor
general.

END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 15-421, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-421.

Governing boards; members; qualifications; prohibitions;
candidate statements; definitions

A. The governing body of a school district shall be
a governing board. There shall be three governing board members, except as
otherwise provided by this section and section 15-425, subsection A.

B. The governing body of a high school district
shall be a governing board composed of:

1. In a single district, the governing board members
of the common school district.

2. In a union high school district, five members.

C. A person is eligible for election to the office
of governing board member if all of the following apply:

1. The person is a registered voter of this state.

2. The person has been a resident of the school
district for at least one year immediately preceding the day of election.

3. The person is not subject to registration as a
sex offender in this state or in any other jurisdiction.

4. The person is not ineligible to be
a candidate for nomination or election to the office of governing board member
pursuant to section 15-349, subsection E.

D. An employee of a school district, including a
person who directly provides certified or classified services to the school
district as an employee of a third-party contractor, or the spouse of
such an employee may not hold membership on the governing board of a school
district by which the employee is employed.

E. Notwithstanding subsection D of this section and
title 38, chapter 3, article 8, a small school district may employ, including
employment through a third-party contractor that provides services to the
small school district, a substitute teacher who is related to a member of the
governing board as immediate family and who has had the same household of
residence within the preceding four years. If a small school district employs a
substitute teacher pursuant to this subsection, the member of the governing
board who is related to the substitute teacher shall be recused from voting on
any matter relating to substitute teachers.

F. A school district may employ, including
employment through a third-party contractor that provides services to the
school district, a person who served as a member of the school district's
governing board during the preceding two years only in a position in which the
person will provide services directly to students, including as a certificated
teacher, a substitute teacher and an employee or contractor who provides
transportation, instructional support or student support services. A
school district may increase the time period prescribed in this subsection to
be more than two years.

G. A member of one governing board is ineligible to
be a candidate for nomination or election to or serve simultaneously as a
member of any other governing board, except that a member of a governing board
may be a candidate for nomination or election for any other governing board if
the member is serving in the last year of a term of office. A member
of a governing board shall resign the member's seat on the governing board
before becoming a candidate for nomination or election to the governing board
of any other school district, unless the member of the governing board is
serving in the last year of a term of office.

H. Notwithstanding section 15-511, each county
school superintendent shall publish on the superintendent's website the
statement of each certified candidate for membership on a school district
governing board located in the county. The county school
superintendent shall list each school district on the superintendent's website
from which a link shall be established to the candidate's name, which shall
link to the candidate's statement and photograph. The candidate
shall submit the statement to the person at the county school superintendent's
office assigned to manage candidate statements, after notice of certification
from the county school superintendent's office but not later than twenty-one
days before the date that general election early ballots are allowed to be
mailed. The person shall post each candidate's statement on the
county school superintendent's website not later than fourteen days before the
date that general election early ballots are allowed to be
mailed. If a candidate does not submit a statement, the county
school superintendent's website shall state "no response submitted"
for the candidate. The candidate statements shall be posted on the
website alphabetically by each school district and by candidate. The
candidate statement shall be typewritten or electronically
submitted. The county school superintendent shall post the
statements verbatim as they are received unless a candidate requests in writing
that typographical errors be corrected. The candidate statement
shall contain the following items in the same size and format for each
candidate:

1. A recent photograph of the candidate.

2. A statement not to exceed five hundred words.

3. A disclosure of
any relationships by affinity, by consanguinity or by law to the third degree
that exist between the candidate and any current governing board members or
other candidates for election to the same governing board.

I. Persons related as immediate family who have the
same household of residence within four years prior shall not serve
simultaneously on the governing board of the same school district if the
governing board is composed of five members. For a school district
with a student count of at least two hundred fifty that is located in a county
with a population of more than five hundred thousand persons, not more than two
persons related by affinity, by consanguinity or by law to the third degree
shall serve simultaneously on the governing board of the same school district
if the governing board is composed of five members. A qualified
elector who resides in the school district may bring an action in superior
court to enforce this subsection.

J. A person related as immediate family who has the
same household of residence within four years prior to a member of the
governing board of the same school district is ineligible to be a candidate for
nomination or election to that governing board if the governing board is
composed of five members, except that a person related as immediate family who
has the same household of residence within four years prior to a member of a
governing board may be a candidate for nomination or election to the governing board
of the same school district if the member is serving in the last year of a term
of office. For a school district with a student count of at least
two hundred fifty that is located in a county with a population of more than
five hundred thousand persons, not more than two persons related by affinity,
by consanguinity or by law to the third degree shall be eligible to be a
candidate for nomination or election to a governing board that is composed of
five members. A qualified elector who resides in the school district
may bring an action in superior court to enforce this subsection.

K. Persons related as immediate family who have the
same household of residence within four years prior are ineligible to be
simultaneous candidates for nomination or election to the governing board of
the same school district if the governing board is composed of five
members. For a school district with a student count of at least two
hundred fifty that is located in a county with a population of more than five
hundred thousand persons, not more than two persons related by affinity, by
consanguinity or by law to the third degree shall be simultaneous candidates
for nomination or election to a governing board that is composed of five
members. A qualified elector who resides in the school district may
bring an action in superior court to enforce this subsection.

L. For the purposes
of this section:

1. "Household of
residence" means the place of abode during applicable time periods or the
residence address used by an individual for voter registration or property tax
purposes.

2. "Immediate family" means individuals
who are married to each other and any children of those individuals.

3. "Small school district" has the same
meaning prescribed in section 15-901.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 4.
Existing school
district governing board members; training requirements; definition

A. Notwithstanding
section 15-349, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, any
individual who is a member of a school district governing board in this state
on the effective date of this act and whose term of office expires on or after
one year after the effective date of this act shall both:

1. Complete
a training program as required by section 15-349, subsection A, Arizona
Revised Statutes, as added by this act, not later than one year after the
effective date of this act.

2. Notify
the appropriate county school superintendent of the date on which the governing
board member completes the training program as prescribed by section 15-349,
subsection C, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.

B. Any
school district governing board member in this state whose term of office
begins after the effective date of this act shall complete the training program
on or before the deadline prescribed by section 15-349, subsection A,
Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.

C. For
the purposes of this section, "training program" means a training
program that meets the requirements prescribed by section 15-349,
subsection A, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.