board members; qualifications; training requirements

HB4114 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
board members; qualifications; training requirements

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 4114

Introduced by

Representative
Hernandez L

AN
ACT

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. 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; professional development training

If the superintendent of public instruction, any
county school superintendent or any school district superintendent offers
professional development training relating to school district governance, each
governing board member of each school district in this state shall complete
either:

1. Eight hours or more of that
professional development training.

2. A professional development
training workshop.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. 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 meets at least one of
the following:

(
a
) has
COMPLETED at least two years of postsecondary education.

(
b
) Has at
least two years of experience, including experience as a paid employee or as a
volunteer or intern, relating to any of the following:

(
i
) Public
school finance.

(
ii
) Public
school budgets.

(
iii
) School
property.

(
iv
) Student
health and safety.

(
v
) Student
achievement.

(
vi
) The open
meeting law.

(
vii
) Conflicts
of interest.

(
viii
) Fiduciary
responsibilities.

(
ix
) Any other
experience relating to school district governance.

(
c
) Has a
combination of postsecondary education and experience as described in
subdivision (
b
) of this paragraph that, taken together,
equals at least two years.

(
d
) Has
completed the professional development training or professional development
training workshop required by section 15-349.

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. 3.
Applicability;
delayed repeal

A. Notwithstanding section
15-421, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, all persons
serving as members of a school district governing board on the effective date
of this act may continue to serve until the expiration of their normal terms.

B. This section is repealed
from and after December 31, 2030.