ATLANTA – State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) recently pre-filed House Bill 671, which would implement a process for reducing the DeKalb County School board from nine to seven members, as required by Senate Bill 79, which was signed into law earlier this year.
“Reducing the size of the DeKalb School Board from nine to seven members, along with our obligation to draw new School Board district lines, requires thought and input from voters and school supporters,” said Rep. Oliver. “I hope pre-filing HB 671 will allow a more open discussion, and help us move toward more effective school governance.”
Currently, DeKalb County is divided into seven individual “local” school board districts and two at-large districts. One of these at-large districts, also known as “super districts,” is comprised of the northeastern half of DeKalb County, while the other at-large district represents the southwestern half of the county. Thus, each resident of DeKalb County is actually represented by two school board members, their local district board member and their at-large district board member.
If passed by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor, HB 671 would meet the mandates of SB 79 by eliminating the DeKalb County Board of Education’s two at-large districts. The legislation would also establish a system for electing school board members from seven redrawn single-member districts. Because voters elected the current board members to four year terms, which cannot be shortened without a referendum, the changes included in HB 671 would not affect the terms of the current board members. Instead, the legislation would deem local districts one, three, five, and seven, as well as at-large district nine, to represent the new single-member districts in which they live. Then, in 2012, the board members currently representing local districts two, four, and six, as well as at-large district eight, will run for election in the remaining two new districts, resulting in a seven member board by January, 2013.
For more information about HB 671, please click here.
Representative Mary Margaret Oliver represents the citizens of District 83, which includes portions of DeKalb County. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 2002, plus five years previous service. She currently serves on the Appropriations, Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, and Science and Technology committees.
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