Arizona § 15-444 - Formation of union high school district; petition for establishment; election; notice

§ 15-444. Formation of union high school district; petition for establishment; election; notice

A. Two or more adjoining school districts jointly having a student count of at least two hundred pupils and an assessed valuation of at least $2,000,000 may unite and form a union high school district. A union high school district may not be formed of territory already embodied in a union high school district unless the remaining territory of the original union high school district is contiguous and has an assessed valuation of at least $5,000,000.

B. If a majority of the governing boards of each of two or more adjoining school districts unites in a petition to the county school superintendent to establish a union high school district, or if ten percent of the residents of each of two or more adjoining school districts unite in a petition to establish a union high school district, the county school superintendent shall call an election to be held at the next regular election of the governing board, if within ninety days after receipt of the petition, to determine the question, or a special election called for that purpose within sixty days.

C. Public notices of the election, not less than three in each school district comprising the proposed union high school district, shall be posted, one to be on the door of the schoolhouse in each district, at least ten days before the election.

D. The election shall be conducted as nearly as practicable in the manner prescribed in section 15-459. The ballots shall contain the words "union high school district, yes" and "union high school district, no", and the voter shall signify his desired choice.

E. If a majority of the persons voting within each school district comprising the proposed union high school district votes in favor of establishing a union high school district, the union high school district shall become effective as provided in section 15-459, subsection J.

F. If a union high school district is established from a unified school district as provided in this section, a common school district is established with boundaries coterminous with the boundaries of the former unified school district.