New Jersey § 18a:13-8

§ 18a:13-8.

The board of education of a regional district shall consist of nine members unless

it consists of more than nine constituent districts, in which case the membership

shall be the same as the number of constituent districts, plus one. Except as otherwise provided pursuant to section 1 or section 3 of P.L.2017, c. 45 ( C.18A:13-34a or C.18A:13-46.1 ), if there are nine or less constituent districts, the members of the board of education

of the regional district shall be apportioned by the executive county superintendent

or executive county superintendents of the county or counties in which the constituent

districts are situate, among said districts as nearly as may be according to the number

of their inhabitants except that each constituent district shall have at least one

member. In making the apportionment of the membership of a regional board of education among

the several school districts uniting to create a regional school district having nine

or less constituent districts, as required by section 18A:13-36 , there shall be subtracted from the number of inhabitants of a constituent school

district, as shown by the last federal census officially promulgated in this State as reported by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2021, c. 198 ( C.52:4-1.6 ) , the number of such inhabitants who according to the records of the Federal Bureau

of the Census were patients in any State or federal hospital , or who are military personnel stationed at, or civilians residing within the limits

of, any United States Army, Navy or Air Force installation, located in such constituent

school district. Except as otherwise provided pursuant to section 1 or section 3 of P.L.2017, c. 45 ( C.18A:13-34a or C.18A:13-46.1 ), if there are more than nine constituent districts, the members on the board shall

be apportioned among the constituent districts and the weight of their votes in all

proceedings of the board shall be determined by the appropriate executive county superintendent

or superintendents through the following procedure: a. The number of inhabitants of each constituent district shall be determined as shown

by the last federal census officially promulgated in this State as reported by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2021, c. 198 ( C.52:4-1.6 ) . b. A representative ratio shall be calculated by adding the number of inhabitants

of all constituent districts and dividing the sum by the board size. c. All constituent districts shall be listed in ascending order of their number of

inhabitants. If the first constituent district in said list has a number of inhabitants which

is less than the representative ratio, it shall be combined with the constituent district

contiguous to it having the smallest number of inhabitants. This process shall be repeated for each successively larger constituent district

or combination of constituent districts until all remaining constituent districts

or combinations of constituent districts shall have a number of inhabitants equal

to, or exceeding the representative ratio. The districts formed in this manner shall be known as representative districts. d. There shall be established a priority list according to the method of equal proportions

for the apportionment of the members of the regional district board of education among

the representative districts. e. The members of the regional district board of education shall be apportioned among

the representative districts according to the method of equal proportions, and where

a representative district is composed of more than one constituent district, members

shall be elected at large from within the representative district. f. The number of inhabitants of each representative district shall be divided by the

number of members assigned to that district to find the number of inhabitants per

member. g. The vote to be cast by each member of the regional district board of education

in all proceedings of the board shall be determined by dividing the number of inhabitants

per member in the representative district from which the member is elected by the

representative ratio for the regional district, and rounding off the quotient to the

nearest tenth of a full vote. Wherever any statute or bylaw of the board requires decision in any matter by vote

of a majority of the board members, or of the members present, this shall be interpreted

as meaning a majority of the weighted votes of all members, or of the members present,

as the case may be. h. Whenever the above reapportionment procedure is used for a regional district having

more than nine constituent districts, the terms of office of all incumbent board of

education members shall terminate on the day on which the annual organization meeting

of the board is held pursuant to N.J.S.18A:13-12 following certification by the executive county superintendent of the representative

districts and the number of members to be elected from each; provided, that if the

reapportionment results in any representative district retaining its former boundaries

and the same number of board members, that the members elected from such a district

shall serve the full term for which they were elected. All other board members shall be elected in an election to be held on the date of

the annual school election at least 60 days following certification by the executive

county superintendent for initial terms of office to be designated in advance by the

executive county superintendent so that, as nearly as possible, one-third of the board

shall be elected in each future year, to serve for three-year terms, and where a representative

district has more than one member, their terms of office shall terminate in different

years. If any constituent district is a consolidated district, or a district composed of

two or more municipalities, and a. The original district is a limited purpose regional district and such constituent

district has such population that it is entitled to have apportioned to it a number

of members equal to or greater than the number of districts making up such constituent

district, or b. The regional district is an all purpose district, the membership of the regional

board of education from such district shall be apportioned, and from time to time

reapportioned, and the members from the district shall be elected, as their respective

terms expire, in the same manner as though each of the municipalities making up such

constituent district were constituent districts of the regional district.