Sec. 2. (a) In any county or adjoining counties at least two (2) school corporations, including school towns, school cities, consolidated school corporations, joint schools, metropolitan school districts, township school districts, or community school corporations, regardless of whether the consolidating school corporations are of the same or of a different character, may consolidate into one (1) metropolitan school district. Subject to subsection (h), the consolidation must be initiated by following either of the following procedures:

(1) The board of school trustees, board of education, or other governing body (the board or other governing body is referred to elsewhere in this section as the “governing body”) of each school corporation to be consolidated shall:

(A) adopt substantially identical resolutions providing for the consolidation; and

(B) publish a notice setting out the text of the resolution one (1) time under IC 5-3-1.

The resolution must set forth any provision for staggering the terms of the board members of the metropolitan school district elected under this chapter. If, not more than thirty (30) days after publication of the resolution, a petition of protest, signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of the registered voters residing in the school corporation is filed with the clerk of the circuit court of each county where the voters who are eligible to sign the petition reside, a referendum election shall be held as provided in subsection (c).

(2) Instead of the adoption of substantially identical resolutions in each of the proposed consolidating school corporations under subdivision (1), a referendum election under subsection (c) shall be held on the occurrence of all of the following:

(A) At least twenty percent (20%) of the registered voters residing in a particular school corporation sign a petition requesting that the school corporation consolidate with another school corporation (referred to in this subsection as “the responding school corporation”).

(B) The petition described in clause (A) is filed with the clerk of the circuit court of each county where the voters who are eligible to sign the petition reside.

(C) Not more than thirty (30) days after the service of the petition by the clerk of the circuit court to the governing body of the responding school corporation under subsection (b) and the certification of signatures on the petition occurs under subsection (b), the governing body of the responding school corporation adopts a resolution approving the petition and providing for the consolidation.

(D) An approving resolution has the same effect as the substantially identical resolutions adopted by the governing bodies under subdivision (1), and the governing bodies shall publish the notice provided under subdivision (1) not more than fifteen (15) days after the approving resolution is adopted. However, if a governing body that is a party to the consolidation fails to publish notice within the required fifteen (15) day time period, a referendum election still must be held as provided in subsection (c).

If the governing body of the responding school corporation does not act on the petition within the thirty (30) day period described in clause (C), the governing body’s inaction constitutes a disapproval of the petition request. If the governing body of the responding school corporation adopts a resolution disapproving the petition or fails to act within the thirty (30) day period, a referendum election as described in subsection (c) may not be held and the petition requesting the consolidation is defeated.

     (b) Any petition of protest under subsection (a)(1) or a petition requesting consolidation under subsection (a)(2) must show in the petition the date on which each person has signed the petition and the person’s residence on that date. The petition may be executed in several counterparts, the total of which constitutes the petition. Each counterpart must contain the names of voters residing within a single county and shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court of the county. Each counterpart must have attached to it the affidavit of the person circulating the counterpart that each signature appearing on the counterpart was affixed in that person’s presence and is the true and lawful signature of each person who made the signature. Any signer may file the petition or any counterpart of the petition. Each signer on the petition may before and may not after the filing with the clerk withdraw the signer’s name from the petition. A name may not be added to the petition after the petition has been filed with the clerk. After the receipt of any counterpart of the petition, each circuit court clerk shall certify:

(1) the number of persons signing the counterpart;

(2) the number of persons who are registered voters residing within that part of the school corporation located within the clerk’s county, as disclosed by the voter registration records in the office of the clerk or the board of registration of the county, or wherever registration records may be kept;

(3) the total number of registered voters residing within the boundaries of that part of the school corporation located within the county, as disclosed in the voter registration records; and

(4) the date of the filing of the petition.

Certification shall be made by each clerk of the circuit court not more than thirty (30) days after the filing of the petition, excluding from the calculation of the period any time during which the registration records are unavailable to the clerk, or within any additional time as is reasonably necessary to permit the clerk to make the certification. In certifying the number of registered voters, the clerk of the circuit court shall disregard any signature on the petition not made within the ninety (90) days immediately before the filing of the petition with the clerk as shown by the dates set out in the petition. The clerk of the circuit court shall establish a record of the certification in the clerk’s office and shall serve the original petition and a copy of the certification on the county election board under IC 3-10-9-3 and the governing bodies of each affected school corporation. Service shall be made by mail or manual delivery to the governing bodies, to any officer of the governing bodies, or to the administrative office of the governing bodies, if any, and shall be made for all purposes of this section on the day of the mailing or the date of the manual delivery.

     (c) The county election board in each county where the proposed metropolitan school district is located, acting jointly where the proposed metropolitan school district is created and where it is located in more than one (1) county, shall cause any referendum election required under either subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) to be held in the entire proposed metropolitan district at a special election. The special election shall be not less than sixty (60) days and not more than ninety (90) days after the service of the petition of protest and certification by each clerk of the circuit court under subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) or after the occurrence of the first action requiring a referendum under subsection (a)(2). However, if a primary or general election at which county officials are to be nominated or elected, or at which city or town officials are to be elected in those areas of the proposed metropolitan school district that are within the city or town, is to be held after the sixty (60) days and not more than six (6) months after the service or the occurrence of the first action, each election board may hold the referendum election with the primary or general election.

     (d) Notice of the special election shall be given by each election board by publication under IC 5-3-1.

     (e) Except where it conflicts with this section or cannot be practicably applied, IC 3 applies to the conduct of the referendum election. If the referendum election is not conducted at a primary or general election, the cost of conducting the election shall be charged to each component school corporation included in the proposed metropolitan school district in the same proportion as its assessed valuation bears to the total assessed valuation of the proposed metropolitan school district and shall be paid from the operations fund of each component school corporation not otherwise appropriated, without appropriation.

     (f) The question in the referendum election shall be placed on the ballot in the form prescribed by IC 3-10-9-4 and must state “Shall the school corporations of _________ be formed into one (1) metropolitan school district under IC 20-23-7?” (in which blanks the respective name of the school districts concerned will be inserted).

     (g) If:

(1) a protest petition with the required signatures is not filed after the adoption of substantially identical resolutions of the governing bodies providing for or approving the consolidation as described in subsection (a)(1); or

(2) a referendum election occurs in the entire proposed metropolitan district and a majority of the voters in each proposed consolidating school corporation vote in the affirmative;

a metropolitan school district is created and comes into existence in the territory subject to the provisions and under the conditions described in this chapter. The boundaries include all of the territory within the school corporations, and it shall be known as “Metropolitan School District of _______, Indiana” (the name of the district concerned will be inserted in the blank). The name of the district shall be decided by a majority vote of the metropolitan governing board of the metropolitan school district at the first meeting. The metropolitan governing board of the new metropolitan school district shall be composed and elected under this chapter. The failure of any public official or body to perform any duty within the time provided in this chapter does not invalidate any proceedings taken by that official or body, but this provision shall not be construed to authorize a delay in the holding of a referendum election under this chapter.

     (h) If the governing body of a school corporation is involved in a consolidation proposal under subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) that fails to result in a consolidation, the:

(1) governing body of the school corporation may not initiate a subsequent consolidation with another school corporation under subsection (a)(1); and

(2) residents of the school corporation may not file a petition requesting a consolidation with another school corporation under subsection (a)(2);

for one (1) year after the date on which the prior consolidation proposal failed.

[Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-4-8-12.]

As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.233-2015, SEC.66; P.L.244-2017, SEC.26.