1. At the hearing, which shall be held within ten days of the final date set for filing objections, interested parties, both petitioners and objectors, may present evidence and arguments, and the area education agency board shall review the matter on its merits and within ten days after the conclusion of any hearing, shall rule on the objections and shall enter an order fixing the boundaries for the proposed school corporation as will in its judgment be for the best interests of all parties concerned, having due regard for the welfare of adjoining districts, or dismiss the petition.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 275.15

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • School: means an agency of the state or political subdivision of the state, individual, partnership, company, firm, society, trust, association, corporation, or any combination which meets any of the following criteria:
     a. See Iowa Code 261B.2
  • School districts affected: means the school districts named in the reorganization petition whether a school district is affected in whole or in part. See Iowa Code 275.1
 2. The area education agency board, when entering the order fixing the boundaries, shall consider all available evidence including, but not limited to, information presented by the petitioners, all objections requesting territory exclusion, reorganization studies and plans, geographical patterns evidenced by students using open enrollment to attend school in another district pursuant to section 282.18, potential travel distances required of students, and geographic configuration of the proposed district. The exclusion of territory shall represent a balance between the rights of the objectors and the welfare of the reorganized district.
 3. If the petition is not dismissed and the board determines that additional information is required in order to fix boundary lines of the proposed school corporation, the board may continue the hearing for no more than thirty days. The date of the continued hearing shall be announced at the original meeting. Additional objections in the form required in section 275.14 may be considered if filed with the administrator within five days, not including Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays, after the date of the original board hearing. If the hearing is continued, the area education agency administrator may conduct one or more meetings with the boards of directors of the affected districts. Notice of any such meeting must be given at least forty-eight hours in advance by the area education agency administrator in the manner provided in section 21.4. The area education agency board may request that the administrator make alternative recommendations regarding the boundary lines of the proposed school corporation. The area education agency board shall make a decision on the boundary lines within ten days following the conclusion of the continued hearing.
 4. The administrator shall at once publish the decision in the same newspaper in which the original notice was published. Within twenty days after the publication, the decision rendered by the area education agency board may be appealed to the district court in the county involved by any school district affected. For purposes of appeal, only those school districts who filed reorganization petitions are school districts affected. An appeal from a decision of an area education agency board or joint area education agency boards under section 275.4, 275.16, or this section is subject to appeal procedures under this chapter and is not subject to appeal under chapter 290.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 275 Contents