1.    A county committee shall initiate proceedings to dissolve a school district and attach the property to other operating high school districts in the same county, or to a non-high school district in the same county if there are no high school districts in the same county adjacent to the district being dissolved, when it is notified in writing by the county superintendent of schools whose jurisdiction includes the administrative headquarters of the district that:

Terms Used In North Dakota Code 15.1-12-26

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49

a.    The district is financially unable to effectively and efficiently educate its students; b.    The district has not operated a school as required by section 15.1-12-24; or

c.    A school board has determined that dissolution is in the best interest of its students.

2.    Except as provided in subsection 3, a county committee shall initiate proceedings under section 15.1-12-27 to attach real property to an operating high school district in the same county, or to a non-high school district in the same county if there is no high school district in the same county adjacent to the district being dissolved, when it is notified in writing by the county superintendent that:

a.    Real property has been severed from its school district by the expansion of a city and the severed portion is not contiguous with its district; or

b.    There exists real property that does not belong to a school district.

3.    If a school district reorganization plan which does not include all real property in a district is approved by the electors, the county committee shall, within forty-five days after the election, hold a hearing under section 15.1-12-27 to attach the remaining property to one or more operating high school districts in the same county, or to non-high school districts in the same county if there are no high school districts in the same county adjacent to the district being dissolved.

4.    Subject to state board approval under section 15.1-12-27, a county committee that has initiated proceedings to dissolve a school district under this section may sell, exchange, or donate property or assets of the dissolving district to another political subdivision for less than fair market value provided the dissolving district has sufficient property and assets remaining to satisfy the requirements of sections 15.1-12-28 and 15.1-12-28.1.

5.    Receipt of notice by a county committee under this section:

a.    Renders an annexation petition involving any real property in the district void, unless the annexation has already been approved by the state board; and

b.    Prohibits the acceptance of a new annexation petition involving any real property in the district until all dissolution proceedings have been completed.

6.    One or more annexation petitions may not be used to annex all of the real property in a school district to surrounding school districts.

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