1. (a) There is established a school board for the City of Tallassee, Alabama, which shall be called the Tallassee Board of Education. The members of such board shall be elected by vote of the qualified electors of the City of Tallassee as provided in this section. The board shall be composed of seven members, with one member of the board being elected from each of seven school districts as defined in subsection (b).
2. (b) The school districts from which board members are to be elected shall be geographically identical to the districts from which the council members of the city are elected. In the event the boundaries of a city council district should be changed for any reason, the boundaries of the corresponding school board district within the City of Tallassee shall automatically change accordingly without the necessity of further action by the Legislature.
3. (c) Candidates for each place on the board of education shall be at least 21 years of age, residents of the school board district that they seek to represent on the board for at least 90 consecutive days prior to the deadline date for qualifying as a candidate, and shall not have a record of conviction for any crime involving moral turpitude. At the time of qualifying, each candidate for each place on the board shall pay a qualifying fee prescribed by the city council not later than six months prior to the qualifying deadline as provided by law.
4. (d) Elected board members shall serve for four-year terms with the elections and terms coinciding with those of the members of the city council. The initial elections for elected board members shall be held no later than 90 days next following July 22, 1992. The initially elected board members shall serve from the date on which they are sworn into office until the swearing in of their successors next following the next regularly scheduled city council and school board elections. Terms of office for the initially elected board members shall terminate on the first Monday of October 1992, at noon or at such time as their duly elected successors are sworn in subsequent to the first Monday of October 1992.
5. (e) In the event a vacancy occurs in the office of members of the board, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by a majority of the remaining members of the board, and the appointee shall hold for the unexpired term. In the event the vacancy is not filled by the remaining members of the board within 30 days, the State Superintendent of Education shall fill the vacancy by appointment. The city superintendent of education shall notify the State Superintendent of Education when a vacancy in the office of a member of the board has not been filled within 30 days.
6. (f) In the event no candidate receives a majority of all of the votes cast for one or more positions on the board, the city council shall order a runoff election to be held separately or in conjunction with any scheduled primary, special, or general election, at which election the two candidates receiving the most votes for the office in the initial election shall be the only candidates. The candidate receiving the most votes in the runoff election shall be declared to be elected. In the event of a tie vote between the runoff candidates, the then serving city council shall decide the election by majority vote at a special meeting called for such purpose by the council’s presiding officer.
7. (g) All members of the board created by this section shall represent the interests of any student of the city school system who is not otherwise represented by a certain district school board member as provided for in this section.
8. (h) The board shall have the financial records of the Tallassee School System audited at least annually by an independent auditing firm with the results of the audit being a matter of public record.
9. (i) The members of the board shall have such powers, authority, duties, and responsibilities as are otherwise provided by law for members of boards of education as set forth in Chapter 11 of Title 16. The new board elected under this section shall assume all of the responsibilities, contracts, obligations, and liabilities of the former board of education. The new board shall assume ownership of any and all assets of the former board.

10. (j)

    1. (1) In accordance with Section 16-1-26(a), upon approval by a majority vote of the board at the Tallassee Board of Education’s annual meeting, each board member shall receive reasonable compensation for his or her services in the form of an expense allowance. The amount shall be set by a majority of the members of the board, not to exceed nine hundred dollars ($900) per month, in addition to any actual travel and necessary expenses incurred in attending meetings and transacting business of the board. The expense allowance provided by this subsection shall become effective on the first day of the month following approval by the board.
    2. (2) Commencing with the next term of office beginning after June 1, 2026, and thereafter, the expense allowance provided for in subdivision (1) shall be converted to a salary for all members of the board.
    3. (3) The compensation provided by this subsection shall be subject to the requirements set forth in Section 16-1-26(d) and Section 16-1-41.1(d).

(Act 91-349, p. 670, §§1-9; Act 93-544, p. 898, §1; Act 2026-213, §1.)