N.Y. Education Law § 2105: Terms of office

§ 2105. Terms of office. 1. In a common school district having a sole

trustee the term of office of trustee shall be one year.

2. In a common school district having three trustees the full term of

office of trustee shall be three years.

3. In a central school district or a union-free school district, the

full term of office of trustee shall be three, four or five years. Any

such school district may decrease the full term of a school trustee to

three or four years or increase the full term of a school trustee to

four or five years by adopting a proposition at any annual meeting or

election to do so; provided, however, that the term of office of each

incumbent trustee shall not be increased or decreased thereby; and

provided, further, that whenever a proposition shall be adopted to

increase the term of office from three or four years to five years, or

to decrease the term of office from four or five years to three years,

such proposition shall provide that one or more of the vacancies to be

filled, during each of the three years next succeeding the adoption of

such proposition, shall be for three or four years only in order that,

as nearly as possible, an equal number of trustees shall be elected to

the board each year.

4. Trustees may be elected for shorter periods as otherwise provided

in this chapter.

5. The term of office of a trustee elected at the first meeting of a

newly created common school district having a sole trustee shall expire

on the first Tuesday of May next thereafter.

6. The term of office of all other district officers shall be one

year.

7. One year, within the meaning of this section, is a school year.

8. When a new union free school district is formed, the meeting, after

determining the number of members of the board of education to be

elected, shall proceed to elect members of the board of education for

various terms not in excess of five years so that as nearly as possible

an equal number of vacancies shall occur on the board of education each

year.

9. When the number of members of the board of education of a union

free school district is increased, the additional members shall be

elected for such terms not in excess of five years so that thereafter as

nearly as possible an equal number of terms shall expire each year.

10. When the number of members of the board of education of a union

free school district is decreased, no election shall be held until the

number of members of the board of education shall be equal to or be less

than the number of members to which the board of education is decreased.

At elections thereafter, the members of the board of education shall be

elected for such terms not in excess of five years so that as nearly as

possible an equal number of members shall be elected to the board each

year.

11. a. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary,

in any union free school district whose boundaries are not coterminous

with those of an incorporated village, except a central school district,

which under the provisions of law in effect on May first, nineteen

hundred fifty-seven, elected members to the board of education for a

term of three years, the qualified voters of the district present and

voting at the annual meeting of such district held during the year

nineteen hundred fifty-eight, may adopt a resolution determining that

members of the board of education of such district shall be elected for

a term of three years. A certified copy of such resolution shall be

filed with the commissioner of education on or before August first,

nineteen hundred fifty-eight. The voters of any such district may

rescind such resolution by a majority vote of the voters present and

voting at a special or annual meeting of the district.

b. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, in

any central school district whose boundaries are not coterminous with

those of an incorporated village, the qualified voters of the district

present and voting at the annual meeting of such district held during

the year nineteen hundred fifty-nine may adopt a resolution determining

that members of the board of education of such district shall be elected

for a term of three years. A certified copy of such resolution shall be

filed with the commissioner of education on or before August first,

nineteen hundred fifty-nine. The voters of any such district may

rescind any such resolution by a majority vote of the voters present and

voting at a special or annual meeting of the district.

c. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, in

any union free school district, the boundaries of which are coterminous

with those of an incorporated village, which under the provisions of law

in effect on April twenty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-nine, elected

members of the board of education for terms of three years, the

qualified voters of the district present and voting at the annual

meeting of such district held during the year nineteen hundred

sixty-one, may adopt a resolution determining that members of the board

of education of such district shall be elected for a term of three

years. A certified copy of such resolution shall be filed with the

commissioner of education on or before August first, nineteen hundred

sixty-one. The voters of any such district may rescind such resolution

by a majority vote of the voters present and voting at a special or

annual meeting of the district.

12. The term of office of trustees of union free school district

number one of the town of Tonawanda, Erie county, shall be three years.

13. Until the terms of all members of the board of education of a

union free school district, have become five years, or three years when

a resolution pursuant to subdivision three or subdivision eleven of this

section has been adopted, members of such board of education shall be

elected in such numbers and for such terms not in excess of five years,

or three years when a resolution pursuant to subdivision three or

subdivision eleven of this section has been adopted, so that as soon as

practicable an equal number of members of such board of education will

be elected each year.

14. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the

contrary, where a term of office expires at the end of a school year and

such position is or becomes vacant at the time of the annual meeting or

election, the person elected to fill the full term vacancy shall also be

deemed elected to fill the remainder of the term preceding the

commencement of the full term.