A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide for the partisan election of the gaston county board of education.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Section 2 of Chapter 633 of the 1977 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 2. Composition of board of education.
(a)	Notwithstanding G.S. 115C‑35, the board of education shall consist of nine members elected to staggered four‑year terms. Two members shall be elected from the county at‑large and seven members shall be elected from residency districts. For the seven residency district seats, no person shall be eligible to file for or be elected to the board of education unless the person is a qualified voter and resident of the residency district in which the candidate seeks to be elected. All members of the board of education shall be elected by the duly qualified voters of Gaston County.
(b)	The residency districts for the board of education and the number of members from each residency district are as follows:
(1)	Cherryville Township shall be entitled to one member.
(2)	Crowders Mountain Township shall be entitled to one member.
(3)	Dallas Township shall be entitled to one member.
(4)	Gastonia Township shall be entitled to two members.
(5)	Riverbend Township shall be entitled to one member.
(6)	Southpoint Township shall be entitled to one member."
SECTION 2.  Section 3 of Chapter 633 of the 1977 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 3. Elections. 

Notwithstanding G.S. 115C‑37, members of the board of education shall be elected on a partisan basis at the time of the general election in each even‑numbered year as terms expire. Candidates for election to the board of education shall be nominated at the same time and manner as other county officers. Members shall take office on the first Monday in December following the election. Members shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.
The election of members of the board of education shall be held, conducted and supervised by the board of elections; and except as herein provided, the general election laws and regulations for the nomination and election of county officers, which are set forth in Chapters 115C and 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, as amended, shall apply and govern as to the holding of any election for members of the board of education."
SECTION 3.  Section 4 of Chapter 633 of the 1977 Session Laws, as amended by Chapter 331 of the 1979 Session Laws and Chapter 73 of the 1993 Session Laws, is repealed.
SECTION 4.  Section 7 of Chapter 633 of the 1977 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 7. Vacancy. All vacancies in the membership of the board of education by death, resignation, or other causes shall be filled in accordance with G.S. 115C‑37.1."
SECTION 5.  This act does not affect the term of any member elected in 2024 to the Gaston County Board of Education. Any vacancy on the Gaston County Board of Education for a member elected in 2024 shall be filled by appointment by the remaining members of the Gaston County Board of Education to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. When a vacancy occurs in a seat elected from a residency district, the successor shall be selected from the residency district of the vacating member. Each member of the Gaston County Board of Education elected in 2024, or any member appointed to fill a vacancy for a member elected in 2024, shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.
SECTION 6.  G.S. 115C‑37.1(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	This section shall apply only to the Hickory City Board of Education and the Newton‑Conover City Board of Education and in the following counties: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Beaufort, Brunswick, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Carteret, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Craven, Dare, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Graham, Harnett, Henderson, Hyde, Iredell, Lee, Lincoln, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Polk, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Vance, Washington, and Yancey."
SECTION 7.  This act becomes effective the first Monday in December of 2026, and elections in 2026 shall be conducted accordingly.