A territory transfer of a school district is initiated by submitting a valid petition to the Marin County Committee on School District Organization. The petition may be initiated by:
- 25% of the registered voters in the affected area
- 10% of the registered voters in an entire school district
- A majority of the members of the governing boards of each affected district
After the County Committee has studied the proposal and held hearings on the matter in each affected school district (EC 35705, 35705.5), it prepares a series of findings and a notice to the Local Agency Formation Commission (EC 35700.5). If all the conditions of EC 35753 are substantially met, the county committee may approve or disapprove the petition to transfer territory within 120 days of the first public hearing (EC 35706, 35709, 35710, 35710.1).
If any of the following three conditions exist, the county committee may approve the territory transfer without an election:
- The territory is uninhabited, the majority of the owners of the territory consent to the transfer, and the governing boards of all affected school districts consent to the transfer.
- The territory is inhabited; the territory constitutes less than 10 percent of the assessed valuation of the original district from which the territory is being transferred, and the governing boards of all affected districts consent to the transfer.
- The election area for the territory transfer, as determined pursuant to EC 35732, is uninhabited territory as described in Education Code Section 35517.
For all other territory transfers, if the county committee approves the transfer, the county superintendent must call an election in an area determined by the county committee.
An action by the county committee approving a petition to transfer territory may be appealed to the State Board of Education by the chief petitioners or one or more affected school districts (EC 35710.5).
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On June 15, 2022 the Marin County Office of Education held an informational webinar providing an overview of the legal steps involved in a transfer of school district territory. The webinar was presented by Terena Mares, Senior Deputy Superintendent for the Marin County Office of Education & Secretary Designee for the Marin County Committee on School District Organization (CCSDO) and Jon Lenz, Assistant Superintendent for the Marin County Office of Education.