(2) If a remonstrance petition on a proposed change or merger signed by at least five percent or at least 500, whichever is less, of the electors of a school district affected by the proposed change or merger is filed with the district boundary board within 20 days after the date of the order to effect the proposed change or merger, and when all district boundary boards have acted on the change or merger as provided in ORS 330.095 (3), the board shall submit the question of the proposed change or merger to the electors of each affected school district from which a remonstrance petition was filed, with the district boundary board acting as the district elections authority on behalf of the school districts. Separate elections shall be held in sequence in the districts from which remonstrance petitions have been filed, commencing with the least populous district and progressing in order of population to the most populous district. If the majority of votes in each election favor the change or merger, an election shall be held in the next most populous district. The cost of an election on a proposed boundary change or merger shall be prorated between or among the district school boards involved in accordance with ORS 255.305.

(3) If the majority of votes cast in any affected district oppose the change or merger, the change or merger shall be defeated, and the same or a substantially similar change or merger shall not be ordered until 12 months have elapsed from the date of the election at which the change or merger was defeated, unless otherwise required by law. If the vote is favorable in all remonstrating districts, the district boundary board shall declare the change or merger effective as provided in ORS 330.103 and issue an order without further elections.

(4) For any school district merger that is initiated as described in ORS 327.106 (2)(b), no remonstrance petition or election shall be allowed.

(5) When a unified elementary district with an average daily membership of greater than 50 that has, prior to the merger, paid tuition for the majority of its high school students to attend an out-of-state high school merges with a district that provides education in kindergarten and grades 1 through 12, the following shall apply after the merger:

(a) The students who reside in the former unified elementary district shall be authorized to attend the out-of-state high school that the majority of the high school students of the unified elementary district were attending during the 1992-1993 school year;

(b) The merged district shall pay tuition for the students described in paragraph (a) of this subsection but not in an amount greater than the district’s average expenditure for high school students; and

(c) The parents of a student who wish the student to attend the out-of-state high school must agree to pay the difference, if any, between what the district is authorized to pay as tuition under paragraph (b) of this subsection and the amount of tuition charged by the out-of-state high school. [1965 c.100 §76 (330.101 enacted in lieu of 330.100); 1965 c.244 §1; 1965 c.621 §5; 1967 c.313 §1; 1967 s.s. c.8 §4; 1975 c.326 §3; 1979 c.772 §19; 1983 c.83 §48; 1983 c.284 §10; 1983 c.350 §140; 1985 c.364 §2; 1989 c.819 §5; 1991 c.13 §1; 1991 c.167 §10; 1993 c.136 §3; 1993 c.329 §2; 1997 c.521 §14; 2005 c.209 §17; 2011 c.704 §12]