(1) A request to the county superintendent or, if the districts involved are joint districts, to the county superintendent of the located district to order the attachment of an elementary district and a high school district with the same boundaries, may be introduced by:

(a) a single resolution by the joint board of trustees of an elementary and high school district with the same boundaries; or

(b) resolutions by each of the boards of trustees of the districts that would become part of a K-12 district, if the boards are not joint.

(2) Each resolution must include the legal name of each of the districts, a statement that the two districts share the same boundaries, a statement of the combining of the bonded indebtedness of the districts through the assumption by the high school district of the bonded indebtedness of the elementary district upon attachment, and the effective fiscal year of the attachment.

(3) Each resolution must be filed in time to allow the trustees to prepare the budgets and hold mill levy elections within the legal statutory timeframes.

(4) If for any reason an elementary district's boundaries become the same as a high school district's boundaries, it must attach to the high school district to establish a K-12 district by July of the ensuing fiscal year unless exempt under 20-6-701 , MCA.