Chapter 265
2004 -- S 3143
Enacted 07/02/04
A N A C T
IN
AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 55 OF THE PUBLIC LAWS, 1958, AS AMENDED,
ENTITLED
"AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWNS OF CHARLESTOWN, RICHMOND
AND
HOPKINTON, TO JOIN A REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, INCORPORATING SAID REGIONAL
SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS, CONSTRUCTION AND
OPERATION OF A REGIONAL SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR THE JOINT USE OF THE PARTICIPATING
TOWNS, WITHIN SAID REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT ESTABLISHED BY THIS ACT."
Introduced
By: Senators Breene, and Algiere
Date
Introduced: May 27, 2004
It
is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 10 and 18 of Chapter 55 of the Public Laws, 1958, as amended,
entitled
"An Act Authorizing the Towns of Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton, to
Join a
Regional
School District, Incorporating Said Regional School District, and Providing for
the
Issuance
of Bonds, Construction and Operation of a Regional School System for the Joint
use of
the
Participating Towns, Within Said Regional School District Established by This
Act.", are
hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec.
10 (1) (a) There shall be a regional school committee for said district
consisting of
eleven
(11) members, each member town shall be represented on the committee in direct
proportion
to its population as determined by the most recent population census figures.
The total
population
of the district shall then be divided by eleven (11) and the resulting quotients
thus
obtained
shall be used as the basis for determining the proportionate representation of
each said
member
town on said committee, and realizing that the mathematical divisions of said
formula
will
not obtain absolute evenness, fractions of .5 or more shall be construed as 1
point and
fractions
less than .5 shall be construed as 0. Subject to limitations aforesaid, the
members of
said
committee from each of the member towns to be elected or appointed for terms
hereinafter
set
forth shall be determined as of the time of each bi-annual election and each of
the said
member
towns, based upon the census aforesaid. The first such regional school
committee shall
be
elected in the general election in November, 1988. In the general election 1988
each town
electing
three (3) members of the school committee shall elect two (2) members to serve
a term of
four
(4) years and one (1) member to serve a term of two (2) years. A town electing
more than
three
(3) representatives shall elect three (3) members for a term of two (2) years
and additional
members
for a term of four (4) years. Thereafter members shall be elected for a term of
four (4)
years.
Until such time as those elected in that election shall be certified and
qualified, the
existing
Chariho Regional High School District Committee shall serve as the Regional
School
Committee.
In the event of any vacancy by death, resignation or incapacity to serve of any
term
of
any member of said regional school district committee, the town council of the
member town
in
which such vacancy occurs shall fill such vacancy by election by a majority
vote of the town
council
of said town for the unexpired term of the member whose office is thus vacated.
(1)
(b) Since the United States Census bureau of the census conducts on a decennial
basis
and
in view of the fact that any of the Chariho towns may incur rapid shifts in
population which
could
effect the composition of the Chariho school committee, there may be agreement
among
the
town councils to provide for a census on a five (5) year basis beginning in
1995. A census of
the
towns taken in 1987 will be used as the basis for school committee composition
until the 1990
United
States bureau of census data is provided. The cost of the 1987 census will be
borne by
each
town in proportion to its population. Any town objecting to the use of the
United States
census
material may require the making of an actual census in time for the first
general election
after
1995. The cost of such a census shall be borne equally by the three (3) towns
and shall not
constitute
a reimbursable education expense; provided, further, that in the event that
such an
actual
census does not result in a count materially different from the numbers
contained in
material
compiled by the United States bureau of the census, then the cost of the actual
census,
shall
be borne by the town or towns objecting to the use of such bureau of the census
material.
(2)
Within ten (10) days after the election and certification of the members of the
regional
school
district committee, said regional school district committee shall meet and
organize by
selecting
one (1) of their number to be chairperson of said committee. The chairperson
chosen at
the
first organized meeting shall serve in such office until the first meeting of
said committee
following
the qualification of new members elected to the regional school district
committee at
the
general election of 1988. At such first meeting of the said committee following
the election
and
qualification of new members, the committee shall elect a chairperson and elect
such other
officers
and are herein or hereafter authorized and each two (2) years thereafter at
such first
meeting
following a general election at which school committee members are elected, the
regional
school district committee shall organize and elect or appoint such officers. A
person
may
not succeed himself/herself in the office of chairperson unless no other member
of the
committee
is willing to serve as chairperson and at such organizational meetings the
chairmanship
shall first be offered to a committee member from a town other than the town
one
of
the members of which last served as chairperson in an order of rotation to be
agreed upon at
the
first organization meeting of the said committee which shall provide that each
member town
shall
have the opportunity of having one of its members serve as chairperson in a
fixed order of
selection.
In the event that no member from one of the member towns which is entitled to
the
chairmanship
at an organization meeting is willing to serve as chairperson, this election
shall pass
to
the next such member town so entitled under said agreement and so on until a
chairperson is
selected
who is going to serve. The said committee shall also appoint a clerk and a
treasurer of
said
committee who shall also be a clerk and treasurer of the said district and the
district meetings
and
the said clerk and treasurer may be the same individual and need not be a
member or
members
of said committee.
(3)
Said regional school committee shall have all the powers and duties conferred
by law
in
this state upon school committees of towns, generally, including, but not
limited to the
following:
(a)
To apply for and receive, accept and use any town, state or federal funds or
assistance,
or
both, as may be provided, whether in the form of a grant or a loan or both,
including
specifically
such funds or assistance from state or federal sources as the member towns
would
otherwise
be entitled to apply for and receive from such sources in the event that the
said regional
school
district did not exist but to the use of which such member towns might be
individually
excluded
by reason of the existence of said district.
(b)
To publish an annual report thirty (30) days prior to the annual district
meeting
containing
a detailed financial statement showing the total receipts and expenditures of
the period
covered
by the report together with such additional material and information relating
to the
maintenance
and operation of the school or schools as may be deemed necessary by the
regional
school
committee.
(c)
To receive and disburse funds for any regional school district purpose.
(d)
To engage legal counsel.
(e)
To engage and employ a superintendent of schools for the regional school
district,
who
may also be a principal or a regional school or schools, on a contractual basis
for either a
definite
or indefinite term as the regional high school committee shall determine. The
person so
employed
shall have all the powers and duties imposed upon a superintendent of schools
by law.
(f)
Said committee shall annually cause an audit to be made of the accounts of said
district,
and on completion of each audit a report thereof shall be made to the members
of said
committee
and a copy thereof shall be submitted to the next regional school district
meeting.
(g)
Compensation for members of the said committee and/or clerk and treasurer
thereof
shall
be determined at and by the regional school district meeting as a part of the
consideration
and
action taken at said meeting in respect to operating costs and expenses of the
said district.
(h)
The regional school district treasurer shall furnish surety bond in an amount
to be
determined
annually by the said committee. The expense of said bond shall be chargeable to
the
said
district.
The
Regional School Committee for said district shall consist of four (4) members
elected
from each member town. Those members whose terms have not expired at the time
of the
approval
of this amendment, shall continue to serve until the expiration of their terms,
subject,
however,
to the provisions of Sec. 18(1)(i), which shall take precedence over this
section.
There
shall be a special election conducted in the town of Richmond during the month
of
January,
2005 to elect a fourth member from the town of Richmond to the Regional School
Committee
for a term to expire at the next regularly scheduled general election, at which
time a
fourth
(4th) member from the town of Richmond shall be elected for a term of four (4)
years.
Thereafter,
members of the Regional School Committee shall be elected for terms of four (4)
years,
said terms to follow the staggered pattern established prior hereto. In the
event of any
vacancy
by death, resignation or incapacity to serve of any term of any members of said
regional
school
district committee, the town council of the member town in which such vacancy
occurs
shall
fill such vacancy by election by a majority vote of the town council of said
town for the
unexpired
term of the members whose office is thus vacated.
Sec.
18. (1) No member town shall withdraw from the district until bonded
indebtedness
incurred
in accordance with under the provision of section 1 of the
1986 Chariho Act herein has
been
fully paid and discharged. Thereafter, any member town of the regional school
district may
petition
to withdraw from the said district at any annual meeting of said district,
provided that
such
petition for withdrawal shall have been approved by the appropriate method of
the said
member
town seeking to withdraw and shall have been approved by a majority of the
electors of
the
said town qualified to vote upon a proposition for the imposition of a tax or
for the
expenditure
of money, present and voting in the appropriate manner prescribed by said town
within
a period of one hundred twenty (120) days next preceding in the date of the
annual district
meeting
at which the petition is to be submitted. Such petition shall not be approved
except upon
payment
to the treasurer of the district by the treasurer of such town of any costs
which have been
apportioned
and certified in accordance with the provisions heretofore set forth to said
town for
the
construction and operation of the school district during the year in which such
withdrawal is
to
take place, and such town shall remain liable to the district for its share of
the indebtedness of
the
district outstanding, if any, at the time of such withdrawal, and for interest
thereon, to the
same
extent and in the same manner as if the town had not withdrawn from the
regional school
district,
except as such liability shall be reduced by any amount which said town has
paid over at
the
time of withdrawal and which has been applied to the payment of such
indebtedness and
interest.
Any money received by the school district from a withdrawing town for the
payment of
indebtedness
or interest thereon shall be used only for such purpose and until so used shall
be
deposited
in trust in the name of the district with a Rhode Island company having a
combined
capital
and surplus of not less than five million dollars ($5,000,000).
(2)
On July 1, 1994 or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, a committee shall
be
formed
to be known as an Entrance, Expansion and Exit Committee consisting of the
following
members:
The town council president of each member town, the Chariho School Committee
chairperson,
the chairperson of the finance committee established in section 12 hereof, two
(2)
residents
from each member town of the district appointed by the town councils of said
towns,
three
(3) residents of communities not within the district to be appointed by the
Chariho School
Committee,
and the commissioner of education or designee. This committee will review
enrollment
data, fiscal impact information, demographic/geographic considerations, impact
upon
the
academic program, issues of governance, impact on the Chariho Act and any other
pertinent
issues
identified by the committee as they maybe affected by the withdrawal or
addition of
member
towns in whole or in part from and to the regional school district. This
committee shall
report
its findings and recommendation to the Chariho School Committee within six (6)
month
after
its formation. In preparing its report and conducting its studies, the
committee shall hold not
less
then three (3) public hearings on the subject matter of withdrawal or additions
to the district,
said
hearings to be held within the district. withdraw under the following procedure and
subject to
the
conditions contained herein.
a.
The Town Council of a member town which desires to withdraw from the district must
adopt
a Resolution expressing a notice of intent to withdraw by April 1st of the year
preceding the
annual
meeting of the district at which the petition to withdraw shall be presented.
The resolution
of
intent to withdraw shall merely state an intention to withdraw, and it shall
not be necessary that
it
contain any additional information.
b.
A petition to withdraw shall contain, at least, the following information, but
may
contain
additional information:
1)
a statement expressing the intention to withdraw from the Regional School
District:
2)
a statement as to any claim being made by the withdrawing town against assets
of the
district,
and if a claim is being made, the monetary amount of the claim, or the
particular assets
being
claimed;
3)
a statement of the specific time frame for withdrawal, and if the withdrawal is
to be
phased,
the dates upon which the phases will be implemented;
4)
a statement of the debt to be incurred by the withdrawing town for facility
design, land
acquisition,
building construction, equipment purchases, and other start up costs;
5)
an authorization to bond for a sum certain in money to pay the debt to be
incurred by
the
withdrawing town to establish the school system; and
6)
a statement of the total anticipated operational cost which assumes that the
next fiscal
year
would be the first year of full operation by the withdrawing town.
The
form and contents of the petition to withdraw approved by the town council must
be
the
same as that which is submitted to the electors of the town; provided, however,
the question
appearing
on the ballot may contain a short summary of the petition to withdraw, which
summary
must
be approved by the secretary of state for placement on the ballot. The petition
to withdraw
shall
appear on the ballot as a single question on which the electors of the
withdrawing town may
vote
to approve or to reject.
c.
The petition to withdraw must be approved by the town council of the town
seeking
withdraw
from the district on or before the date set by the secretary of state for
submission of
questions
which shall appear on the ballot for the general election.
d.
A petition to withdraw must be approved by the voters of the town seeking to
withdraw
at the general election next preceding the annual district meeting, at which
the petition
to
withdraw shall be presented.
e.
A condition precedent to submission of the petition to withdraw to electors of
the
withdrawing
town shall be a determination by the Rhode Island Department of Education that
the
withdrawing
town and the school district remaining if the town withdraws present viable
educational
systems. Said determination shall not be based upon whether the new school
district
or
the remaining smaller school district presents the best economic situation, but
rather the
determination
shall be base upon whether the districts have sufficient assets, personnel,
student
population
and other resources necessary to educate children based upon standards utilized
in
similarly
sized school districts in the state.
f.
Upon adoption of the resolution of intent to withdraw by a withdrawing town,
the
school
district shall compile information regarding the economic and educational
impact on
member
towns if the town expressing an intent to withdraw should be successful in
withdrawing
from
the district. The information shall be released to the member towns and to the
public as it
becomes
available. Any failure of the school district to provide such information shall
not
preclude
a withdrawing town from proceeding with its petition to withdraw.
g.
If a petition to withdraw is approved by the town council of a withdrawing town
and is
approved
by the electors of a withdrawing town, the petition shall be presented for
consideration
and
approval at the next regularly scheduled annual meeting of the school district;
provided
however,
no approval by electors of the school district shall be required if the
withdrawing town:
1)
is current with its payments to the treasurer of the district of any costs
which have been
apportioned
and certified in accordance with the provisions heretofore set forth for
construction
and
operation of the school district for the then current fiscal year and has made
arrangements for
electronic
monthly payments for the remainder of the fiscal year; and
2)
has not made a claim to school district assets, except buildings and items
located
within
the town, which would not be used by the Regional School District if the town
withdraws
from
the school district.
h.
A town may not initiate a petition to withdraw more than once during a five (5)
year
period
of time.
i.
Upon completion of consideration of the petition to withdraw at the annual
district
meeting
and provided the Petition to Withdraw was approved by the town council and
electors of
the
withdrawing town, the terms of the members on the district school committee
from the
withdrawing
town shall cease immediately, and the withdrawing town shall proceed to
establish a
school
committee in accordance with its Charter and/or State law, if a school
committee has not
been
previously established.
j.
During the time that a withdrawing town is constructing facilities, it may
continue to
send
students to the regional district schools, and the town will be assessed a per
student charge in
the
same amount assessed to member towns as provided herein. No special charges or
assessments,
based upon the fact that the withdrawing town is no longer a member of the
Regional
School District, may be imposed upon the withdrawing town or its students.
k.
All students of the withdrawing town must be removed from the regional district
schools
by July 1st of the fifth (5th) year following the annual district meeting at
which the petition
to
withdraw was considered, unless the Regional School District Committee agrees
to a longer
period
of time.
1)
Subsections (a), (e), and (f) above shall not be applicable to a petition to
withdraw
which
appears on the November, 2004 ballot.
SECTION
2. The question of the approval of these amendments to the Chariho Act shall
be
submitted to the electors of the Towns of Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton
at the
general
election scheduled for November, 2004. The question shall be submitted in
substantially
the
following form:
"Shall
an act passed at the January 2004 session of the General Assembly amending
public
laws, 1958 Chapter 55, as amended, and authorizing amendments to Sec. 10(1)(a)
and (b)
and
Sec. 18(1) of the aforementioned public laws be approved?"
It
shall be the duty of the Town Clerks of the respective towns of Hopkinton,
Charlestown
and Richmond to keep a copy of the amendments available at their offices for
public
inspection
but any failure of any said clerk to perform this duty shall not effect the
validity of the
election.
SECTION
3. This Section and Section 2 of this act shall take effect upon passage of
this
act;
and the remainder of this act shall take effect upon the approval of this act
by a majority in
each
town of those voting on the question at the election prescribed by Section 2
hereof.
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LC03518
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