Chapter 521
2006 -- H 8152 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/06/06
A N A C T
AN
ACT IN AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 109 OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1958
ENTITLED
"AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE FORMATION OF A REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT EMBRACING
THE TOWNS OF FOSTER AND GLOCESTER"
Introduced
By: Representatives Gorham, Pacheco, and Winfield
Date
Introduced: May 25, 2006
It is enacted by the General Assembly as
follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter
109 of the Public Laws of 1958 entitled "An Act Authorizing the
Formation of a Regional School District
Embracing the Towns of Foster and Glocester" as
amended, is hereby further amended to read as
follows:
"Section 1.
There is hereby established a regional school district comprising the towns of
Foster and Glocester in accordance with the
terms of the agreement filed with the town councils
of the towns of Foster and Glocester by the
regional school district planning board established
under the provisions of general laws, 1956, 16-3
and accepted by the town of Foster at a financial
town meeting held on March 3, 1958 and by the
town of Glocester at a financial town meeting
held on March 8, 1958.
This district
shall be known as the Ponaganset Regional School District, and shall
sometimes be referred to herein as the Regional
School District or District. As used in this act,
references to and/or use of the terms
"school district," "regional school district," and/or
"district
school," shall all be deemed to refer to
said Ponaganset Regional School District, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
Section 2. The regional
Ponaganset Regional School District school district established
under the provisions of the preceding section
shall be a body politic and corporate with all the
powers and duties pertaining to education
conferred by law upon cities and towns generally,
including, but not limited to the following:
(a) To adopt a
name and corporate seal.
(b) To sue and be
sued, but only to a similar extent and upon comparable conditions that
a town may sue or be sued.
(c) To acquire by
purchase, gift, devise or other means of transfer or by condemnation,
land and improvements within said district as a
site for a school or schools. To acquire also by
any such methods such rights of way and other
easements as may be required in connection with
the use of such site.
For the purpose of
acquiring land by condemnation for said site the regional school
district is given all the powers conferred upon
towns for the condemnation of land for school
purposes by general laws, 1956, 16-9-5;
provided, however, that the amount of land taken by said
district may exceed five acres but shall not
exceed fifty acres for any one building site. The
description, plat and statement of the land
taken under this act shall be signed by the chairman of
the regional district school committee and filed
in the records of land evidence as provided in
general laws, 1956, 16-9-6. The owners of land
or any persons entitled to any estate or interest
therein so taken by the said regional school
district shall have the same right of petition, the right
of jury trial and all other rights under the
provisions of said general laws, 1956, 16-9-7 and 16-9-
8.
Upon filing of the
description, plat and statement of the land taken, the title to such land
shall vest absolutely and in fee simple in said
regional school district notwithstanding that any of
the land taken is devoted to public use, and
said regional school district, acting by and through the
regional district school committee, as
hereinafter provided, and its duly authorized agents, may
immediately enter and take possession of said
land without any process of law otherwise required
by statute or common law, and remove any or all
buildings, property or other impediments
thereon, and occupy, use and improve the same
for the purposes of this act notwithstanding any
other provision of law.
Said regional
school district, is authorized and empowered to pay for the cost of
acquiring land for said regional school site
from the proceeds received from the sale of bonds
issued pursuant to the provisions of this act,
whether the same be acquired by purchase or by
condemnation, or partly by purchase and partly
by condemnation.
(d) To sell, lease
or otherwise dispose of and grant easements or other rights, in any real
estate and improvements owned by the regional
school district, when authorized by the regional
district financial meeting.
Section. 3.
There shall be a regional district school committee which shall consist of six
members, each of whom shall be a duly elected or
appointed member of the school committee of
the respective towns. In the event that the
school committee of such town or towns shall select
three of its members to serve on the regional
district school committee until their successors are
elected or appointed and qualified.
Within ten days
after the passage of this act, the regional district school committee shall
meet and organize by selecting one of their
number to be the chairman who shall also retain full
right of voting on all matters. The committee
shall also appoint a clerk and a treasurer who need
not be members of said regional district school
committee.
The regional
district school committee shall have all the powers and duties conferred by
law upon school committees general including but
not restricted to the following:
(a) To issue
bonds and make temporary borrowings on notes in anticipation of the sale of
such bonds when and if authorized by the
regional school district financial meeting as hereinafter
provided and approved by the general assembly;
to incur temporary debt in anticipation of
revenue to be received from member towns.
(b) To apply
for and receive, accept and use any state or federal funds or assistance, or
both, as may be provided whether in the form of
a grant or a loan, or both. To receive, accept and
use any gift from private sources. To receive
and disburse funds for any regional school district
purpose.
The regional
district school committee shall be entitled to receive the maximum amount
provided by the state or federal government
under existing or future laws for the purposes for
which such school is organized and operated;
provided, however, that nothing in this act shall be
construed to diminish the allocation of state or
federal funds not or hereafter available to said
towns of Foster and Glocester for high school
purposes.
(c) To publish an
annual report 30 days prior to the annual regional school district
financial meeting containing a detailed
financial statement showing the total receipts and
expenditures of the period covered by the report
together with such additional information
relating to the maintenance and operation of the
school or schools as may be deemed necessary
by the regional district school committee.
(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 of a regional school
or schools, on a contractual basis for either a
definite or indefinite term as the regional
school district committee shall decide. The person so
employed shall have all powers and duties imposed
upon a superintendent of schools by law.
(f) The
regional district school committee shall annually cause an audit to be made of
the
accounts of the regional school 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 financial meeting.
Compensation
for members of the regional district school committee and/or clerk and
treasurer thereof shall be determined at the
regional school district financial meeting, as
hereinafter provided.
The regional
district school treasurer shall furnish surety bond in amount to be
determined annually by the regional district
school committee. The expense of said bond shall be
chargeable to the regional school district.
Section 3.
Regional School District Committee. -- There shall be established the
Ponaganset Regional District School Committee,
hereinafter sometimes referred to as the
"District School Committee" and/or the
"Regional District School Committee."
(a)
COMPOSITION: The Regional District School Committee shall consist of nine (9)
elected members, six (6) members from the town
of Glocester and three (3) members from the
town of Foster. The length of term and
conditions for filling vacancies shall be as provided for in
the town charters of the respective towns.
(b) POWERS AND
DUTIES: The district school committee shall have all the powers and
duties conferred by law upon school committees generally
including, but not restricted to, the
following:
(1) To issue
bonds when and if authorized by the district financial meeting as hereinafter
provided and approved by the general assembly.
(2) To incur
short-term debt in operation in anticipation of revenue appropriations not yet
received.
(3) To apply
for and receive, accept and use, subject to the provisions of this agreement,
any town, state, or federal funds or assistance,
or both, including school housing aid 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 an receive from such sources in the event
that total regionalization had not occurred, but the
use of which the member towns might be
individually excluded by reason of the existence of the
district.
(4) To receive,
accept and use any gift from private sources: and to receive and disburse
funds for any district purpose.
(5) To
reallocate any surplus as of the last day of the fiscal year so that any such
surplus
will be carried forward into the next fiscal
year and remain in the district accounts.
(6) To publish
an annual report prior to the annual district financial meeting containing a
detailed financial statement showing the total
receipts and expenditures of the period covered by
the report together with such additional
information relating to the maintenance and operation of
the school or schools as may be deemed necessary
by the district school committee.
(7) To engage
legal counsel.
(8) To engage
and employ a superintendent of schools for the district, on a contractual
basis for either a definite or indefinite term as
the district school committee shall decide. The
person so employed shall have all the powers and
duties imposed upon a superintendent of
schools by law.
(9) The
district school committee shall annually cause an audit to be made of the
accounts of the 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 district financial
meeting.
(c) The district
treasurer shall furnish surety bond in amount to be determined annually
by the district school committee. The expense of
said bond shall be chargeable to the district.
Section 4.
There shall be a regional district school building committee which shall
consist
of eight members, four of whom shall be from
each member town. The representation from each
member town shall consist of one member from the
respective local school committee; and three
members selected by the town council of such town.
At such time as
a regional district school building committee shall be deemed necessary,
the chairman of the regional district school
committee shall call upon the respective officials of
the member towns for the appointment or election
of the necessary representatives. The chairman
of the regional district school committee shall
then notify those persons appointed or elected of
the time and place of the first meeting, and
shall act as the temporary chairman (without voting
rights) until said regional district school
building committee shall have completed its own
organization.
The regional
district school building committee shall have the following powers and
duties:
(a) To secure
competent architectural and engineering services for the making of surveys,
the preparation of plans and specifications of
the construction and equipment of a school or
schools in said district, and the supervision of
the construction, and to employ such clerical
assistance as may be necessary.
(b) To
construct, furnish and equip schools and athletic facilities and improve the
grounds
upon which the schools are located and to make
additions to said schools as may be needed.
(c) To make all
contracts and agreements that may be necessary for the exercise of the
powers vested in said district school building
committee by sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) hereof,
provided, however, that said regional district
school building committee shall not make any
expenditure or incur any liability unless the necessary
appropriations have been authorized by the
regional school district financial meeting as
hereinafter provided in section 8 of this act. The term
of the regional district school building
committee shall be until such time as the authorized
building or buildings have been constructed and
accepted by the architects engaged by the
committee and of one year thereafter, whereupon
the term of office of said committee shall
terminate.
In the event of
a vacancy on the regional district school building committee said vacancy
shall be filled by the representation from the
town in which the vacancy shall occur.
No member of
the committee shall be held personally liable for damages in the
performance of his duties as a member of said
committee.
Section 4.
Regional district school building committee.-- There shall be a regional
district
school building committee, hereinafter sometimes
referred to as the "District Building
Committee."
(a) COMPOSITION:
The district building committee shall consist of eight (8) members.
(b) METHOD OF
SELECTION: Each town council shall appoint three (3) members, and
the remaining two (2) members shall be selected
from the district school committee by a majority
vote of the committee.
(c) METHOD OF
ORGANIZATION: At such time as a district building committee shall
be deemed necessary, the chairman of the
district school committee shall call upon the respective
officials of the member towns for the
appointment or election of the necessary representatives.
The chairman of the district school committee
shall then notify those persons appointed or elected
of the time and place of the first meeting, and
shall act as the temporary chairman (without voting
rights) until said district building committee
shall have completed its own organization.
(d) POWERS AND
DUTIES:
(1) To secure
competent architectural and engineering services for the making of surveys,
preparation of plans and specifications for the
construction and equipment of a school or schools
in said district and to employ such clerical
assistance as may be necessary.
(2) To
construct, furnish and equip schools and athletic facilities and improve the
grounds
upon which the schools are located and to make
additions to said schools as may be needed.
(3) To make all
contracts and agreements that may be necessary for the exercise of the
powers vested in said district building
committee by this act; provided, however, that said district
building committee shall not make any
expenditure or incur any liability unless the necessary
appropriations have been authorized by the
district financial meeting as hereinafter provided in
this act.
(4) The term of
the district building committee shall be until such time as the authorized
building or buildings have been constructed and
accepted by the architects engaged by the district
building committee and for one year thereafter,
whereupon the term of office of said district
building committee shall terminate.
(e) VACANCIES:
In the event of a vacancy on the district building committee, said
vacancy shall be filled by the original
appointing organization from which the vacancy shall
occur.
(f) No member
of the district building committee shall be held personally liable for
damages in the performance of his duties as a
member of said committee.
Section 5. The regional
high and middle school or schools shall be located within two (2)
miles of the common boundary
separating the towns.
TYPE OF
REGIONAL SCHOOL.
(a) The
Ponaganset regional school district shall be a public regional school district
grades Pre-K through twelve (12), comprised of
all the elementary schools of the member towns,
as well as the schools of the existing
Foster-Glocester regional school district.
(b) The
Ponaganset school district shall include all grades and programs now provided
and any other grades and programs so specified
by the district school committee. Elementary
students shall remain in their own community
schools, except in special circumstances where the
educational needs of the child will clearly be
better met by a transfer of the student, as determined
by the district school committee.
Section. 6. The
regional school shall be a junior-senior high school for pupils attending
grades seven to twelve, inclusive.
Section 6. The
regional school or schools shall be schools for pupils attending grades
from pre-Kindergarten to twelve (12), inclusive.
Section 7. Services
provided.-- The regional school district shall provide for its students
the types of services required of school
committees generally, now or hereafter enacted into the
general laws of the state of Rhode Island, and
may provide such other services as the regional
district school committee may determine.
Section 8. THE
REGIONAL DISTRICT FINANCIAL MEETING.
The regional
school district financial meeting shall be held on March 24, 1998 at 8:00
p.m. at the regional school building, or other
such location as the regional school committee may
publicly designate in advance. Beginning in
1999, the regional school district financial town
meeting will be held on the third Tuesday in
March each year. Special meetings may be called by
vote of the regional district school on
accordance with conditions governing town meetings
generally prescribed by state law. All voters
qualified at the financial town meeting next
preceeding such regional school district
financial meeting and the respective towns of Foster and
Glocester shall be eligible to attend and vote
at the regional district school financial meeting.
"Notice of
a regular or special regional district financial meeting shall be given by the
clerk of the regional district school committee
issuing his warrant, directed to the town sergeant
or one of the constables of each town in said
district requiring him to post at least 7 days before
the day appointed for such meeting, written
notification in 3 or more public places in his town, of
the time when and place where such meeting is to
be held and of the business required by law to
be transacted therein. If the clerk shall refuse
or be unable to issue such warrant it shall be issued
by the chairman of the regional district school
committee."
The regional
school district financial meeting shall determined the annual regional school
district budget as to overall amount.
(a) The
district financial meeting shall be held on the third Tuesday of March of each
year at 7 P.M. at a district school facility or
such other time and location as the district school
committee may publicly designate in advance in
the manner as specified in this act. Special
meetings may be called by vote of the district
school committee in accordance with conditions
generally governing town meetings and as
prescribed by state law. All voters resident in the
district who are qualified to participate in a
general election shall be eligible to attend and vote at
the district financial meeting.
(b) The
District Financial Meeting shall determine the annual District budget as to
over-
all amount.
(c) The
Regional School Committee shall compile the annual District budget in
consultation with the financial officers of the
members towns, in compliance with any and all
applicable state laws as they pertain to
Regional School Districts and within State mandated
spending limitations.
(d) The moderator
of the regional school district financial district financial
meeting shall
be the chairman chairperson of the
regional district school committee or his or her designee, and
the clerk of the meeting shall be the clerk of
the regional district school committee.
(e) A majority
vote of all voters present at the regional school district financial meeting
shall be required for the adoption of the annual
regional school district budget
(f) No action
shall be taken with respect to the purchase of land, the construction of
buildings, and the extension of the scope of the
function of the regional school district except
upon majority vote of voters present at a
regional school the district financial meeting.
(g) A quorum for
the regional school district financial meeting shall consist of 25 fifty
(50) qualified voters.
(h)
Compensation for members of the District School Committee and/or clerk and
treasurer thereof shall be determined at the
District Financial Meeting.
The first
regional school district financial meeting shall be held within 60 days
following
the passage of this act by the legislature.
Section. 9. The
expenses of the regional school district shall be divided into the
categories of construction costs and operating
costs which are defined and shall be apportioned
among the member towns as follows:
(a)
Construction costs shall include
Section 9.
ALLOCATION OF THE COSTS OF THE PONAGANSET REGIONAL
SCHOOL DISTRICT.
(a) The
expenses of the District shall be divided into the categories of Operations,
Debt
Service and Capital Improvements, which are
defined and shall be apportioned among the
member towns as follows:
(b) Debt
Service is the bonded indebtedness obligation of the District for the cost
of
acquiring the regional district school site,
plans, architects' and consultants' services, building
construction, original fixtures, equipment and
furnishings, grading, landscaping and all other
costs incurred in placing the regional district school
property in full operating condition. In the
event that during the life of this agreement any
additional land area is acquired by the district, any
additional buildings are builds built
by the district, any addition is built to the district buildings,
any remodeling done or extra-ordinary repairs
made, all costs of the foregoing nature incurred
with respect to said land area or buildings,
shall be construction costs. Construction costs shall
also include all expenses and indebtedness
incurred in financing the foregoing costs, as well as all
interest on indebtedness incurred for the
purpose of such financing including interest on
temporary notes issued by the regional school
district in anticipation of the sale of bonds to be
issued to cover construction costs. All
construction costs of the regional school district authorized
by the regional school district financial
meeting shall be borne by the individual regional school
district taxpayers of the towns of Foster and
Glocester in that proportion that the equalized
weighted assessed valuation of the property of
these towns as determined from the latest figure
certified by the state board of tax equalization
bears to the total equalized weighted assessed
valuation of the total property of the regional
school district.
Until such time
as the state board of tax equalization shall determine the equalized
weighted assessed valuations for the towns of
Foster and Glocester, the equalized valuations as
determined by the state board of education shall
be used. The respective amount of construction
costs to be borne by each town shall be
determined each year whenever the correct amounts are
ascertainable just prior to the payments on any
and all bonds and notes issued in anticipation of
the sale of such bonds as the same be come due
and payable.
(b) Operating
costs shall include all costs of the district not included in the preceding
definition of construction costs. On or before
February 15 of each year the treasurer of the said
regional school district shall determine the
total operational cost of operating the regional school
district for the next budget year, including
therein operational costs, operating expense, and all
other anticipated expenses except those expenses
attributable to transportation services and those
expenses determined to be for special education
and excess services incurred in the operating of
the school district as appropriated by the
regional school district financial meeting. The sum
should then be divided by the number of students
enrolled in the school district as of October 1,
of the current school year and the resulting
figure shall then be determined as the annual pupil
charge. The charge so determined shall, not later
than February 15 in each year, be certified by
said district treasurer to the respective
treasurers of such member town. Each member town shall
pay to the treasurer of the district in
accordance with subsection 9(e) a sum equal to the number
of pupils enrolled in the district from that
town multiplied by the annual pupil charge plus each
town's share of the regional districts''
expenses for special education excess expenditures for
pupils enrolled by the participating communities
of the regional school district.
(c) The
regional school district fiscal year shall begin on July 1st of each year.
(d) A tentative
allocation of the operating budget shall e made at the regional school
district financial meeting, based upon the
October 1st enrollment of the then current school year.
On or before September 1st following the close
of each school year, the regional school district
treasurer shall determine the actual proration
of funds based upon the actual average membership
from the respective towns for said school year.
Any difference between the respective town's
tentative proration as determined by clause (b)
of this section, and the actual proration as herein
provided shall become debit and credit items to
be considered in the preparation and tentative
proration of the next annual school district
operating budget.
"(e) The
town treasurer of each town of the regional school district shall pay to the
regional school district treasurer on the first
day of each month, commencing July 1 in each year,
the sum demanded by said regional school
district treasurer, which sum shall be determined in
accordance with subsection 9(b). Said demand
shall be made not later than the 20th day of the
preceding month. The total monthly sums requested
for the entire fiscal year shall not exceed the
amount appropriated for said fiscal year by the
regional school district financial meeting.
(f) Not less
than 30 days prior to the date for the retirement of any bonds of the regional
school district and/or interest on said bonds,
the regional school district treasurer shall demand of
the respective town treasurers the prorated sums
due from each member town as herein provided
in clause (a) of this section. The respective
town treasurers shall pay said amount within a period
not less than 10 days before the due date of
said bonds and/or the interest thereon.
(g) Within ten
days subsequent to the adoption of the budget at the regional school
district financial meeting, the regional school
district treasurer shall certify to the budgetary
officers and financial town meeting of the
respective towns the amount of money to be raised by
taxes in each town as herein provided for the
support of the regional school district which amount
shall become a part of the budget for each
respective town, and shall be appropriated in full by
the financial town meeting.
(h) In
establishing the initial proration for the operating expenses of the district,
the
apportionment shall be determined by the number
of students enrolled in grades VII though XII
inclusive from the respective towns for the
school year next preceding.
(i) The fiscal
records of the regional district school committee shall be available to the
auditors of the respective towns.
(j) The towns'
respective shares of the principal of and interest on indebtedness of the
district and their respective obligations to pay
other expenses of the district shall e obligatory on
them in the same manner and to the same extent
as other debts lawfully contracted by them and,
accordingly, shall be regarded As indebtedness
for the purposes of section 45-12-11 of the
general laws, 1956.
(c) The total
operational costs (exclusive of Debt Service) of the District to include a two
percent (2%) assessment for a Capital
Improvement Fund on said operational costs shall be
apportioned between the towns based upon a per
public pupil calculation, using enrollment as of
the prior October 1st. A tentative allocation of
the operating budget shall be made at the Regional
School District Financial Meeting, based upon
the October 1st enrollment of the then current
school year. On or before September 1st
following the close of each school year, the Regional
School District Treasurer shall determine the
actual proration of funds based upon the actual
average membership from the respective town for
said school year.
(d) Within ten
(10) days subsequent to the adoption of the budgets at the District
Financial Meeting, the District Treasurer shall
certify to the budgetary officers and financial town
meeting of the respective towns the amount of
money to be raised by taxes in each town as herein
provided for the support of the District which
amount shall become a part of the budget for each
Member Town, and shall be appropriated in full
by the financial town meeting of the Member
Towns. The Capital Improvement Fund allocation
may only be used for capital improvements
and shall be a restricted fund for such
purposes.
(e) Each of the
treasurers of the Member Towns shall transfer one-twelfth (1/12) of the
town's portion of local funds for the District
to the District Treasurer on the first business day of
each and every month beginning with the month of
July.
(f) Not less
than thirty (30) days prior to the date for the retirement of any bonds of the
District and/or interest on said bonds, the
District Treasurer shall demand of the respective town
treasurers the prorated sums due from each
member town as herein provided. The respective town
treasurers shall pay said amount within a period
not less than ten (10) days before the due date of
said bonds and/or the interest thereon.
(g) The fiscal
records of the District School Committee shall be available to the auditors
of the respective towns.
(h) The
District fiscal year shall begin on July 1st of each year.
Section 10. (a)
It shall be the duty of the regional school district superintendent, or chief
administrative officer, to present to the regional
district school committee, at its regular meeting
in the month of November, a preliminary budget
containing his estimates of the amount of money
needed to operate the regional school district
for the ensuing year. The form of said budget shall
conform to the accounting system of the Rhode
Island state department of education.
The regional
district school committee shall prepare and approve a budget which it
believes will effectively operate the regional
school district for the ensuing year not later than the
tenth day of January in each year.
(b) The
District School Committee shall prepare and approve a budget which it believes
will efficiently operate the District for the
ensuing year not later than March 1st each year.
(c) At least
ten (10) days before the annual regional school district
financial meeting at
which the budget is to be adopted, the regional
district school committee shall hold a public
hearing on the proposed budget, at which time
any citizen entitled to vote at the regional school
district financial meeting may be heard. Notice
of the date of such hearing, together with a
summary of the proposed budget, accompanied by a
statement of the amount necessary to be
raised by taxation shall be given at least seven
(7) days in advance thereof, by publication once in
a newspaper of general circulation within the
regional school district and published in the state of
Rhode Island. Not later than January 31, the
March district school committee meeting, the
committee shall adopt the final budget for the
regional school district.
(d) The
final budget as adopted by the regional district school committee after
the public
hearing shall be acted upon at the annual regional
school district financial meeting to be held on
the first Tuesday of February of each year. district financial
meeting.
Section 11. TRANSPORTATION.
-- Each member town shall transport its own pupils to
and from the regional district school or
schools.
(a) Transportation shall be provided by the
District in a manner consistent with state law.
Transportation costs shall be included in the
Operational portion of the District's annual
budget.
(b) During the transition
period, the existing transportation agreements of the towns of
Foster and Glocester shall be honored
and the obligation of those contracts shall be assumed by
the regional district.
Section 12.
RECEIPT AND DISBURSEMENT OF AID. -- (a) All state and federal aid
shall be distributed directly to the District
Treasurer, with payment of such aid beginning the first
fiscal year that the totally regionalized
District shall be in operation. Any payment of additional
state aid for total regionalization, exclusive
of state housing aid, as well as initial costs to
coordinate the curriculum, for professional
development and equalization of educational materials
and equipment and to assume total fiscal
management of the District in the amount of seventy-
five thousand dollars ($75,000) shall be paid
for the first three (3) years of operation of the totally
regionalized District.
Section 13.
EXISTING SCHOOL BUILDINGS. – (a) The District shall lease existing
school buildings and the land upon which they
are sited, from the Member Towns for the sum of
one dollar ($1.00) per year. Each Member Town
shall retain title to its buildings and land and
shall be responsible for any bonded indebtedness
remaining on said school buildings at the time
of total regionalization. Any such remaining
payments shall be charged to debt service of the
District but paid by the owning town.
(b) During the transition
period, the existing contracts of the towns of Foster and
Glocester pertaining to the schools,
the school buildings, the school equipment and services to the
schools shall be honored and the
obligation and benefits thereof shall be assumed by the regional
district.
Section 14.
EMPLOYMENT OF TEACHERS AND EXTENSION OF TENURE. -- (a)
All teachers in positions to be superseded by
the establishment of the Ponaganset regional district
school shall be given preferred consideration
for similar positions in the regional district school to
the extent that such positions exist therein;
and any such teacher who on the date of his contract
of employment with the regional district is on
tenure, shall continue thereafter to serve on a
tenure basis.
(b) During the
transition period, the existing collective bargaining agreements for
certified and non-certified personnel in both
communities will be honored. No layoffs for
certified or non-certified personnel covered by
collective bargaining agreements will be made as
a direct result of total regionalization of the
Foster and Glocester School Districts into the
Ponaganset School District.
(c) The
collective bargaining agreements in the towns of Foster and Glocester for
certified and non-certified personnel in force
on June 30, 2007 will remain in effect until their
original expiration date(s) or until a
replacement agreement is negotiated with the Ponaganset
Regional District School Committee.
Section 13.
15. ADMISSION OF ADDITIONAL TOWNS. -- Any other town or towns
may be admitted to the district by and upon:
1. (a)
Adoption of an appropriate amendment of the agreement between the towns of
Foster and Glocester as provided for in section
15. this act.
2. (b)
Acceptance by the town or towns seeking admission of the agreement as so
amended.
3. (c)
Compliance with such provisions of the law as may be applicable, and with such
additional requirements as may be set forth in
such amendment.
4. (d).
An added town or towns shall be admitted upon a satisfactory capital
investment,
based upon the ratio of equalized weighted
assessed valuation multiplied by a mutually agreed
upon investment factor. Such capital investment
shall be returned to the original or prior member
towns in the same proportion as their respective
contribution to capital investment since the
inception of the agreement.
Section 14.
16. WITHDRAWAL. -- (a) Any member town may petition to withdraw
from the regional school district at a time and
under terms to be stipulated in a proposed
amendment to the agreement between the member
towns, provided that (1) the town seeking to
withdraw has paid over to the district any costs
which have been certified by the regional district
treasurer to the treasurer of the withdrawing
town, including the entire amount so certified for the
year in which such withdrawal takes effect, and
(2) said town shall remain liable to the regional
school district for its share of the
indebtedness of the regional school district outstanding 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.
(b) A town
seeking to withdraw from the regional school district shall cease to be a
member town if said proposed amendment is
approved by a majority vote of all the members of
the regional district school committee and accepted
by the petitioning town and each of the other
member towns, acceptance by each town to be by a
majority vote of the voters present at an
annual financial town meeting or at a special
financial town meeting called for the purpose.
(c) Any
money received by the regional school district from the withdrawing town for
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
regional school district with a banking institution in
the state of Rhode Island having a combined
capital and surplus of not less than five million
dollars ($5,000,000) fifty million
dollars ($50,000,000).
Section 15.
17. AMENDMENTS. -- The agreement regarding the operation and/or
establishment of the regional school district between the towns of
Foster and Glocester may be
amended from time to time in the manner
hereinafter provided, but no amendment shall be made
which shall impair the rights of the holders of
any bonds or notes or other evidences of
indebtedness of the regional school district
then outstanding, or the rights of the regional school
district to procure the means for payment
thereof, provided that nothing in this section shall
prevent the admission of a new town or towns to
the regional school district and the
reapportionment accordingly of capital costs of
the regional school district represented by bonds
or notes of the regional school district then
outstanding and of interest thereon. A proposal for
amendment may be initiated by a majority vote of
all the members of the regional district school
committee or by a petition signed by ten percent
(10%) of the registered voters of any one of the
member towns. In the latter case, said petition shall
contain at the end thereof, a certification by
the clerk of the canvassing authority of such
member towns as to the number of registered voters
in said town according to the most recent voting
list and the number of signatures on the petition
which appear to be the names of registered
voters of said town. Any such proposal for
amendment shall be presented to the clerk of the
regional district school committee, who shall
mail or deliver a notice in writing to the town
council of each of the member towns that a
proposal to amend the agreement has been
received and shall enclose a copy of such proposal
(without the signatures in the case of a
proposal by petition). The town council of each member
town shall include in the warrant for the next
annual financial town meeting, or a special financial
town meeting called for the purpose of an
article stating the proposal or the substance thereof, or
a referendum to be placed on the ballot of the
next general election, whichever is requested by the
district school committee. Such amendment shall
take effect upon its acceptance by all of the
member towns, acceptance by each town to be by a
majority vote of the voters present at a said
town financial meeting as aforesaid, or upon
its acceptance by a majority vote of the voters in
each town voting on the question at the general
election, depending upon which method is used.
Section 18.
PRECEDENCE. -- This act and the provisions contained herein shall
supersede any contrary provisions of law, including,
but not limited to, any prior amendments to
Chapter 109 of the Public Laws of 1958."
Section 19. Appropriation
restriction. – The budget adopted and presented by the
Regional Financial District Meeting for
any fiscal year shall not propose the appropriations of
municipal funds in excess of one
hundred five and one-half percent (105.5%) of the total of
municipal funds appropriated by the
Financial Town Meeting of the towns of Foster and
Glocester for school purposes for the
then current fiscal year.
This appropriation
restriction shall change and be subject to the provisions of section 44-
5-2 entitled "Maximum Levy" and
Chapter 2, of Title 16.
SECTION 2. The
question of the approval of this act shall be submitted to the voters of
the towns of Foster and Glocester at the general
election to be held on November 7, 2006. The
question shall be submitted in substantially the
following form: "Shall an act passed at the 2006
session of the General Assembly entitled, 'An
act in amendment of chapter 109 of the public laws
of 1958 entitled 'An act authorizing the
formation of a regional school district embracing the
towns of Foster and Glocester' be
approved?" and the warning for the meeting shall contain the
question to be submitted. From the time the
meeting is warned and until it is held, it shall be the
duty of each town clerk to keep a copy of the
act available at their office for public inspection but
the validity of the meeting shall not be
affected by this requirement.
SECTION 3. This
section and Section 2 of this act shall take effect upon passage. The
remainder of this act shall take effect on July
1, 2007, if this act is approved by a majority of the
voters in each town voting on the question
prescribed by Section 2 hereof.
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LC03313/SUB
A
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