Chapter 244
2008 -- H 7283
SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED
Enacted 07/05/08
A N A C T
RELATING
TO EDUCATION -- SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS
Introduced
By: Representative Peter F. Kilmartin
Date
Introduced: January 29, 2008
It is enacted by the General Assembly as
follows:
SECTION 1. Section
16-2-21.4 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-2 entitled "School
Committees and Superintendents" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
16-2-21.4.
School budgets -- Compliance with certain requirements. -- (a)
Notwithstanding any provision of the general or
public laws to the contrary, whenever a city,
town, or regional school committee determines
that its budget is insufficient to comply with the
provisions of section 16-2-21, 16-7-23, or
16-7-24, the city, town, or regional school committee
shall adhere to the appropriated budget or the
provisions of section 16-2-23 in the absence of an
appropriated budget. The chairperson of the
city, town, or regional school committee, in
accordance with the provisions of section
16-2-9, shall be required to petition the commissioner,
in writing, to seek alternatives for the
district to comply with state regulations and/or provide
waivers to state regulations and, in particular,
those which are more restrictive than federal
regulations that allow the school committee to
operate with a balanced budget. Waivers which
affect the health and safety of students and
staff or which violate the provisions of chapter 24 of
this title shall not be granted. The
commissioner must consider alternatives for districts to comply
with regulations and/or provide waivers to
regulations in order that the school committee may
operate with a balanced budget within the
previously authorized appropriation. In the petition to
the commissioner, the school committee shall be
required to identify the alternatives to meet
regulations and/or identify the waivers it seeks
in order to provide the commissioner with the
revised budget which allows it to have a
balanced budget within the previously authorized
appropriation. The commissioner shall respond
within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of
the written petition from the school committee.
If the commissioner does not approve of the
alternatives to meet regulations or the waivers
from regulations which are sought by the school
committee, or if the commissioner does not
approve of the modified expenditure plan submitted
by the school committee, then: (1) within ten
(10) days of receiving the commissioner's response,
the school committee may submit a written
request to the city or town council for the council of
the municipality to decide whether to increase
the appropriation for schools to meet expenditures.
The decision to increase any appropriations
shall be conducted pursuant to the local charter or the
public law controlling the approval of
appropriations within the municipality; or (2) in a regional
school district, the chairperson of the school
committee may, within ten (10) days of receiving the
commissioner's response, submit a written
request to the chief elected official of each of the
municipalities to request that the city or town
council in each of their respective towns meet to
decide whether or not to increase the
appropriation for schools to meet expenditures. The decision
to increase any appropriations shall be
conducted pursuant to the local charter or the public law
controlling the approval of appropriations
within the municipality.
(b) In the event
of a negative vote by the appropriating authority, the school committee
shall have the right to seek additional
appropriations by bringing an action in the superior court
for the county of Providence and shall be
required to demonstrate that the school committee lacks
the ability to adequately run the schools for
that school year with a balanced budget within the
previously authorized appropriation or in
accordance with sections 16-2-21, 16-2-23, 16-7-23,
and 16-7-24. In no event shall any court order
obtained by the school committee have force and
effect for any period longer than the fiscal
year for which the litigation is brought. Any action
filed pursuant to this section shall be set down
for a hearing at the earliest possible time and shall
be given precedence over all matters except
older matters of the same character. The court shall
render its decision within thirty (30) days of
the close of the hearings. Upon the bringing of an
action in the superior court by the school
committee to increase appropriations, the chief
executive officer of the municipality, or in the
case of a regional school district the chief elected
officials from each of the member
municipalities, shall cause to have a financial and program
performance audit in compliance with the
generally acceptable governmental auditing standards
of the school department conducted by the
auditor general, the bureau of audits, or a certified
public accounting firm qualified in program
performance audits. The results of the audit shall be
made public upon completion and paid for by the
school committee to the state or private
certified public accounting firm.
(c) The
auditor general shall select the auditor if the audit is not directly performed
by
his or her office.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00918/SUB A
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