Section 195-A:14 Review of Area Plan and Withdrawal of Districts.
I. After the third anniversary of the date of operating responsibility, if requested by either a sending or receiving district governing body, an area school plan review board shall be established. The review board shall consist of 3 members from the school board of each school district which belongs to the area plan, and such members shall be selected by and from their respective school boards. The review board may also include 3 members from the school board of each of any one or more school districts located in proximity to the authorized regional enrollment area. The review board shall organize by the election of a chairman and a clerk, and may adopt rules for the calling and conduct of its meetings. It shall be the duty of the review board to consider the effectiveness of the area school plan as a method for providing improved educational services. If the review board by a majority vote of all its members determines that the area school plan should be modified, it shall submit an amended area school plan to the state board for its approval. An amended area school plan may provide for the addition of one or more new sending districts, the withdrawal of one or more sending districts, the withdrawal of the receiving district, the substitution of a different district as the receiving district, a change in the grades covered by the area plan, or any combination of the foregoing, or for the dissolution of the area; and it shall provide for the equitable adjustment of the rights and responsibilities of each member of the plan, whether present or prospective, with respect to area school facilities. If such provisions include payments from one school district to another, they may be made over a period of not more than 10 years, but the obligation to make such payments shall not be deemed indebtedness of the obligor school district for the purpose of determining its borrowing capacity under RSA 33. In addition to the foregoing powers, an area school plan review board may act as a cooperative school district planning board pursuant to RSA 195-A:15; and instead of submitting an amended area school plan, the review board may prepare and recommend the adoption of articles of agreement for a cooperative school district.
II. In considering whether to approve an amended area school plan, the state board shall apply the standards set forth in RSA 195-A:2 and shall also consider the capacity of each school district which would be affected by the adoption of the amended area school plan to successfully discharge the educational and financial responsibilities which would result from such adoption. If the state board finds that the adoption of the amended area school plan would be in the best interests of the state and of the school districts affected thereby, it shall so notify the school board of each such school district. Thereafter, each school district, its school board, voters or legislative body, and other appropriate officers, shall deal with the amended area school plan in accordance with the procedures set forth in RSA 195-A:3 as though such amended plan were an original plan being submitted under RSA 195-A:3, except that the form of the question used in each school district shall be prepared by the state board and included in its notice to each district; and the forms of question used in the several districts may be different as circumstances require. If the amended area school plan is adopted, the state board shall issue its certificate to that effect, which shall be conclusive evidence of the lawful adoption of the amended area school plan. If the amended plan is not adopted, no further action with respect to the amended area school plan shall be taken until another area school plan review board has been established pursuant to paragraph I of this section.
III. After the third anniversary of the date of operating responsibility a sending or receiving school district, at an annual or special school district meeting, may vote to undertake a study of the feasibility and suitability of a withdrawal from the area. The study shall be conducted by a committee composed of 2 school board members from each district of the area, the superintendent of schools as a non-voting member, and 2 members of the town or city governing body from the school district requesting the study. Within 180 days after the date of its formation, the committee shall submit to the state board of education either a report that withdrawal is not feasible or suitable or a report that includes a withdrawal plan prepared in accordance with paragraph IV. If the committee determines that withdrawal is not feasible or suitable, the district which voted to undertake the study may submit a minority report at the same time as the committee report is filed with the state board of education. If the committee report does not include a withdrawal plan, the minority report may include a withdrawal plan prepared in accordance with paragraph IV.
IV. A plan for the withdrawal of a district or districts from an area shall include the following:
(a) The name or names of the withdrawing district or districts and the grades.
(b) The proposed date of withdrawal from the area, at which time the withdrawing district shall be responsible for the education of its pupils and after which the area shall no longer have such educational responsibility.
(c) The liability of the withdrawing district for its share of any outstanding indebtedness of the area in accordance with paragraph V or, if the area was formed by 2 districts, provision for the disposition of property and a statement of assumption of liabilities upon dissolution of the area.
(d) A detailed analysis of the financial and educational consequences of the proposed withdrawal.
(e) The manner in which the withdrawing district or districts shall provide for the education of all pupils in the withdrawing district or districts and a plan for the education of the pupils in the remaining sending and/or receiving districts. This shall include the proposed assignment of pupils and any necessary tuition arrangements or contracts.
(f) Modifications to the area agreement necessitated by the withdrawal plan.
(g) Any other matters which the committee, consistent with the law, may consider appropriate to include in the withdrawal plan.
V. Each withdrawing sending district shall remain liable to the area, or to the receiving district in the case of a dissolution of the area, for a rental charge, as determined by the area agreement, for the length of any outstanding bond issue, and for the reduction of school building aid based on the decrease of the annual grant for the payment of debt service for school construction. Payments in discharge of such liability shall be made in accordance with a schedule which may provide for annual payments for the length of the existing bond issue or any other schedule agreed upon by the school boards of the area, or, in the event they fail to agree, as determined by the state board of education. Such payments shall be deemed to be trust funds and shall be applied by the area solely in payment of its indebtedness which was incurred to finance area school facilities and which was outstanding on the effective date of the withdrawal vote.
VI. A receiving district, 4 months prior to a vote on a bond issue for construction of new facilities or additions to an area school, shall notify a sending district of a pending vote on a bond issue. Upon receipt of such notice, a sending district may initiate a withdrawal study in accordance with paragraph III. If the sending district has initiated a withdrawal study prior to the vote in the receiving district, the sending district shall not be further obligated to any bonded indebtedness as a result of such bond issue vote if the voters in the sending district approve, by a majority vote, the withdrawal plan.
VII. The committee established pursuant to paragraph III shall submit a copy of all reports, including any minority reports, to the state board of education. If a report includes a plan for withdrawal, the state board of education shall review the proposed plan to determine whether or not the proposed plan meets the requirements of paragraph IV. If, in the opinion of the state board, the requirements have been properly addressed, the state board shall recommend for or against its adoption based on its assessment of the plan's feasibility. If, in the opinion of the state board, the requirements have not been properly addressed, the deficiencies shall be noted and the plan shall be promptly returned for revision. When the plan is resubmitted, the state board shall promptly review the revised plan, return the plan, and make a recommendation for or against its adoption based on its assessment of the plan's feasibility. The state board's recommendation shall be reported to the legislative body of the area districts. The state board shall forward the plan for withdrawal to the school board of the withdrawing school district. The school board shall publish the withdrawal plan once in a newspaper generally circulated within the area districts. The school board shall file the plan for withdrawal with the clerk of the withdrawing district and shall insert the plan in the warrant for the next annual meeting. The article in the warrant for the district meeting and the question on the ballot to be used at the meeting shall be in substantially the following form:
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Yes _________ No _________
If a majority of the voters present and voting shall vote in the affirmative, the clerk of the school district shall forthwith send to the state board of education a certified copy of the warrant, certificate of posting, evidence of publication, and minutes of the meeting. If the board finds that a majority of the voters present and voting have voted in favor of the withdrawal plan, it shall be conclusive evidence of the withdrawal of the district and the continuation of the area or the dissolution of a 2-district area.
VIII. The vote to withdraw from an area shall take effect on July 1 of the calendar year which shall be at least 2 years after the date on which the withdrawal vote is adopted. The plan may provide for an earlier date.
Source. 1963, 277:1. 1969, 347:2. 1971, 187:1, 2. 1979, 9:1. 1988, 214:1. 1998, 271:4, 5. 1999, 15:2, eff. June 25, 1999; 119:2, eff. Aug. 9, 1999.