§ 706b - Study committee; contents of study committee report
§ 706b. Study committee; contents of study committee report
(a) Study committee. When a study committee is appointed, the members shall elect a chair who shall notify the commissioner of education of the appointment. The commissioner shall cooperate with the study committee and may make department staff available to assist in the study of the proposed union school district. The committee is a public body pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 310(3). The committee shall cease to exist when the clerk of each district voting on a proposal to establish a union school district has certified the results of the vote to the commissioner of education pursuant to section 706g of this chapter.
(b) Decision and report. The study committee may determine that it is inadvisable to form a union school district or it may prepare a report in the form of an agreement between member districts for the government of the proposed union school district. In making its determination, the committee may contact additional school districts it believes may be advisable to include within a new union school district. If the committee decides to recommend formation of a union school district, its report shall specify:
(1) the names of school districts the committee considers necessary to the establishment of the proposed union; provided, however, only districts named in the warning for the vote under section 706a of this chapter may be identified as necessary;
(2) the names of additional school districts the committee considers advisable to include in the proposed union school district;
(3) the grades to be operated by the proposed union school district;
(4) the cost and general location of any proposed new schools to be constructed and the cost and general description of any proposed renovations;
(5) a plan for the first year of the union school district's operation for the transportation of students, the assignment of staff, and curriculum that is consistent with existing contracts, collective bargaining agreements, or other provisions of law. The board of the union school district shall make all subsequent decisions regarding transportation, staff, and curriculum subject to existing contracts, collective bargaining agreements, or other provisions of law;
(6) the indebtedness of proposed member districts that the union school district shall assume;
(7) the specific pieces of real property of proposed member districts that the union shall acquire, their valuation, and how the union school district shall pay for them;
(8) the allocation of capital and operating expenses of the union school district among the member districts;
(9) consistent with the proportional representation requirements of the equal protection clause of the Constitution of the United States, the method of apportioning the representation that each proposed member district shall have on the union school board. The union school board shall have no more than 18 members, and each member district shall be entitled to at least one representative;
(10) the term of office of directors initially elected, to be arranged so that one-third expire on the day of the second annual meeting of the respective districts, one-third on the day of the third annual meeting of the respective districts, and one-third on the day of the fourth annual meeting of the respective districts, or as near to that proportion as possible;
(11) the date on which the union school district proposal will be submitted to the voters;
(12) the date on which the union school district will begin operating schools and providing educational services; and
(13) any other matters that the committee considers pertinent, including whether votes on the union school district budget or public questions shall be by Australian ballot. (Added 1967, No. 277 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; amended 1973, No. 2, § 1; 2003, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 2007, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 23.)