Maine Municipal Association

1
Maine Municipal Association

• School Reorganization
• The Municipal Clerks Responsibilities
• October 4, 2007

2
School Reorganization Law

• Enacted as Part XXXX of budget (LD 499)
• Establishment of Regional School Units (RSUs)
• Goal to serve 2,500 students
• Provides for a 1,200 student exception
• Geography, demographics, economics,
  transportation, population and other
• Coastal island and tribal schools exempt
• Provides for the creation of Reorganization
  Planning Committees

3
Reorganization Planning Committees

• Submit plans by December 1 to Department of
  Education for consolidation into a Regional
  School District
• School units included
• Size, composition, apportionment of governing
  body
• Method of voting for governing body
• Powers/duties of local boards created
• Disposition existing debt/lease-purchase
  obligations
• Assignment of school personnel contracts
• Development of budget
• Identification of savings
• Other

4
Three clerk-related areas of school
reorganization law

• Reorganization Referendum
• Design Election of Regional Boards
• School Budget Process
• Open meeting for school budget
• Budget validation referendum

5
Reorganization Referendum

• Dates
• January 15, 2008
• Absentee ballot issues
• December 1, 2007 plan submitted to DOE
• December 15, 2007 DOE action
• When would the actual plan be available for
  absentee voters
• June 10, 2008
• November 4, 2008

6
Reorganization Referendum

• Article Do you favor approving the school
  regionalization plan prepared by the (insert
  name) Reorganization Planning Committee to
  reorganize (insert names of affected school
  administrative units) into a regional school unit
  with an effective date of (insert date)?

7
Reorganization Referendum

• Article Statement
• Law requires that a statement of consequence be
  printed on the ballot with the question
• However, the law provides for two different
  statements

8
Reorganization Referendum

• Statement - 1
• 20-A, 1461, sub5
• A YES vote means that you approve of the
  (municipality or school administrative unit)
  joining the proposed regional school unit. The
  financial penalties under the Maine Revised
  Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15696 to the
  existing school administrative units will no
  longer apply to the proposed regional school
  unit.

9
Reorganization Referendum

• Statement - 2
• Found in unallocated section of law
• A YES votes means that you approve of the
  (municipality or school administrative unit)
  joining the proposed regional school unit, which
  will be provided with the following incentives
• More favorable consideration in approval and
  funding of school construction projects and
• Eligibility for additional financial support for
  reorganizations costs.

10
Reorganization Referendum

• Statement 2, Continued
• A NO vote means that you do not approve of the
  (municipality or school administrative unit)
  joining the proposed regional school unit, which
  will result in the existing (municipality or
  school administrative unit) receiving the
  following penalties
• Less favorable consideration in approval and
  funding of school construction projects and
• A reduction in state funding of education costs
  in an amount estimated to be ___ for school
  year 200_ and ___ for school year 200_, with
  the possibility of ongoing penalties for
  continued failure to join an approved regional
  school unit. Reduction in state education
  funding will likely result in an increased mill
  rate expectation to meet the local share of
  education costs.

11
Reorganization Referendum

• Statement Wording Difference
• Legal Issues
• Which statement to use?
• Can supplementary financial information in
  addition to the penalty impacts be included on
  the ballot?

12
Reorganization Referendum

• In future years
• School systems may join existing regional school
  unit
• Regional school unit to approve SAU joining the
  regional school unit
• Article mirrors the wording found in the law,
  which includes the use of the less negative
  consequence statement

13
Designing/Electing New Regional Boards

• Election of Officials 4 Methods
• Weighted Votes - 20-A, 1472(2) 1473(2-B)
• Subdistrict - 20-A, 1472(1) 1473(2-A)
• At-large - 20-A, 1472(3) 1473(2-C)
• Other - 20-A, 1472(4)

14
Designing/Electing New Regional Boards

• School board election, generally
• For the purpose of nominations, regional school
  unit board directors are considered municipal
  officials and must be nominated in accordance
  with Title 30-A, chapter 121 or with a municipal
  charter, whichever is applicable
• Clerk of each municipality within the regional
  school unit to forward names and addresses of
  directors elected for that municipality to the
  State Board of Education

15
Designing/Electing New Regional Boards

• Weighted Voting Design (most common among current
  SADs)
• Each municipality elects one or more directors
• Directors assigned voting weights based on
  population
• 1,000 votes apportioned among board members
• Reapportionment occurs at the Regional School
  Unit level
• Reapportionment process
• DOE Commissioner, RSU directors or citizen
  petition
• Necessary to ensure one-person, one-vote
  standard
• Committee members municipal, school and citizen
• DOE Commissioner has final say on plan

16
Designing/Electing New Regional Boards

• Subdistrict Design (not common among current
  SADs)
• Use of a reapportionment committee to determine
  subdistricts within each municipality or among
  multiple municipalities provide a separate
  polling place
• Within 45-60 days after approval of subdistricts,
  municipal officials to call special election
• Nomination papers furnished by the regional
  school unit, 10 days before deadline for filing
  nomination papers
• 25 to 50 signatures of register voters in
  district
• Directors elected by secret ballot
• Regional school units to prepare/provide ballots
  to the clerks
• Clerks of each municipality shall forward
  election results to the regional school unit
• Regional unit to inform clerks of the regional
  results

17
Designing/Electing New Regional Boards

• At-Large Design (least common among current SADs)
• Directors elected by all the voters in the
  regional school unit (RSU)
• Nominations for directors must be made on
  petitions furnished by the RSU
• Petitions must be signed according to Title 30-A,
  section 2528 (4) process
• 20 votes in municipalities w/populations under
  200
• Petition submitted to registrar of voters for
  verification and returned to RSU within 30 days
  of election
• Ballots prepared and distributed by RSU
• Secret ballot election
• Clerks must impound election results, if the
  member municipalities do not hold elections on
  same day

18
Designing/Electing New Regional Boards

• Other Election Process
• Regional school unit authorized to use a method
  other than subdistricts, weighted votes or
  at-large election, provided that it meets the
  requirement of the one-person, one-vote principle

19
School Budget Process

• Budget Adoption Process
• Two step process
• Open Meeting - cost center summary budget adopted
  by the legislative body of the regional school
  unit (RSU)
• Vote of the RSU legislative body validated
  through referendum held in each community in the
  RSU

20
School Budget Process

• Open Meeting for School Budget
• (Note SADs that currently directly adopt budget
  by referendum will now have to have an open
  meeting first.)
• At least 7 days before regional school unit (RSU)
  budget meeting, RSU board make a detailed budget
  document available to public
• Moderator of the budget meeting to require the
  clerk or secretary of the RSU board to make a
  checklist of registered voters present at meeting
• If budget exceeds the LD 1 spending limit, the
  vote must be conducted by written ballot

21
School Budget Process

• Budget Validation Procedures
• Referendum held no more than 10 days after the
  budget meeting, where the budget was adopted by
  the regional school units (RSU) legislative body
• RSU board shall provide printed information, to
  be displayed at the polling place, to assist
  voters
• Information is limited to total amounts proposed
  by the RSU for expenditure and revenue cost
  centers, amount approved at budget meeting,
  summary of authorized expenditures, and if
  applicable, amount of spending over EPS limit
• Where to display information?
• Can the too high/too low quested be added?
• Three year question to continue budget validation
  process

22
School Budget Process

• Budget Validation Referendum
• Warrant and absentee ballots delivered to the
  municipal clerk at least 7 days before the date
  of the open regional school unit (RSU) budget
  meeting
• Absentee ballots may not be processed unless
  received by the municipal clerk after the
  conclusion of the budgeting meeting and before
  the close of the polls
• All ballots received before budget meeting must
  be marked rejected

23
School Budget Process

• Budget Validation Wording
• School budget does not exceed EPS limit
• Do you favor approving the (name of regional
  school unit) budget for the upcoming school year
  that was adopted at the latest regional school
  unit budget meeting?

24
School Budget Process

• Budgeting Validation Wording
• School budget does exceed EPS limit
• Do you favor approving the (name of regional
  school unit) budget for the upcoming school year
  that was adopted at the latest regional school
  unit budget meeting and that includes locally
  raised funds that exceed the required local
  contribution as described in the Essential
  Programs and Services Funding Act?
• A Yes vote allows additional funds to be raised
  for K-12 public education
• A No vote means additional funds cannot be raised
  for K-12 public education

25
School Budget Process

• Failure to validate budget
• Regional school unit (RSU) board holds another
  RSU budget meeting at least 10 days after
  referendum. Budget approved at the meeting must
  be validated by referendum
• Process continues until a budget is both approved
  at the budget meeting and validated through
  referendum
• In order for the school to operate, if the budget
  is not adopted by July 1, the latest budget
  submitted by the RSU board is considered the
  budget for the ensuring year, until a final
  budget is approved

26
For More Information

• Please check MMAs website
• http//www.memun.org/public/news/school/index.htm
• Law
• Chat rooms/threads on reorganization topics
• SFR articles/fact sheets on process
• Articles
• And much more