[Local-Maine-Schools] LR 3490: Education Committee Bill 'A'

[Brian Hubbell]

For more information see:
http://mdischools.net/#mostrecent

Also note updated chart for LD 1932:
http://mdischools.net/LD1932_amendments_chart.htm
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LR 3490: Education Committee Bill 'A'

SUMMARY

            This bill is introduced by the Joint Standing Committee on
Education and Cultural Affairs pursuant to Public Law 2007, Chapter
240, Section XXXX-47.  The bill proposes to make the following changes
to clarify and improve the laws governing the formation of regional
school units.

1.  It amends the definition of a school administrative unit to
clarify that community school districts and kindergarten to grade
eight school administrative districts that do not join a regional
school unit can remain in operation after July 1, 2009.  The current
law reconstitutes all kindergarten to grade eight school
administrative districts as regional school units by July 1, 2009, but
is silent on the ability of community school districts and
kindergarten to grade eight school administrative districts to remain
operational after that date.

2.  It changes the deadline by which a referendum must be held to
January 16, 2009 and changes dates that are linked to the referendum
date by the same amount of time.  The current law governing the
reorganization of school administrative units requires that a
referendum must be held on a proposed reorganization on or before
November 4, 2008.

3.  It provides consistent language across the allocated and
unallocated provisions in the law to clarify the budget referendum
ballot question to be placed before the voters at a budget validation
referendum vote.

4.  It clarifies and amends the budget approval and validation process
provisions to:
            A.  Increase the number of days from legislative body
meeting to referendum validation from 10 days to 14 days;
            B.  Provide that absentee ballots may not be distributed
until the day after the regional school unit budget meeting;
            C.  In the event that a regional school unit budget has
not been approved and validated prior to the start of the fiscal year,
authorizes municipalities to levy taxes based on most recent school
budget approved by regional school unit board until a budget is
validated by voters; and
            D.  Eliminates the need for two separate ballot question
for the budget validation referendum vote and combines information on
two votes into one document provided with the warrant for the
referendum vote.

5.  It clarifies the debt liability of the school administrative units
that are members of a career and technical education region, including
the disposition of debt incurred for a school construction or
renovation project at a career and technical education region by the
school administrative units that are members of the career and
technical education region.

6.  It clarifies the financial responsibility for the preservation of
school choice in new regional school units where one or more member
municipalities continue to tuition students to a school outside of the
new regional school unit.  The provision provides that the member
municipality is responsible for providing appropriations for any
additional expense above the sending regional school unit tuition rate
for students who are educated outside of the regional school unit.

7.  It clarifies the rights and obligations of regional school units
concerning the reassignment of teachers and other employees of the
regional school unit in the transitional period from the operational
date of the regional school unit until the completion of negotiations
for a regional school unit-wide collective bargaining agreement.

8.  It directs the Department of Education to conduct a review of the
results of referenda votes on proposed reorganization plans and the
status of the reorganization of school administrative units as
regional school units consistent with the July 1, 2009 implementation
timeline.  It also directs the department to develop recommendations
related to the circumstances and criteria under which the Commissioner
of Education could grant a waiver to a school administrative unit that
has not complied with the implementation timelines, including any
necessary flexibility that would provide the Commissioner with the
authority to adjust the timelines for complying with the law, to waive
penalties, or to approve an "alternative plan" submitted by a
reorganization planning committee.  It further directs the department
to clarify what happens if voters of an individual school
administrative unit fail to approve a reorganization plan which
results in the school administrative unit not meeting the
implementation timeline for reorganization.