Bill Text: NH HB369 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to withdrawal from a school administrative unit or an authorized regional enrollment area school.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-04-13 - Senate Sen. Stiles Moved Laid on Table, Motion Adopted, Voice Vote; Senate Journal 12, Pg.246 [HB369 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2011-HB369-Introduced.html
HB 369-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
04/01
HOUSE BILL 369-FN
AN ACT relative to withdrawal from a school administrative unit or an authorized regional enrollment area school.
SPONSORS: Rep. Howard, Sull 2; Rep. W. Smith, Rock 18; Rep. Bowers, Sull 3
This bill makes various changes to the procedure for school district withdrawal from a school administrative unit or authorized regional enrollment area school.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0373
04/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT relative to withdrawal from a school administrative unit or an authorized regional enrollment area school.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School Administrative Units; Withdrawal. Amend RSA 194-C:2, IV to read as follows:
IV. WITHDRAWAL.
(a) The planning committee shall:
(1) Study the advisability of the withdrawal of a specific school district from a school administrative unit in accordance with this chapter, its organization, operation and control, and the advisability of constructing, maintaining and operating a school or schools to serve the needs of such school district.
(2) Estimate the construction and operating costs of operating such school or schools.
(3) Investigate the methods of financing such school or schools, and any other matters pertaining to the organization and operation of a school administrative unit.
(4) Prepare an educational and fiscal analysis of the impact of the withdrawal on the withdrawing district [on any school districts remaining in the school administrative unit] and a proposed plan for the disposition of any school administrative unit assets and liabilities held by the withdrawing district.
(5) Consult with the department of education regarding any unique issues and resolve such issues in a timely manner and submit a report or reports of its findings and recommendations to the several school districts within the existing school administrative unit.
(b) If the planning committee recommends the withdrawal from a school administrative unit, it shall prepare a plan for organization or reorganization. The plan [shall] may include [providing] provision of superintendent services, which meet the requirements set forth in RSA 194-C:4, and a transition plan and timeline, which includes consideration of transition budgets and staffing for the withdrawing district, and is signed by at least a majority of the membership of the planning committee.
(c) The planning committee may submit to the board of an existing school administrative unit, a plan for joining the existing school administrative unit. If approved by the board of the existing school administrative unit, the plan shall be submitted to the state board of education [and] which may, within 60 days of receipt of the plan, make recommendations to the planning committee. After receiving the state board’s recommendations, the planning committee may revise the plan or submit it to the school district voters in accordance with this section.
(d) The planning committee shall submit a copy of the proposed plan to the several school districts and shall hold at least one public hearing no less than 14 days prior to submission to the state board. [Within 60 days, the state board of education shall review the proposed plan for administrative structure and to determine whether or not the proposed plan complies with the requirements of this section and RSA 194-C:4.]
(e) If in the opinion of the [state board] planning committee, all requirements have been met, it shall forward the plan to the school district clerk for a vote at a regular or special school district meeting.
(f) If the [state board of education] planning committee determines that all requirements have not been properly addressed, the deficiencies shall be noted and the [plan shall be promptly returned for revision] planning committee shall promptly revise the plan. When the plan is [resubmitted, the state board of education shall promptly return the plan and] revised, the planning committee shall submit a copy to the state board which shall make a written recommendation, within 60 days of receipt of the plan, for or against its adoption based on whether or not the plan complies with the requirements of this section and RSA 194-C:4. This recommendation shall be advisory only and shall be reported to the legislative body of the school district. [The state board shall not have veto power over any plan once it is resubmitted by the planning committee.]
(g) [The state board] Within 10 days of making its recommendation, the state board shall submit the plan for district withdrawal from a school administrative unit to the school board of the withdrawing district for acceptance by the district as provided in subparagraph (h). Upon such submission, the state board shall cause the approved plan to be published once at the expense of the state in media of general availability and usage within the district which proposes to withdraw from a school administrative unit.
(h) [Upon the receipt of written notice of the state board’s recommendation of the plan,] The plan shall be submitted for approval by the school district under the procedures outlined in paragraph I of this section. The question shall be in substantially the following form:
“Shall the school district accept the provisions of RSA 194-C providing for the withdrawal from a school administrative unit involving school districts of ______________ and ______________ etc., in accordance with the provisions of the proposed plan?”
Yes ____No ____
(i) If 3/5 of the votes cast on the question in the withdrawing district shall vote in the affirmative, the clerk of that district shall forthwith send to the state board a certified copy of the warrant, certificate of posting, evidence of publication, if required, and minutes of the meeting in the district. If the state board finds that 3/5 of the votes cast in that district meeting have voted in favor of withdrawing from the school administrative unit, it shall issue its certificate to that effect; and such certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the lawful organization and formation of the new, single district school administrative unit as of the date of its issuance.
2 Authorized Regional Enrollment Area Schools; Withdrawal of District. Amend RSA 195-A:14, III-VIII to read as follows:
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 jointly held 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 on the withdrawing district.
(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.] and may, within 60 days of receipt of the plan, issue written recommendations to the withdrawing district noting any deficiencies that may need to be addressed in the plan. The state board’s recommendations shall be advisory only. After receiving the state board’s recommendations, the committee may revise the plan or submit it to the voters in accordance with this section. In either case, the state board’s [recommendation] recommendations 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 of the withdrawing school district 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:
“Shall the school district accept the provisions of RSA 195-A:14, as amended, providing for the withdrawal of the sending (or receiving) district of ________________ from the ______________ area in accordance with the provisions of the proposed withdrawal plan filed with the school district clerk?’’
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.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
11-0373
Revised 01/27/11
HB 369 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to withdrawal from a school administrative unit or an authorized regional enrollment area school.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Education states this bill may increase local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2012 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or state and county expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Education states this bill alters the process used by a school district to withdraw from a school administrative unit. The Department states while a withdrawal may affect the cost of providing administrative services to both the new SAU and the existing SAU, it does not always increase the costs. Since the costs are driven by the specific withdrawal plan, it is not possible to estimate the costs without reviewing such a plan. The Department states it is also not possible to predict how many local school boards will vote to commence the withdrawal planning process in any given year. The Department states the changes proposed by this legislation should have a neutral effect on state and county finances. The Department also states, while indeterminable, the changes to local school budgets due to district withdrawals will be anticipated and included in the required withdrawal plans and the plans would have to be adopted by the school districts at school district meetings before the plan could take effect; so even if there is an increase in local costs, those costs would not mandated without local voter approval.
