Here's the Really Good Parts!
From the Department of Education LSRS ("Local Schools, Regional Support") site, there's a link to the proposed Baldacci school district reorganization legislation, An Act To Create Learning Communities In Maine. It's 77 pages long, and we won't attempt a comprehensive summary here.
We call your attention to some of the juicy parts!
p. 13
4. Teacher contracts. The contracts between the municipalities or the career and technical regions within the region and all teachers shall automatically be assigned to the school administrative regional board as of the date the regional learning community becomes operative and shall remain in effect until the endof the implementation year, June 30, 2009, unless otherwise negotiated by the teachers and the regional learning community.. The regional learning community shall assign teachers to their duties and make payments upon their contracts.
5. Superintendent contracts. The contracts between the superintendents and municipalities within the region shall be transferred to the regional learning communities. The regional board of directors shall determine the superintendents' duties within the region.
§1251. Board of directors
Provisions for a regional learning community board of directors shall be as follows.
1. Size. The size shall be determined by a joint meeting of all the municipalities within the region as established in section 1103, but shall not be less than 5 or more than 15. It shall include at least one director from each municipality or subdistrict.
p. 15
§1252. Methods of representation
The following are methods of representation.
1. Method A: Subdistrict representation. Directors shall represent subdistricts.
A. The subdistricts, as far as practicable, shall be whole municipalities. If the municipalities are divided into subdistricts, then they shall be divided into subdistricts of approximately equal size as determined by the latest Federal Decennial Census or Federal Estimated Census. The municipal officers shall provide a separate voting place for each subdistrict of the municipality
B. The boundaries of each subdistrict shall be determined by a majority vote of the joint meeting or reapportionment committee. Each subdistrict shall have one director, except that in a municipality comprised of 2 or more subdistricts, the joint meeting may authorize the election of directors-at-large.
2. Method B: Weighted votes. Directors shall cast weighted votes.
A. The committee shall apportion 1,000 votes among all the members of the board. The ratio of the number of votes cast by the directors representing a municipality in relation to the number 1,000 shall be the same ratio to the nearest whole number as the population of the municipality is in relation to the population of all municipalities in the district, as determined by the latest Federal Decennial Census or Federal Estimated Census.
B. To assure the use of whole numbers, the 1,000 votes apportioned among the board members may be increased or decreased by not more than 5 votes.
C. A plan may not permit the voting power of any director to exceed by more than 2% the percentage of voting power the director would have if all 1,000 votes were apportioned equally among the directors.
D. In a municipality served by 2 or more directors, the votes cast by them shall be divided equally among them. The directors shall be elected at large within the municipality unless otherwise provided by municipal charter.
3. Method C: At-large voting. Directors shall be elected at large by all of the voters in the region.
4. Method D: Other. Directors may be elected by any other method that meets the requirements of the one-man, one-vote principle that is not included in Methods A, B or C.
p. 44
§1407. Closing an elementary school
1. Vote; cost of election. An elementary school in a member municipality of a regional learning community may not be closed unless the voters in the member towns vote on the following article in accordance with the procedure set forth in sections 1351 to 1354.
"Article : Shall the board of directors of Region No. ......... be authorized to close
............................................. (name of school)? Yes No "
(The election must be conducted only within that member municipality, and the costs of the election are borne by the regional learning community.)
2. Expense of keeping the school open. If the voters vote to keep the school open, the member municipality is liable for some additional expense for actual local operating costs and transportation operating costs as defined in section 15672. The determination of costs is subject to the approval of the commissioner. The cost to be borne by the town voting to keep an elementary school open is the amount that would be saved if the school were closed. Any additional costs that must be borne by the member municipality must be part of the article presented to the voters at the meeting to determine whether the school should remain open.
3. Costs and procedures during subsequent years. During any year subsequent to the year during which an elementary school remains open contrary to the regional board of director's vote to close that elementary school, as a result of a municipal referendum, the elementary school will be open without any additional cost to the municipality except as described in paragraphs A and B.
A. If the regional board of directors again votes to close the elementary school and the voters of the member municipality again vote to keep the elementary school open, as described in this paragraph, then the elementary school will remain open and the member municipality will be obligated to pay the additional costs as described in subsection 2.
B. If the regional board of directors again votes to close the elementary school and the voters of the member municipality fail to vote to keep the elementary school open, then the elementary school is closed. In this event, the elementary school may be reopened only if regional board of directors votes to reopen the school.
There's a lot more to the document of course. There would be a new method of voting on budgets. There would be state imposed financial targets.
Read it over and tell us what else is significant in the document.
Remember this old song?
We call your attention to some of the juicy parts!
p. 13
4. Teacher contracts. The contracts between the municipalities or the career and technical regions within the region and all teachers shall automatically be assigned to the school administrative regional board as of the date the regional learning community becomes operative and shall remain in effect until the endof the implementation year, June 30, 2009, unless otherwise negotiated by the teachers and the regional learning community.. The regional learning community shall assign teachers to their duties and make payments upon their contracts.
5. Superintendent contracts. The contracts between the superintendents and municipalities within the region shall be transferred to the regional learning communities. The regional board of directors shall determine the superintendents' duties within the region.
§1251. Board of directors
Provisions for a regional learning community board of directors shall be as follows.
1. Size. The size shall be determined by a joint meeting of all the municipalities within the region as established in section 1103, but shall not be less than 5 or more than 15. It shall include at least one director from each municipality or subdistrict.
p. 15
§1252. Methods of representation
The following are methods of representation.
1. Method A: Subdistrict representation. Directors shall represent subdistricts.
A. The subdistricts, as far as practicable, shall be whole municipalities. If the municipalities are divided into subdistricts, then they shall be divided into subdistricts of approximately equal size as determined by the latest Federal Decennial Census or Federal Estimated Census. The municipal officers shall provide a separate voting place for each subdistrict of the municipality
B. The boundaries of each subdistrict shall be determined by a majority vote of the joint meeting or reapportionment committee. Each subdistrict shall have one director, except that in a municipality comprised of 2 or more subdistricts, the joint meeting may authorize the election of directors-at-large.
2. Method B: Weighted votes. Directors shall cast weighted votes.
A. The committee shall apportion 1,000 votes among all the members of the board. The ratio of the number of votes cast by the directors representing a municipality in relation to the number 1,000 shall be the same ratio to the nearest whole number as the population of the municipality is in relation to the population of all municipalities in the district, as determined by the latest Federal Decennial Census or Federal Estimated Census.
B. To assure the use of whole numbers, the 1,000 votes apportioned among the board members may be increased or decreased by not more than 5 votes.
C. A plan may not permit the voting power of any director to exceed by more than 2% the percentage of voting power the director would have if all 1,000 votes were apportioned equally among the directors.
D. In a municipality served by 2 or more directors, the votes cast by them shall be divided equally among them. The directors shall be elected at large within the municipality unless otherwise provided by municipal charter.
3. Method C: At-large voting. Directors shall be elected at large by all of the voters in the region.
4. Method D: Other. Directors may be elected by any other method that meets the requirements of the one-man, one-vote principle that is not included in Methods A, B or C.
p. 44
§1407. Closing an elementary school
1. Vote; cost of election. An elementary school in a member municipality of a regional learning community may not be closed unless the voters in the member towns vote on the following article in accordance with the procedure set forth in sections 1351 to 1354.
"Article : Shall the board of directors of Region No. ......... be authorized to close
............................................. (name of school)? Yes No "
(The election must be conducted only within that member municipality, and the costs of the election are borne by the regional learning community.)
2. Expense of keeping the school open. If the voters vote to keep the school open, the member municipality is liable for some additional expense for actual local operating costs and transportation operating costs as defined in section 15672. The determination of costs is subject to the approval of the commissioner. The cost to be borne by the town voting to keep an elementary school open is the amount that would be saved if the school were closed. Any additional costs that must be borne by the member municipality must be part of the article presented to the voters at the meeting to determine whether the school should remain open.
3. Costs and procedures during subsequent years. During any year subsequent to the year during which an elementary school remains open contrary to the regional board of director's vote to close that elementary school, as a result of a municipal referendum, the elementary school will be open without any additional cost to the municipality except as described in paragraphs A and B.
A. If the regional board of directors again votes to close the elementary school and the voters of the member municipality again vote to keep the elementary school open, as described in this paragraph, then the elementary school will remain open and the member municipality will be obligated to pay the additional costs as described in subsection 2.
B. If the regional board of directors again votes to close the elementary school and the voters of the member municipality fail to vote to keep the elementary school open, then the elementary school is closed. In this event, the elementary school may be reopened only if regional board of directors votes to reopen the school.
There's a lot more to the document of course. There would be a new method of voting on budgets. There would be state imposed financial targets.
Read it over and tell us what else is significant in the document.
Remember this old song?
"One man's loss always is another man's gain,
Yes, one man's joy always is another man's pain."
Yes, one man's joy always is another man's pain."
posted by PP | 1/16/2007 07:55:00 AM
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