2020 -- H 7069 | |
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LC003008 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION | |
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Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Caldwell, Noret, Ackerman, and Lyle | |
Date Introduced: January 10, 2020 | |
Referred To: House Health, Education & Welfare | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 16-2-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-2 entitled "School |
2 | Committees and Superintendents [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of |
3 | Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
4 | 16-2-9. General powers and duties of school committees. [Effective January 1, 2020.] |
5 | (a) Unless the responsibility is otherwise delegated by this chapter, the entire care, |
6 | control, and management of all public school interests of the several cities and towns shall be |
7 | vested in the school committees of the several cities and towns. School committees shall have, in |
8 | addition to those enumerated in this title, the following powers and duties: |
9 | (1) To identify educational needs in the community. |
10 | (2) To develop education policies to meet the needs of the community. |
11 | (3) To provide for and ensure the implementation of federal and state laws, the |
12 | regulations of the council on elementary and secondary education, and local school policies, |
13 | programs, and directives. |
14 | (4) To provide for the evaluation of the performance of the school system. |
15 | (5) To have responsibility for the care and control of local schools. |
16 | (6) To have overall policy responsibility for the employment and discipline of school |
17 | department personnel. |
18 | (7) To approve a master plan defining goals and objectives of the school system. These |
19 | goals and objectives shall be expressed in terms of what men and women should know and be |
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1 | able to do as a result of their educational experience. The committee shall periodically evaluate |
2 | the efforts and results of education in light of these objectives. |
3 | (8) To provide for the location, care, control, and management of school facilities and |
4 | equipment. |
5 | (9) To adopt a school budget to submit to the local appropriating authority. |
6 | (10) To adopt any changes in the school budget during the course of the school year. |
7 | (11) To approve expenditures in the absence of a budget, consistent with state law. |
8 | (12) To employ a superintendent of schools and assign any compensation and other terms |
9 | and conditions as the school committee and superintendent shall agree, provided that in no event |
10 | shall the term of employment of the superintendent exceed three (3) years. Nothing contained in |
11 | this chapter shall be construed as invalidating or impairing a contract of a school committee with |
12 | a school superintendent in force on May 12, 1978. |
13 | (13) [Deleted by P.L. 2019, ch. 224, § 2 and P.L. 2019, ch. 259, § 2]. |
14 | (14) To establish minimum standards for personnel, to adopt personnel policies, and to |
15 | approve a table of organization. |
16 | (15) To establish standards for the evaluation of personnel. |
17 | (16) To establish standards for conduct in the schools and for disciplinary actions. |
18 | (17) To hear appeals from disciplinary actions. |
19 | (18) To enter into contracts; provided, however, that notwithstanding any other provision |
20 | of the general or public laws, whether of specific or general application, and notwithstanding the |
21 | provisions of any charter of any municipality where the school committee is appointed and not |
22 | elected, but not including, the Central Falls school district board of trustees established by § 16-2- |
23 | 34, the power and duty to enter into collective bargaining agreements shall be vested in the chief |
24 | executive officer of the municipality and not in the school committee. |
25 | (19) To publish policy manuals that shall include all school committee policies. |
26 | (20) To establish policies governing curriculum, courses of instruction, and text books. |
27 | (21) To provide for transportation services that meet or exceed standards of the council |
28 | on elementary and secondary education. |
29 | (22) To make any reports to the department of education as are required by the council on |
30 | elementary and secondary education. |
31 | (23) To delegate, consistent with law, any responsibilities to the superintendent as the |
32 | committee may deem appropriate. |
33 | (24) To address the health and wellness of students and employees. |
34 | (25) To establish a subcommittee of the school board or committee to decrease obesity |
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1 | and address school health and wellness policies for students and employees consistent with § 16- |
2 | 21-28. |
3 | (26) To annually undertake a minimum of six (6) hours of professional development as |
4 | set forth and described in § 16-2-5.1. |
5 | (b) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit or interfere with the rights of teachers |
6 | and other school employees to collectively bargain pursuant to chapters 9.3 and 9.4 of title 28 or |
7 | to allow any school committee to abrogate any agreement reached by collective bargaining. |
8 | (c) The elected school committees of each city, town, or regional school district, or the |
9 | chief executive officer of any municipality having an appointed school committee, shall have the |
10 | power to bind their successors and successor committees by entering into contracts of |
11 | employment in the exercise of their governmental functions. |
12 | (d) Notwithstanding any provisions of the general laws to the contrary, the requirement |
13 | defined in subsections (d) through (f) of this section shall apply. The school committee of each |
14 | school district shall be responsible for maintaining a school budget that does not result in a debt. |
15 | (e) The school committee shall, within thirty (30) days after the close of the first and |
16 | second quarters of the state's fiscal year, adopt a budget as may be necessary to enable it to |
17 | operate without incurring a debt, as described in subsection (d). |
18 | (f) In the event that any obligation, encumbrance, or expenditure by a superintendent of |
19 | schools or a school committee is in excess of the amount budgeted or that any revenue is less than |
20 | the amount budgeted, the school committee shall within five (5) working days of its discovery of |
21 | potential or actual over expenditure or revenue deficiency submit a written statement of the |
22 | amount of and cause for the over obligation or over expenditure or revenue deficiency to the city |
23 | or town council president and any other person who by local charter or statute serves as the city |
24 | or town's executive officer; the statement shall further include a statement of the school |
25 | committee's plan for corrective actions necessary to meet the requirements of subsection (d). The |
26 | plan shall be approved by the auditor general and also submitted to the division of municipal |
27 | finance. |
28 | (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whether of general or specific |
29 | application, and notwithstanding any contrary provision of any city or town charter or ordinance, |
30 | the elected school committee of any city, town, and regional school district shall be, and is hereby |
31 | authorized to retain, the services of independent legal counsel as it may deem necessary and |
32 | convenient. Any counsel so retained shall be compensated out of funds duly appropriated to the |
33 | school committee, and in no event shall the independent counsel be deemed to be an employee of |
34 | the pertinent city or town for any purpose. |
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1 | (h) School districts may use school resources for trips that do not meet the state's basic |
2 | education program, provided that the school committee or board for the district expressly |
3 | approves the use and amount of the school resources for the trip by an affirmative vote in open |
4 | session. |
5 | SECTION 2. Section 16-38-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-38 entitled "Offenses |
6 | Pertaining to Schools [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is |
7 | hereby amended to read as follows: |
8 | 16-38-6. Restrictions on commercial activity and fundraising in public schools. |
9 | (a) Except as provided otherwise in subsection (e) of this section, no No public school |
10 | official or public school employee shall, for any purpose, solicit or exact from any pupil in any |
11 | public school any contribution or gift of money or any article of value, or any pledge to contribute |
12 | any money or article of value. No public school teacher shall accept payment for tutoring directly |
13 | from the parents of a student under his or her instruction. If a teacher is to be assigned and |
14 | compensated as a tutor for a student under his or her instruction, the assignment and |
15 | compensation must be through the school department pursuant to policies and procedures adopted |
16 | by the school committee. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit a teacher from |
17 | tutoring a student who is not concurrently under his or her instruction in the public school and |
18 | receiving compensation for the tutoring from the parents of the student. |
19 | (b) No commercial goods or services shall be sold to students in the public schools or on |
20 | public school property, nor shall any commercial materials (flyers, literature, advertisements, |
21 | commercial materials, or solicitations) be sent home with students from the public school, except |
22 | as authorized pursuant to policies and procedures adopted by the local school committee, which |
23 | shall, at a minimum, address the following: |
24 | (1) The conduct and financial accountability of public school employees and public |
25 | school officials engaged in commercial activities for the benefit of public schools; |
26 | (2) The use of schoolchildren to deliver commercial materials to parents. |
27 | (c) Any approved fundraising activity shall be conducted on a voluntary basis and in |
28 | accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the school committee, which shall at a |
29 | minimum, address the following: |
30 | (1) The conduct and financial accountability of public school employees and public |
31 | school officials engaged in fundraising activities for the benefit of public schools; |
32 | (2) The specific circumstances, if any, for door to door solicitations and door to door |
33 | sales by public school students for fundraising; |
34 | (3) The use of schoolchildren to deliver fundraising materials to parents. |
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1 | (d) The commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall provide technical |
2 | assistance to assist the school committees of the several towns and cities in the formulation of the |
3 | local policies and procedures mandated by this section. |
4 | (e) The provisions of this section shall not prohibit a school district from requesting a |
5 | contribution of money from a student or the student's parent or legal guardian to pay, in whole or |
6 | in part, for the cost of district-sponsored field trips, dances, clubs, and other district sponsored or |
7 | based programs of extracurricular activities ("activities"), provided that the district shall pay for |
8 | the costs to attend and participate in these activities to meet any deficit. No students shall be |
9 | individually identified in regard to these contributions. The provisions of this section shall not |
10 | prohibit a school district from establishing a minimum goal for fundraising and to receive |
11 | contributions or gifts of money as a prerequisite to determining whether the district shall |
12 | undertake or participate in an activity. |
13 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION | |
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1 | This act would allow a school district to request a contribution of money from a student |
2 | or the student's parent or legal guardian to pay, in whole or in part, for the cost of district- |
3 | sponsored field trips, dances, clubs, and other district sponsored or based programs of extra- |
4 | curricular activities, provided that the district would pay the costs to meet any deficit. |
5 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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