Chapter 341
2012 -- S 2447 SUBSTITUTE A AS
AMENDED
Enacted 06/20/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
EDUCATION -- BOARD OF GOVERNORS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
Introduced By: Senator Rhoda E. Perry
Date Introduced: February 16, 2012
It is enacted by the General
Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 16-60-1 and 16-60-2 of the General Laws
in Chapter 16-60
entitled "Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary
Education" are hereby amended to read
as follows:
16-60-1. Board
established. -- (a) There is created a board of regents for elementary
and
secondary education sometimes referred to as the
"regents" or the "board of regents," which shall
be and is constituted a public corporation, empowered to
sue and be sued in its own name, to have
a corporate seal, and to exercise all the powers, in
addition to those specifically enumerated in
this chapter, usually appertaining to public corporations
entrusted with control of elementary and
secondary education institutions and functions. The regents
shall be protected from sudden
changes in membership and reversal of policy by having
staggered terms for its public members.
(b) Upon its
organization the board of regents shall be invested with the legal title (in
trust for the state) to all property, real and personal,
now owned by and/or under the control or in
the custody of the board of regents for education for the
use of the department of elementary and
secondary education. The board of regents is made successor to
all powers, rights, duties, and
privileges pertaining to elementary and secondary education.
(c) The board of
regents for elementary and secondary education shall consist of nine (9)
ten (10) members
as follows: Eight (8) public members appointed pursuant to the terms of section
subsection 16-60-2(a), one student member who shall be
ex-officio and nonvoting elected
pursuant to the provisions of subsection 16-60-2(d), and a member of the board of governors for
higher education designated by the governor. Five (5) voting
members of the board shall
constitute a quorum and the vote of a majority vote of those
present and voting shall be required
for action.
The public members of
the board of regents shall not be compensated for service in
attending meetings or duly organized subcommittee meetings of
the board at which business is
transacted.
(d) The governor shall
designate one of the public members as chairperson of the board
of regents. The board may elect from among its members
such other officers as it deems
necessary.
16-60-2.
Appointment of board members. -- (a) The governor shall with the advice and
consent of the senate establish the board by appointing eight
(8) members to serve staggered
terms. The appointments shall be made for terms of three
(3) years commencing on February 1 in
the year of appointment and ending on January 31 in the
third (3rd) year after this, except, at the
expiration of their terms members shall remain and continue in
their official capacity until a new
member is appointed and confirmed. Any vacancy among the
public members of the board shall
be filled by appointment of the governor for the
remainder of the unexpired term. In the selection
and appointment of members of the board the governor
shall seek persons who best serve the
entire needs of the state. Public members shall not be
appointed for more than three (3)
successive three (3) year terms each; provided, that this
limitation shall not apply to that person
designated as chairperson by the governor who may be a member so
long as he or she shall serve
as chairperson.
(b) No person shall be
eligible for appointment to the board after the effective date of
this act [March 24, 2006] unless he or she is a resident
of this state.
(c) Members of the
board shall be removable by the governor pursuant to the provisions
of section 36-1-7 of the general laws and for cause
only, and removal solely for partisan or
personal reasons unrelated to capacity or fitness for the
office shall be unlawful.
(d) There is hereby
established a student advisory council to the board of regents,
consisting of one elected high school student representative
from each public secondary school in
the state of
(1) Each public
secondary school shall hold elections for its representative to the student
advisory council no earlier than the first (1st) day of March
and no later than the end of the second
(2nd) full week of April. Each school shall elect only one representative.
Elected members shall be
notified of their election on or before the Friday of the
third (3rd) week of April of the year of
their election. No person shall be eligible to be elected
to the student advisory council unless at
the time of his or her election he or she is enrolled as
a student in a secondary school between the
grades of nine (9) and eleven (11) within the state of
vote if they are not currently enrolled in a
grades of nine (9) and eleven (11). If at any time during
his or her term of office a member of the
student advisory council ceases to be so enrolled, his or her
membership shall be terminated and
his or her position shall be deemed vacant. This vacancy
shall be filled by the public secondary
school within thirty (30) school days of the opening of the
vacancy.
(2) The student
advisory council will serve from the first (1st) day of May of the year it is
elected until the last day of April of the following year. A
student may serve no more than three
(3) terms.
(3) Said student
advisory council shall meet from time to time and shall consider such
matters as it deems appropriate.
(4) Prior to the first (1st) day of June of each annual session
the student advisory council
shall adopt a set of bylaws.
(5) Members of the
council shall not be compensated for service in attending meetings
except that they shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses
incurred in travelling to and from
meetings.
(6) The members of
said student advisory council shall, by majority vote prior to the first
(1st) day of June in each year, elect from their members
a chairperson who shall serve for a term
of one year beginning on the first (1st) day of June.
Said chairperson shall serve as an exofficio
and nonvoting member of the board of regents for a term
of one year, unless the student advisory
council removes said chairperson from his or her position in
a manner described within the bylaws
of that council and/or if he or she is otherwise
removed by the governor.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01141/SUB A
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