Chapter 086
2016 -- S 2816
Enacted 06/17/2016

A N   A C T
IN AMENDMENT OF AND IN ADDITION TO CHAPTER 286 OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1986, ENTITLED "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWNS OF CHARLESTOWN, RICHMOND AND HOPKINTON, TO JOIN A REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, INCORPORATING SAID REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS, CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF A REGIONAL SCHOOL FOR THE JOINT USE OF THE PARTICIPATING TOWNS, WITHIN SAID REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT ESTABLISHED BY THIS ACT, " AS AMENDED

Introduced By: Senators Morgan, and Algiere
Date Introduced: March 23, 2016

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
     SECTION 1. Section 10 (1) of Chapter 286 of 1986 Public Laws, entitled "An Act
Authorizing the Towns of Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton, to Join a Regional School
District, Incorporating said Regional School District, and Providing for the Issuance of Bonds,
Construction and Operation of a Regional School System for the Joint Use of the Participating
Towns, Within Said Regional School District Established by this Act," as amended, is hereby
amended to read as follows:
     SECTION 10. (l)(a) There shall be a regional school committee for said district.
consisting of eleven (11) members, each Each member town shall be represented on the
committee in direct proportion to its population. as determined by the most recent population
census figures. The total population of the district shall then be divided by eleven (11) and
the resulting quotients thus obtained shall be used as a basis for determining the proportionate
representation of each said member town on said committee, and realizing that the mathematical
divisions of said formula will not obtain absolute evenness, fractions of .5 or more shall be
construed as 1 point and fractions less than .5 shall be construed as 0. Subject to the limitations
aforesaid, the members of said committee from each of the member towns to be elected or
appointed for terms hereinafter set forth shall be determined as of the time of each bi-annual
election and each of the said member towns, based upon the census aforesaid. The first such
regional school committee shall be elected in the general election in November, 1988. In the
general election 1988 each town electing three (3) members of the school committee shall elect
two (2) members to serve a term of four (4) years and one (1) member to serve a term of two (2)
years. A town electing more than three (3) representatives shall elect three (3) members for a term
of two (2) years and additional members for a term of four (4) years. Thereafter members shall be
elected for a term of four (4) years. Until such time as those elected in that election shall be
certified and qualified, the existing Chariho Regional High School District Committee shall serve
as the Regional School Committee. On the effective date of this amendment, one seat shall be
added to the school committee, for a total of twelve (12) seats. The Richmond Town Council
shall appoint a qualified elector to the twelfth seat for a term that expires in November 2018. In
the general election of 2018, Richmond voters shall elect a school committee member to the
twelfth seat to serve a four-year (4) term that expires in November 2022.
     (1)(b) Beginning with the 2022 general election, the school committee shall consist of a
minimum of ten (10) seats and a maximum of fourteen (14) seats. For the general election of
2022, and every ten (10) years thereafter, the population schedules of the most recent federal
decennial census shall be used to determine the size school committee that will provide the most
equal representation in proportion to population for all three (3) towns in the district. The number
of seats shall be determined as follows: The ideal number of persons represented by each seat is
determined by dividing the total district population by ten (10). The number of seats each town is
entitled to is determined by dividing the population of each town by the ideal number of persons
represented by each seat, with fractions of 0.5 or greater rounded up and fractions of less than 0.5
rounded down. The total should be ten (10). If the total is more than ten (10), the smallest number
above 0.5 is rounded down instead of up, and if the total number is less than ten (10), the greatest
number below 0.5 is rounded up instead of down. The total number of seats should then be ten
(10). The number of people in each town who would be represented by each seat is determined by
dividing the population of the town by the number of seats that town is entitled to. The deviation
from the ideal number in each town is expressed as a percentage. Comparing the deviation
percentages in all three (3) towns, the largest percentage of over-representation and the largest
percentage of under-representation are added together to determine the maximum deviation for a
school committee of ten (10) seats. This calculation is repeated for school committees of eleven
(11), twelve (12), thirteen (13), and fourteen (14) seats to determine the maximum deviation for
each size school committee. The smallest of the five (5) maximum deviations determines the
number of school committee seats that will yield the most equal representation in proportion to
population for all three (3) towns in the district based on the most recent federal decennial census.
     (1)(c) In the event of any vacancy by death, resignation, or incapacity to serve of any
term of any member of said regional school district committee, the town council of the member
town in which such vacancy occurs shall fill such vacancy by election by a majority vote of the
town council of said town for the unexpired term of the member whose office is thus vacated.
     (1)(b)(d) Since the United States Census bureau of the census conducts on a decennial
basis and in view of the fact that any of the Chariho towns may incur rapid shifts in population
which could affect the composition of the Chariho school committee, there may be agreement
among the town councils to provide for a census on a five (5) years basis beginning in 1995 in
any year ending in 5. A census of the towns taken in 1987 will be used as the basis for school
committee composition until the 1900 United States bureau of census data is provided. The cost
of the 1987 census will be borne by each town in proportion to its population. Any town objecting
to the use of the United States census material population schedules may require the making of an
actual census. in time for the first general election after 1995. The cost of such a census shall be
borne equally by the three (3) towns and shall not constitute a reimbursable education expense;
provided further that in the event that such an actual census does not result in a count materially
different from the numbers contained in the material population schedules compiled by the
United States bureau of the census, then the cost of the actual census, shall be borne by the town
or towns objecting to the use of such bureau of the census material population schedules.
     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC005536
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