| Chapter 091 |
| 2016 -- H 7720 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: Representatives Price, and Kennedy |
| Date Introduced: February 24, 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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| LC003412 |
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