§ 16-3-11 - School committees of regional school districts – Powers and duties. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 16-3-11

   § 16-3-11  School committees of regionalschool districts – Powers and duties. – (a) A regional school district established under the provisions of §16-3-10 shall be a body politic and corporate with all the powers and dutiesconferred by law upon school committees and with the following additionalpowers and duties:

   (1) To adopt a name and a corporate seal.

   (2) To sue and be sued but only to the same extent and uponthe same conditions that a city or town may sue or be sued.

   (3) To acquire by purchase, gift, or other means of transferor by condemnation, land, and improvements within the district as a site for aschool or schools. To acquire also by this method the rights of way and othereasements as may be required in connection with the use of the site.

   (ii) For the purpose of acquiring land by condemnation forthe site, the regional district is given all the powers conferred upon citiesor towns for the condemnation of land for school purposes by § 16-9-5;provided, that the amount of land taken by the committee may exceed five (5)acres but shall not exceed thirty (30) acres for any one building site. Thedescription, plat, and statement of the land taken under this chapter shall besigned by the chairperson of the regional district school committee and filedin the records of land evidence as provided in § 16-9-6. The owners ofland or any persons entitled to any estate or interest in it taken by thecommittee shall have the same right of petition, the right of jury trial, andall other rights under the provisions of §§ 16-9-7 and 16-9-8.

   (iii) Upon the filing of the description, plat, and statementof the land taken, the title to the land shall vest absolutely and in feesimple in the regional school district notwithstanding that any of the landtaken is devoted to a public use, and the district, acting by and through thedistrict committee and its duly authorized agents, may immediately enter andtake possession of the land without any process of law required by statute orcommon law, and remove any or all buildings, property, or other impediments,and occupy, use, and improve the land for the purposes of this chapternotwithstanding any other provision of law.

   (iv) The district, through its committee, is authorized andempowered to pay for the cost of acquiring land for the school site from theproceeds received from the sale of bonds issued pursuant to the provisions ofthis chapter, whether the property is acquired by purchase or by condemnation,or partly by purchase and partly by condemnation.

   (4) To secure competent architectural and engineeringservices for the taking of surveys, the preparation of plans and specificationsfor the construction and equipment of a school or schools in the district, andto employ clerical assistance as may be necessary.

   (5) To construct, furnish, and equip schools and improve thegrounds upon which the schools are located and to make additions to the schoolsas may be needed.

   (6) To make all contracts and agreements that may benecessary for the exercise of the powers vested in the district schoolcommittee by subdivisions (3), (4), and (5) of this subsection;

   (7) To issue under its corporate name and seal bonds inserial form to an amount not exceeding the debt limits as described in thischapter. The bonds shall be signed by the chairperson and treasurer of theregional school district committee; the principal and interest shall be payablein any coin or currency of the United States that, at the time of payment, islegal tender for public and private debts, and the debt secured by the bondsshall be obligatory on the district to the same extent as other debts lawfullycontracted by the district.

   (8) To borrow temporarily and to issue temporary notes of thedistrict, the proceeds of which shall be used only for the purposes set forthin subdivisions (3), (4), and (5) of this subsection. Each authorized issueshall constitute a separate loan. Each issue may be for a period of not morethan three (3) years and notes issued for a shorter period may be refunded orrenewed from time to time by the issue of other temporary notes maturing withinthe required period of three (3) years, provided, that the period from the dateof issue of the original loan to the date of maturity of the refunding orrenewal loans shall not be more than three (3) years. Temporary notes of thedistrict shall be signed by the chairperson and treasurer of the regionaldistrict school committee, and may bear interest or be sold at a discount. Theperiod and discount or interest rate and other particulars of the temporarynotes shall be fixed by the district committee. The temporary notes and renewalnotes, including interest or discount on the notes and the expense ofpreparing, issuing, and marketing the notes, shall, unless otherwise taken careof, be funded by the issue of serial bonds under the provisions of subdivision(7) of this subsection. The aggregate principal amount of temporary notesissued and outstanding under this subdivision shall not at any time exceed thesum of the serial bonds authorized to be issued.

   (9) To incur temporary debt after the district school orschools are constructed and in operation in anticipation of revenue to bereceived.

   (10) To apply for and receive, accept, and use any state orfederal funds or assistance, or both, as may be provided, whether in the formof a grant or a loan, or both, on the same basis as other school districts, butsubject to the provisions of this chapter; to receive, accept, and use any giftfrom private sources; to receive and disburse funds for any district purpose.

   (11) To publish an annual report containing a detailedfinancial statement showing the total receipts and expenditures of the periodcovered by the report together with additional information relating to themaintenance and operating of the school or schools as may be deemed necessaryby the regional district school committee.

   (12) To engage legal counsel.

   (13) To engage and employ a superintendent of the districtwho may also be a principal of a district school or schools on a contractualbasis for either a definite or indefinite term as the regional school districtschool committee shall decide. The person employed shall have all the powersand duties imposed upon a superintendent of schools by law.

   (b) The powers, duties, and liabilities of a regional schooldistrict as set forth in this chapter, together with any other powers andduties pertaining to school committees prescribed by the laws of this state andnot inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, shall be vested in andexercised by a regional district school committee organized in accordance withthe terms of the agreement. The committee shall choose by ballot a chairpersonfrom its membership. It shall also appoint a clerk and a treasurer who may bethe same person, and who need not be a member or members of the committee. Thetreasurer shall receive and take charge of all money belonging to the districtand shall pay all bills and indebtedness of the district that have beenapproved by the committee; provided, that expenditures, encumbrances, andaccruals shall not in any fiscal year exceed the total revenue belonging to thedistrict. Should the treasurer estimate that actual expenses may exceed totalavailable revenue in any fiscal year, he or she shall notify the schoolcommittee and the superintendent of schools, and the chief elected officials ofthe cities or towns. Purchase orders or financial commitments shall not beauthorized even on the order of the school committee unless it can be proventhat there will not be an excess of expenditures, encumbrances, and accrualsover revenues. The clerk and the treasurer shall give bond to the district inthe sum and with the surety as shall be satisfactory to the committee andconditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of the office.

   (c) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed toprohibit a regional district school committee from negotiating and contractingwith school employees and teachers for services to be rendered in the ensuingfiscal years pursuant to chapters 9.3 and 9.4 of title 28.

   (d) The regional district school committee shall annuallycause an audit to be made of the accounts of the regional school district andon completion of each audit, a report shall be made to the chairperson of thecommittee.

   (e) Notwithstanding any provisions of the general laws to thecontrary, the requirement defined in this subsection shall apply. The schoolcommittee of each school district shall be responsible for maintaining a schoolbudget which does not result in a debt.

   (2) The school committee shall, within thirty (30) days afterthe close of the first and second quarters of the state's fiscal year, adoptthe budget as may be necessary to enable it to operate without incurring adebt, as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection.

   (3) In the event that any obligation, encumbrance orexpenditure by a superintendent of schools or a school committee is in excessof the amount budgeted or that any revenue is less than the amount budgeted,the school committee shall within five (5) working days of its discovery ofpotential or actual over expenditure or revenue deficiency, submit a writtenstatement of the amount of and cause for the over obligation or overexpenditure or revenue deficiency to the town council president and such otherperson who by local charter or statute serves as the city or town's executiveofficer; the statement shall further include a statement of the schoolcommittee's plan for corrective actions necessary to meet the requirements ofsubdivision (1) of this subsection. The plan shall be approved by the auditorgeneral.