§ 794 - District Meetings-Article IV - Vermont Statutes

§ 794. District Meetings-Article IV

A. General. Votes of the district shall be taken at a duly warned meeting held at any place in the district, at which all of the eligible legal voters of the member districts shall be entitled to vote, except as otherwise provided with respect to the election of directors.

B. Eligibility of voters. Any resident who would be eligible to vote at a meeting of a member district being held at the same time, shall be eligible to vote at a meeting of the interstate district. The board of civil authority in each Vermont member district and the supervisors of the check list of each New York district shall respectively prepare a check list of eligible voters for each meeting of the interstate district in the same manner, and they shall have all the same powers and duties with respect to eligibility of voters in their districts as for a meeting of a member district.

C. Warning of meetings. A meeting shall be warned by a warrant addressed to the residents of the interstate school district qualified to vote in district affairs, stating the time and place of the meeting and the subject matter of the business to be acted upon. The warrant shall be signed by the clerk and by a majority of the directors. Upon written application of ten or more voters in the district, presented to the directors or to one of them, at least twenty-five days before the day prescribed for an annual meeting, the directors shall insert in their warrant for such meeting any subject matter specified in such application.

D. Posting and publication of warrant. The directors shall cause an attested copy of the warrant to be posted at the place of meeting, and a like copy at a public place in each member district at least twenty days (not counting the date of posting and the date of meeting) before the date of the meeting. In addition, the directors shall cause the warrant to be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation on at least one occasion, such publication to occur at least ten days (not counting the date of publication and not counting the date of the meeting) before the date of the meeting. Although no further notice shall be required, the directors may give such further notice of the meeting as they in their discretion deem appropriate under the circumstances.

E. Return of warrant. The warrant with a certificate thereon, verified by oath, stating the time and place when and where copies of the warrant were posted and published, shall be given to the clerk of the interstate school district at or before the time of the meeting, and shall be recorded by him in the records of the interstate school district.

F. Organization meeting. The commissioners, acting jointly, shall fix a time and place for a special meeting of the qualified voters within the interstate school district for the purpose of organization, and shall prepare and issue the warrant for the meeting after consultation with the interstate school district planning board and the members-elect, if any, of the interstate school board of directors. Such meeting shall be held within sixty days after the date of issuance of the certificate of formation, unless the time is further extended by the joint action of the state boards. At the organization meeting the commissioner of education of the state where the meeting is held, or his designate, shall preside in the first instance, and the following business shall be transacted:

a. A temporary moderator and a temporary clerk shall be elected from among the qualified voters who shall serve until a moderator and clerk respectively have been elected and qualified.

b. A moderator, a clerk, a treasurer, and three auditors shall be elected to serve until the next annual meeting and thereafter until their successors are elected and qualified. Unless previously elected, a board of school directors shall be elected to serve until their successors are elected and qualified.

c. The date for the annual meeting shall be established.

d. Provision shall be made for the payment of any organizational or other expense incurred on behalf of the district before the organization meeting, including the cost of architects, surveyors, contractors, attorneys, and educational or other consultants or experts.

e. Any other business, the subject matter of which has been included in the warrant, and which the voters would have had power to transact at an annual meeting.

G. Annual meetings. An annual meeting of the district shall be held between January fifteenth and June first of each year at such time as the interstate district may by vote determine. Once determined, the date of the annual meeting shall remain fixed until changed by vote of the interstate district at a subsequent annual or special meeting. At each annual meeting the following business shall be transacted:

a. Necessary officers shall be elected.

b. Money shall be appropriated for the support of the interstate district schools for the fiscal year beginning the following July first.

c. Such other business as may properly come before the meeting.

H. Special meetings. A special meeting of the district shall be held whenever, in the opinion of the directors, there is occasion therefor, or whenever written application shall have been made by five percent or more of the voters (based on the check lists as prepared for the last preceding meeting) setting forth the subject matter upon which such action is desired. A special meeting may appropriate money without compliance with Education Law §§ 2006-2008 and Education Law §§ 416 and 417 which would otherwise require the approval of the New York supreme court.

I. Certification of records. The clerk of an interstate school district shall have the power to certify the record of the votes adopted at an interstate school district meeting to the respective commissioners and state boards and (where required) for filing with a secretary of state.

J. Method of voting at school district meetings. Voting at meetings of interstate school districts shall take place as follows:

a. School directors. A separate ballot shall be prepared for each member district, listing the candidates for interstate school director to represent such member district; and any candidates for interstate school director at large; and the voters of each member district shall register on a separate ballot their choice for the office of school director or directors. In the alternative, the articles of agreement may provide for the election of school directors by one or more of the member districts at an election otherwise held for the choice of school or other municipal officers.

b. Other votes. Except as otherwise provided in the articles of agreement or this compact, with respect to all other votes (1) the voters of the interstate school district shall vote as one body irrespective of the member districts in which they are resident, and (2) a simple majority of those present and voting at any duly warned meeting shall carry the vote. Voting for officers to be elected at any meeting, other than school directors, shall be by ballot or voice, as the interstate district may determine, either in its articles of agreement or by vote of the meeting. (1975, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 4.)