Vermont Statutes Title 16 Sec. 715
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 16 Sec. 715
- Annual meeting: when applied to towns shall mean the annual town meeting in March or an adjournment thereof. See
- between: as used in this title in respect to a specified age of a student, shall mean the period of time commencing on the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age first specified and ending on the day next preceding the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age last specified. See
- District clerk: means the individual elected as clerk of a union school district by the voters of the district pursuant to the provisions of sections 715 (union school district organizational meeting), 735 (unified union school district officers and election), and 753 (union elementary and union high school district officers and election) of this chapter. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
- School board: means the board of school directors elected to manage the schools of a school district, the prudential committee of an incorporated school district, the supervisory union board of directors, and the supervisors of unorganized towns and gores. See
- School district: means a school district organized as a town school district, city school district, incorporated school district, or union school district, unless clearly inapplicable. See
- Secretary: means the Secretary of Education. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
- Superintendent: means the chief executive officer of a supervisory union and each school board within it. See
- Supervisory union: means an administrative, planning, and educational service unit created by the State Board under section 261 of this title, that consists of two or more school districts; if the context clearly allows, the term also means a supervisory district. See
- sworn: shall include affirmed. See
- town: means a city or incorporated village. See
- union district: includes a union elementary school district, union high school district, and unified union school district unless the context clearly limits it to fewer than all options. See
- Union school district: means a municipality formed under the provisions of this chapter that is governed by a single publicly elected board and that is responsible for the education of students residing in two or more towns in the grades for which the district is organized by:
§ 715. Organizational meeting; notice; business to be transacted
(a) Meeting. The union school district shall hold an organizational meeting within 60 days after the Secretary of State files the certified copy of the recorded certification with each clerk pursuant to subsection 713(e) of this chapter.
(b) Notice.
(1) The Secretary of Education shall prepare and execute a warning for the organizational meeting. The warning shall give notice of the day, hour, and location of the meeting and shall itemize the business to be transacted.
(2) The Secretary of Education shall transmit the signed warning to the superintendent, who shall post the warning in at least one public place in each town within the union school district and shall cause the warning to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the towns within the union school district. Posting and publication shall be made not more than 40 days nor less than 30 days before the date of the meeting.
(3) The union school district shall bear the cost of posting and publishing the warning.
(c) Business to be transacted.
(1) The Secretary or a person designated by the Secretary shall call the organizational meeting to order and the registered voters shall consider the following items of business:
(A) Elect a temporary presiding officer and a temporary clerk of the union school district from among the voters present at the organizational meeting.
(B) Adopt Robert’s or other rules of order, which shall govern the parliamentary procedures of the organizational meeting and all subsequent meetings of the union school district.
(C) Elect a moderator of the union school district from among the voters.
(D) Elect a clerk of the union school district from among the voters or vote to authorize the school board to appoint a clerk of the union school district from among the voters.
(E) Elect a treasurer of the union school district or vote to authorize the school board to appoint a treasurer of the union school district. The treasurer may also be the supervisory union treasurer and need not be a resident of the union school district.
(F) Determine the date and location of the union school district’s annual meeting, which shall be not earlier than February 1 nor later than June 1, if not previously determined by the voter-approved articles of agreement.
(G) Determine whether compensation shall be paid to the moderator, clerk, and treasurer of the union school district elected at the organizational meeting and at subsequent annual meetings of the union school district and, if so, the amount to be paid to them.
(H) Determine whether compensation shall be paid to members of the union school district board and, if so, the amount to be paid to them.
(I) Establish provisions for payment by the union school district of any expense incurred or to be incurred by or on behalf of the district for the period between the date on which the voters approved formation of the union school district and the first annual meeting of the union district.
(J) Determine whether to authorize the initial board of the union school district to borrow money pending receipt of payments from the Education Fund by the issuance of its note payable not later than one year from the date of the note. Regardless of whether the voters provide this authorization, the initial board is authorized to borrow sufficient funds to meet pending obligations until the voters approve a budget for the initial year of operation pursuant to subdivision 716(b)(3) of this chapter.
(K) Transact any other business, the subject matter of which has been included in the warning, that the voters have power to transact at any annual or special meeting and transact any nonbinding business that may legally come before the voters.
(2) When there is only one nominee for temporary presiding officer, temporary clerk, moderator, district clerk, or district treasurer, the voters may, by acclamation, instruct an officer to elect the nominee by casting one ballot, and upon the ballot being cast, the nominee shall be legally elected and shall thereupon be sworn.
(3) The elected officers listed in subdivisions (1)(A) (temporary presiding officer and temporary clerk), (C) (moderator of the union school district), (D) (clerk of the union school district), and (E) (treasurer of the union school district) of this subsection shall be sworn in before entering upon the duties of their offices and a record made by the district clerk. They shall assume office upon being sworn in. The officers listed in subdivisions (1)(C), (D), and (E) of this subsection shall serve terms as set forth in section 735 (unified union school districts; officers) or 753 (union elementary and union high school district; officers) of this chapter unless the voters extend the term length up to three years.
(4) Any member of the union school district board not sworn in before the organizational meeting pursuant to section 714 of this chapter may be sworn in at or after the organizational meeting. (Added 2021, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. June 7, 2022.)