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Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District Agreement

AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT

THE TOWN OF ASHBURNHAM AND WESTMINSTER, MASSACHUSETTS

WITH RESPECT TO THE FORMING OF A

REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, RESTATING SAID AGREEMENT

The AGREEMENT dated June 12, 1957 entered into pursuant to Chapter 71 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as amended, by and between the Towns of Ashburnham and Westminster, Massachusetts, (hereinafter sometimes called “Member Towns”), as amended, pursuant to which the regional school district called the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District (hereinafter sometimes called the "District") was established, is hereby amended in its entirety to read as follows:

SECTION I - THE REGIONAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE

(A) The Ashburnham-Westminster Regional District School Committee (hereinafter sometimes called the "Committee") shall consist of ten members elected by all the voters of the District at an annual district election. Five members shall be residents of each member town as hereinafter provided, except as provided in subsection I(B) with respect to the Interim Committee. All members shall serve until their respective successors are elected and qualified.

(B) Effective immediately upon the acceptance of this amended Agreement by both Member Towns, an Interim Committee, consisting of all School Committee Members of the District and of the Member Towns in office as such from time to time, shall be established and shall choose by ballot a chairman and a vice chairman from its own membership. The Interim Committee shall serve as the Committee until the first annual District election provided for in subsection I(C). Annually thereafter, upon the election of members of the Committee at the annual District election as hereinafter provided, the Committee shall organize and choose by ballot a chairman and a vice chairman from, its own membership. At the same meeting or at any other meeting the Committee shall appoint a Treasurer and Secretary who may be the same person but who need not be members of the Committee, choose such other officers as it deems advisable, determine the terms of office of its officers, (except the chairman and vice chairman who shall be elected annually) and prescribe the powers and duties of any of its officers, fix the time and place for its regular meetings, and provide for the calling of special meetings.

(C) In the year following the year in which the General Court enacts a general or special law authorizing the at-large annual District election procedure in accordance with subsections I(C) to I(F) inclusive, the first annual District election shall be held. The elected members of the Committee from each Member Town in office immediately prior to first annual District election shall continue to serve until their respective terms would expire under the District Agreement dated June 12, 1957 as previously amended. At the first annual District election one member from each Member Town shall be elected for a three-year term. In addition, at the first annual District election, two additional members from each Member Town shall be elected to serve on the Committee, one such member from each Member Town to serve for a term of one year and the other such member from each Member Town to serve for a term of two years. Thereafter, in every year in which the term of office of an elected member or members expires, successors from each Member Town shall be elected at the annual District election to serve for a term of three years.

(D) The annual District election in each year shall be held in two sessions, one such session to be held in the town of Ashburnham and the other in the town of Westminster and such sessions collectively shall constitute the annual District election. The respective sessions in each Member Town shall be held on the same day as the annual town election of such Town. The day, location and number of polling places and the hours during which the polls shall be open at the session held in each Member Town shall be the same as for the annual town election in such Town, but the names of the candidates for election to the Committee shall be contained on a separate ballot. The candidates for election to the Committee shall be listed on the ballots and elected be categories as follows: (1) member or members from Ashburnham and, (2) member or members from Westminster.

(E) Candidates for election to membership on the Committee shall be nominated by filing with the secretary of the District nomination papers which have been signed by at least forty registered voters of one or more of the member towns. Such papers shall be filed not less than forty-five (45) nor more than ninety (90) days before the first session of the annual District election. The District secretary shall annually post in at least one public place in each Member Town and publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the District a notice stating the dates between which nomination papers may be filed and the number of vacancies to be filled, said posting and publishing to be at least one week prior to the first date on which nomination papers may be filed. Forthwith upon receipt of nomination papers, the District secretary shall verify that such papers have been signed by the required number of registered voters, using voting lists furnished to said secretary by the registrars of voters of each Member Town. If the District secretary shall determine that such paper have been signed by the required number of registered votes, the candidate shall then be deemed duly nominated. In lieu of filing nomination papers, an elected member of the Committee may, within the period prescribed above, file with the District secretary a written declaration of intent to be a candidate for reelection and shall thereupon be deemed duly nominated.

(F) Annual District elections held under this section shall be called by a warrant which shall be addressed to the registered voters of the Member Towns and signed by a majority of the members of the Committee and which shall set forth the dates of each session of the election, the polling place or places in each Town, the hours at which the polls will be opened and closed in each Town, and the number of members resident in each Member Town who are to be elected. Notice of the election shall be given by posting a copy of the warrant attested by the District secretary in at least one public place in each Member Town and by publishing a copy thereof at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the District seven days at least before the first session of the election. A certificate of the District secretary shall be conclusive evidence of the posting and publication of the warrant. Upon completion of the voting at the first session, the ballots cast for election to the Committee shall not be counted, but shall forthwith be packaged and sealed, impounded and held in a safe place in the custody of the town clerk where they shall not be inspected or made available for inspection by anyone until the polls have closed at the second session. Upon completion of the voting at the second session of the election, the ballots cast at each session shall be counted and the town clerks of the respective Member Towns shall certify the results of the election to the Committee. The Committee shall tabulate such results at a meeting of the Committee; and the chairman of the Committee shall thereupon announce the names of the persons elected to membership on the Committee. Thereafter the certifications of the town clerks and the tabulations of the Committee shall be kept by the District secretary with the records of the District. Promptly after their election, members of the Committee shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties by the District secretary or by the town clerk of the town in which they reside, and in each case a record of such oath shall he made and kept by the District secretary or delivered to the District secretary by the town clerk. Except as provided in this Agreement, the annual District election shall be conducted in each member Town in the same manner as town meetings for the election of town officers. The expenses of that part of an election under this section which is conducted in a Member Town shall be borne by such Town.

(G) In addition to the powers conferred and the duties imposed by this Agreement, the Committee shall have all the powers and duties now or hereafter conferred and imposed by law upon the District including without limitation, the powers and duties specified in Sections 16 to 16I, inclusive, of Chapter 71 of the Massachusetts General Laws and any amendments thereof or additions thereto.

(H) The quorum of the Committee for the transaction of business shall be six members.

(I) VACANCIES. As used in this section, the term "vacancy" includes a failure to elect. If a vacancy occurs on the Committee, the remaining members shall give written notice thereof, within one month of said vacancy, to the Selectmen of each member town, who with the remaining members of the Committee, shall after one week's notice, fill such vacancy by roll call vote. A majority of the votes of those entitled to vote shall be necessary to such election. The person so elected shall be a resident of the member town for which the vacancy exists. (Added as an amendment on April 25, 1987)

SECTION II - TYPE OF REGIONAL SCHOOL

The regional district schools shall include grades kindergarten through 12, inclusive. The Committee is hereby authorized, in its discretion, to establish and maintain state aided vocational education, acting as trustee thereof, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 74 of the Massachusetts General Laws, and acts amendatory thereof, in addition thereto or dependent thereon.

SECTION III - LOCATION AND LEASING OF REGIONAL DISTRICT SCHOOLS

(A) The regional district schools shall be located within the geographic limits of the District and within a radius of five miles of the intersection of the Ashburnham-Westminster boundary line and that road of which the portion located in Ashburnham is known as Westminster Road and the portion located in Westminster is known as South Ashburnham Road.

(B) The Town of Ashburnham is hereby authorized to lease to the Regional School District all the premises and buildings presently known as the J.R. Briggs Elementary School. The Town of Westminster thereby authorized to lease to the Regional School District all the premises and buildings presently known as the Westminster Elementary School. Each of the leases authorized above shall be for a term of twenty (20) years and the term shall commence on the date when the Committee assumes jurisdiction of the pupils in the grades served by said schools. Each of the leases shall contain a provision for the extension of the term thereof for an additional term not in excess of twenty (20) years, renewable at any time during the term, at the option of the Committee. Each such lease shall automatically terminate, and the use of the building so leased shall revert back to the town from which it was leased in the event that the Committee decides that such building is no longer needed for the educational program of the district. Each of the leases shall contain provisions authorizing the District to insure, repair, improve, alter or remodel any of the leased buildings. No rental shall be charged to the District by any of the member towns. Each lease involving a member town shall be on such other term as may be determined by the selectmen thereof and the Committee, who shall execute the lease for the Member Town and the District, respectively. The unpaid balance on the outstanding bonds (school bonds authorized for the purpose of constructing or improving the above mentioned facilities) at the time of leasing of said buildings and facilities shall remain the obligation of the Member Towns.

SECTION IV - APPORTIONMENT AND PAYMENT OF COSTS INCURRED BY THE DISTRICT

(A) For the purpose of apportioning the assessments levied by the District against the Member Towns, costs shall be divided into two categories: capital costs and operating costs.

(B) Capital costs shall include all expenses in the nature of capital outlay such as the cost of real estate, cost of buildings and additions to buildings, and cost of remodeling and making extraordinary repairs to or extraordinary maintenance of buildings and grounds or additions to buildings including the cost of equipment and furnishings for such buildings or additional plans, architect's and consultant's fees, grading and other costs incidental to placing such school buildings and additions, and related premises in operating conditions. Capital costs shall also include payment of principal and of interest on bonds and other obligations issued by the District to finance capital costs. All capital expenditures included in the annual operating budget which are greater than 1 percent of the operating budget shall be submitted to the Member Towns as separate articles on the Town Meeting Warrants.

(C) Capital costs shall be apportioned as follows:

1. Capital costs for each fiscal year shall be apportioned separately with respect to each District school, including the schools listed in subsection III (B), and to the Superintendent's Office. Capital costs with respect, to each District's school shall be apportioned to each Member Town based upon the percentage of that Member Town's student enrollment in that school as of October 1 of the fiscal year next preceding the fiscal year for which the apportionment is determined. In the event there is no enrollment in a school on such preceding October 1, capital costs on account of that school shall be applied to each Member Town on the basis of the enrollment on such preceding October 1 of the pupils from each Member Town which the school is intended to accommodate, as determined by the Committee.

2. Capital costs for replacements of equipment in the District schools or for equipment intended to be used throughout the District or which are incurred for the benefit of the office of the Superintendent of Schools or for the administration of the District shall be apportioned in the same manner as operating costs as set forth in Section IV (E).

3. Any state or other reimbursements received by the District as the result of capital costs apportioned under subsection IV (C) 1 above shall be used to reduce the assessment on each Member Town, in the same proportion as its contribution to the capital cost.

(D) Operating costs shall include all costs not included in capital costs as defined in subsection IV (B). Without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, the following shall be classified as operating costs: salaries, wages, supplies, textbooks, ordinary repair and maintenance expenditures, other costs incurred in the day to day operation of District schools and in anticipation of revenue.

(E) For each fiscal year, operating costs shall be apportioned to the Member Towns on the basis of their respective enrollment in the regional district schools (except as otherwise provided below in this subsection IV (E)). The share of each Member Town shall be determined by multiplying the total operating costs to be apportioned by a fraction, of which the numerator shall be that town's pupil enrollment in the regional district schools on October 1 of the year next preceding the year for which the apportionment is determined, and the denominator shall be the total pupil enrollment in said District schools on the same date from all the Member Towns. In the event that enrollment in the regional district schools has not been accomplished by the aforesaid October 1, operating costs shall be apportioned on the basis of enrollment on that date in grades Kindergarten through 12 of pupils residing and attending in each Member Town's schools and receiving education at such town's expense. In the event that the costs of any single repair or maintenance project to be undertaken in a fiscal year for or at any of the schools in the District is estimated in the budget to be in excess of $5,000, the cost of such project shall be treated as a capital cost and apportioned as set forth in subsection IV (C).

(F) In each fiscal year, each Member Town shall pay to the District its proportionate share, certified as provided in subsection V (C), of the capital and operating costs for that fiscal year. Each Member Town shall make payments in such amounts and at such times that at least the following per dates indicated respectively.

July 1 10% December 1 10%

August 1 10% January 1 10%

September 1 10% February 1 10%

October 1 10% March 1 10%

November 1 10% April 10%

(G) All receipts to the District shall be reported to the Member Towns within sixty (60) days following the end of each fiscal year.

(H) Unencumbered funds in the District's excess and deficiency account at the end of each fiscal year which are in excess of 5 percent of the District's budget for the next fiscal year will be used to reduce the Member Towns' assessments for such next fiscal year, as provided by Section 16B 12 of Chapter 71 of the General Laws.

SECTION V

(A) In each year the Committee shall prepare a tentative budget for the ensuing fiscal year and the District Treasurer shall mail or deliver copy thereof to the chairman of the finance or advisory committee of each Member Town (or to the chairman of the board of selectmen of any Member Town not having a finance or advisory committee) at least ten days before the date of the public hearing required by subsection V (B). Said tentative budget shall cover all operating and maintenance expenses, including any installment of principal or interest to become due in such year or any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness of the District; it shall be in reasonable detail, shall contain separate sections for classification of expenses into the following categories and such other categories as the Committee may determine:

1. General control

2. Expenses of instruction

3. Operation of the plant

4. Maintenance of the plant

5. Auxiliary agencies

6. Outlay

7. Special charges

8. Cost of transportation

9. Debt service

10. Non-recurring expenses (each to be itemized)

(B) Not later than March 1 of each such year, the Committee shall hold a public hearing within the District, at which it shall present said tentative budget and shall answer any reasonable inquiries with respect thereto. A notice of the time, place, and purpose of said hearing, signed by the District Secretary, shall be published at least ten (10) days before said hearing in one or more newspapers having, singly or together, a general circulation in each Member Town. Not later than March 15 of each year, the Committee shall adopt a final operating and maintenance budget for the ensuing fiscal year, which final budget shall conform to the requirements set forth above in this subsection V (A) for a tentative budget.

(C) Promptly after the adoption of said final budget and in any case not later than April 1 of each such year, the Committee shall, in conformity with the provisions of subsections IV and IV CD) apportion to the Member Towns the amounts necessary to be raised in order to meet said budget. The certify to the treasurer of each Member Town the total amount so apportioned to that town, subject to the applicable provisions of law, each Member Town shall be liable for and shall appropriate the amount so certified to it and shall pay to the district in accordance with the provisions of subsection IV (F).

SECTION VI - INCURRING OF DEBT

Within seven days after the date upon which the Committee authorizes the incurring of debt, other than temporary debt in anticipation of revenue to be received from Member Towns, the Committee shall cause written notice of the date of said authorization, the sum authorized, and the general purpose or purposes for authorizing such debt, to be delivered or mailed by registered or certified mail to the boards of selectmen of the Member Towns at their respective offices.

SECTION VII - TUITION STUDENTS

The Committee may accept for enrollment in the regional district school pupils from towns other than the Member Towns on a tuition basis and upon such terms as it may determine. Income received by the District from tuition pupils shall be deducted from the total operating costs in the next annual budget to be prepared after the receipt thereof, prior apportionment under Section IV to the Member Towns.

SECTION VIII - TRANSPORTATION

School transportation shall be provided by the District and the cost thereof shall be an operating cost.

SECTION IX - EMPLOYMENT OF TEACHERS AND EXTENSION OF TENURE

All teachers in positions which are superseded by the establishment or expansion of the regional school district shall be given preferred consideration for similar positions in the district schools to the extent that such positions exist, therein; and any such teacher who on the date of his contract of employment with the District is on tenure shall continue thereafter to serve on a tenure basis.

SECTION X - ADMISSION OF ADDITIONAL TOWNS

Any other town or towns may be admitted to the District by and upon (l) adoption of an appropriate amendment of this Agreement in accordance with Section XII, (2) acceptance by the town or towns seeking admission of the agreement as so amended, and (3) compliance with such provisions of law as may be applicable and with such additional requirements as may be set for in such amendment.

SECTION XI - WITHDRAWAL

(A) Any Member Town may petition to withdraw from the District at a time and under terms to be stipulated in a proposed amendment to this Agreement, provided that (1) the town seeking to withdraw had paid over to the District any costs which have been certified by the District Treasurer to the treasurer of the withdrawing town, including the entire amount so certified for the year in which such withdrawal takes effect, and (2) said town shall remain liable to the District for its share of indebtedness of the District outstanding at the time of such withdrawal, and for interest thereon, to the same drawn from the District, except that such liability shall be reduced by any amount which such town had paid over at the time of withdrawal and which has been applied to the payment of such indebtedness or interest.

(B) A town seeking to withdraw from the District shall cease to be a Member Town if said proposed amendment is approved by a majority vote of all the members of the Committee and accepted by the petitioning town and each of the other Member Towns, acceptance by each town to be by a majority vote at an annual town meeting or at a special town meeting called for the purpose.

(C) Any money received by the District from the withdrawing town for payment of indebtedness or interest thereon shall be used only for such purpose and until so used shall be deposited in trust in the name of the District with a Massachusetts bank of trust company having a combined capital and surplus of not less than $5,000,000.

SECTION XII - AMENDMENTS

This Agreement may be amended from time to time in the manner hereinafter provided, but no amendment shall be made which shall substantially impair the rights of the holders of any bonds or notes or other evidences of indebtedness of the District then outstanding, or the rights of the District to procure the means for payment thereof, provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the admission of a new town or towns to the District and the reapportionment accordingly of capital costs of the District represented by bonds or notes. A proposal for amendment may be initiated by a majority vote of all the members of the Committee or by a petition signed by 10 percent of the registered voters of anyone of the Member Towns. In the latter case, said petition shall contain at the end thereof, a certification by the town clerk of such Member Town as to the number of registered voters of said town according to the most recent voting list and the number of signatures on the petition which appear to be the names of registered voters of said town. Any such proposal for amendment shall be presented to the Secretary of the Committee who shall mail or deliver a notice in writing to the Board of Selectmen of each of the Member Towns that a proposal to amend this Agreement had been received and shall enclose a copy or such proposal (without the signatures in the case of a proposal by petition). The selectmen of each Member Town shall include in the warrant for the next annual town meeting or a special town meeting called for the purpose an article stating the proposal or the substance thereof. Such amendment shall take effect upon its acceptance by all of the Member Towns, acceptance by each town to be by a majority vote at a town meeting as aforesaid.

SECTION XIII - ASSIGNMENT OF PUPILS

Subject to the provisions of this section, it is intended that all pupils in Kindergarten through grade six in the Member Towns will receive their education in facilities which reside, except for the following:

1. In the case of children with special needs, the Committee may provide for other appropriate arrangements after consulting with the parents or guardian of the children involved.

2. By parental request to place a student in a facility in the District other than a facility in the town in which the pupil resides, provided the Committee determines that this can be accomplished.

3. In order to maintain a sound educational program with reasonable class sizes for the best economic advantage to the Member Towns, the Superintendent of Schools may with an 80 percent vote of the entire Committee, reassign a small number of pupils between town facilities. The parents or guardian of the pupils considered for such assignment shall be notified in advance in writing by the Superintendent of Schools. Once a pupil has been placed in a particular facility, that pupil shall remain at that facility through the grades available in the facility as long as the population of that facility remains within acceptable limits.

SECTION XIV - EFFECTIVE DATE AND JURISDICTION

This amended Agreement shall take effect upon the affirmative vote of each of the Member Towns of Ashburnham and Westminster, at town meetings held in each town, and shall thereupon supersede the District Agreement dated June 12, 1957, as theretofore amended. Upon the effective date of this amended Agreement, the Interim Committee provided for in subsection I (D) shall succeed to the functions of the Committee in office on that date and shall have jurisdiction over the pupils in the District in grades seven through twelve and, in addition, shall have the power to prepare and adopt the District budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1984, negotiate contracts, and take any other action necessary to accomplish the transition to the expanded District. On July 1, 1984, the Committee provided for in subsection I (B) shall assume full jurisdiction over all the pupils in the District. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall affect the obligation of the Member Towns to provide the education for the pupils in grades Kindergarten through six through June 30, 1984.

By their votes to approve this amended Agreement, the Committee and the Member Towns hereby petition the General Court for prompt enactment of the legislation described in subsection I(C).

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE ASHBURNHAM-WESTMINSTER

REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT TO HOLD

ANNUAL DISTRICT WIDE ELECTIONS

WITH RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS AND VALIDATING

CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS TAKEN IN SAID DISTRICT AND

IN THE MEMBER TOWNS OF ASHBURNHAM AND WESTMINSTER

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. The Ashburnham-Westminster Regional District School consisting of the member towns of Ashburnham and Westminster may, by amendment to its regional school district agreement, provide that members of its regional district school committee may be elected from the district at an annual district wide election. Said amendment may provide for residency requirements relating to the composition of the regional district school committee. Said amendment may also provide that the annual district election shall be held concurrently with the annual town election in each town and may further provide for the duties to be performed by the secretary and other officials of said district and by the clerks, registrars of voters and other officials of said member towns with respect to the annual district election, which duties may be the same as, or similar to, the duties performed for town elections.

SECTION 2. The amendment to its regional school district agreement proposed by the regional district school committee by the vote passed on January fourth, nineteen hundred and eighty-four, containing provisions authorized by section one of this act is hereby validated, ratified, and confirmed.

SECTION 3. The proceedings taken by the regional district school committee of said district on January fourth, nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and at town meetings held in the towns of Ashburnham and Westminster on February twenty-first, nineteen hundred and eighty-four, at which said amendment was considered and voted upon are hereby validated, ratified, and confirmed in all respects.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon its passage.