The governance of the Saco School Department, a municipal school
unit, shall be vested in its school committee, the Saco School Board
("School Board").
The School Board shall consist of seven Board members each serving
a three-year term, and each ward of the City will be represented by
a member who must be a resident of that ward.
Powers and Duties. The School Board shall have such powers and duties
as are conferred by law upon municipal school administrative units
in regard to the care, management and operation of the public schools,
except as otherwise provided in this Charter, including the authority
to create an annual school budget as required under state law.
Procedure. The School Board shall adopt rules and orders for its
procedure, except in no event shall the School Board conduct a meeting
without at least four members being present. It shall maintain a journal
and publically report therein its proceedings and decisions. The journal
or authenticated copies thereof shall be on file at the office of
the Superintendent of Schools and the City Clerk. It shall meet at
least monthly.
Compensation. The members of the School Board shall receive the same salary and compensation, payable in the same manner and amount as the City Council, as described in Section 2.01 of this Charter.
[Amended 11-2-2021[1]]One Board member shall be elected from each ward of the City. The election shall be governed by Article VII of this Charter. The terms of office for School Board members shall commence the first Monday in December, and shall expire three years thereafter, except as set forth below to effect a staggered board. If a vacancy in the office of School Board member arises by virtue of resignation, death, forfeiture of office as described in Section 2.06b of this Charter, change of residence from the ward from which elected, or if a member should miss three consecutive meetings without excuse, the vacancy shall be filled as specified below.
In the case of a vacancy created in the School Board, the City
and School Administration shall notify the general public and request
letters of interest for a period of not less than twenty-one (21)
days. The School Board shall nominate and the School Board confirm
by a majority vote, from those letters of interest, an eligible and
qualified resident of the applicable ward following a Public Hearing
before the School Board, to hold office until the remainder of the
term can be filled at the next regular municipal election. After following
the process identified above, if the School Board fails to fill the
vacancy within 30 days, then the Mayor shall appoint a qualified resident
to the seat, who shall hold it for the same length as if appointed
by School Board. If such vacancy occurs less than seventy-five (75)
days before the next regular municipal election to fill the office
of School Board member, the unexpired term of the School Board member
shall be filled by a special election within one hundred five (105)
days from the day the vacancy is created.
Commencing with the 2014 – 2015 school year budget, the School Board shall adopt and submit to the City Council, at the second Council meeting in March of each year, a proposed annual school budget for school operations, programming and anticipated capital expenses that conforms to the requirements of state law and this Charter. The school budget shall detail anticipated costs, including existing and proposed debt service for capital projects, all surplus funds remaining from any prior year, all anticipated revenue for the coming year, and shall be reasonably detailed as described in Section 6.04 of the Charter and shall set forth those requirements and details as required by state law. No such budget shall be submitted to the City Council for approval until the School Board has conducted at least one public hearing on its proposed budget. Such proposed budget shall be published by the School Board to the public not less than 14 days before its public hearing.
The City Council shall direct the City Administrator to negotiate
and implement a facilities policy under which the School Board may
manage and operate for educational purposes those existing school
buildings owned by the City of Saco.