City of Saco, ME Article IV Board of Education

[Amended 11-3-1981; 11-6-1984; 11-5-1996; 11-5-2002; 11-2-2004; 11-2-2010; 11-4-2014]

Section 4.01 School Department and School Board.

a. The governance of the Saco School Department, a municipal school unit, shall be vested in its school committee, the Saco School Board ("School Board").

b. 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.

c. 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.

d. 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.

e. 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.

f. [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.

[1] Editor's Note: This Charter amendment has an effective date of 1-1-2022.

g. The Mayor shall preside over the School Board but shall have no vote except in the case of a tie.

[Amended 11-6-2018[2]]

[2] Editor's Note: This Charter amendment has an effective date of 7-9-2019.

h. 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.

i. 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.