(a) 
Composition, Term of Office - There shall be a school committee which shall consist of seven members. Six of these members shall be nominated and elected by and from the voters of the town at large. The mayor shall serve, by virtue of office, as the seventh member of the school committee with all of the same powers and duties as the members elected by the voters as school committee members.
(b) 
Term of Office - The term of office for the six school committee members elected by the voters as school committee members shall be for four years each, beginning on the first business day of January in the year following their election, and until their successors have been qualified. The terms of office shall be so arranged that three such terms are to be filled at each biennial election.
(c) 
Eligibility - A school committee member shall at the time of election be a voter. If a school committee member removes from the town during the term for which elected such office shall immediately be deemed vacant and filled in the manner provided in section 4-6.
(a) 
Election and Term - As soon as practicable after the school committee members-elect have been qualified following each biennial town election, as provided in section 8-10, the school committee shall organize by electing one of the persons elected to the office of school committee member to serve as school committee chair and one of the persons elected to the office of school committee member to serve as school committee vice chair until the next town election.
(b) 
Powers and Duties - The school committee chair shall preside at all meetings of the school committee, regulate its proceedings and shall decide all questions of order. The school committee chair shall appoint all members of all committees of the school committee, whether special or standing. The school committee chair shall have the same powers to vote upon all measures coming before the school committee as any other member of the school committee. The school committee chair shall perform such other duties consistent with the office as may be provided by charter, by ordinance or by other vote of the school committee.
No member of the school committee shall hold any other town office or town employment for which a salary or other emolument is payable from the town treasury. No former member of the school committee shall hold any compensated appointed town office or town employment until one year following the date on which such member's service on the school committee has terminated. This provision shall not prevent a town officer or other town employee who has taken a leave of absence in order to serve as a member of the school committee from returning to the same office or other position of town employment held at the time such leave of absence commenced; provided, however, no such person shall be eligible for any other municipal position until at least one year following the termination of service as a member of the school committee.
(a) 
Salary - The members of the school committee shall receive such salary for their services as may from time to time be set by ordinance. No ordinance increasing the salary of school committee members shall be effective unless it shall have been adopted during the first eighteen months of the term for which town councillors are elected and it provides that such salary is to take effect upon the organization of the town government following the next municipal election.
(b) 
Expenses - Subject to appropriation and to prior authorization, the school committee members shall be entitled to reimbursement of their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
The school committee shall have all powers which are conferred on school committees by general laws and such additional powers and duties as may be provided by the charter, by ordinance, or otherwise and not inconsistent with said grant of powers conferred by general laws. The powers and duties of the school committee shall include the following:
1) 
To elect a superintendent of the schools who shall be charged with the day-to-day administration of the school system, subject only to policy guidelines and directives adopted by the school committee and, upon the recommendation of said superintendent, to establish and appoint assistant or associate superintendents as provided in section fifty-nine of chapter seventy-one of the General Laws;
2) 
To make all reasonable rules and regulations for the management of the public school system and for conducting the business of the school committee as may be deemed necessary or desirable;
3) 
To adopt and to oversee the administration of an annual operating budget for the school department, subject to appropriation by the town council.
The school committee shall have general charge and superintendence of all school buildings and grounds and shall furnish all school buildings with proper fixtures, furniture and equipment. The school committee shall provide ordinary maintenance of all school buildings and grounds; provided, however, the town council may, by ordinance, provide for the establishment of a central municipal maintenance department which may include maintenance of school buildings and grounds. Whenever the school committee shall determine that additional classrooms are necessary to meet the educational needs of the community, at least one member of the school committee, or a designee of the school committee, shall serve on the agency, board or committee to which the planning or construction of such new, remodeled or renovated school building is delegated.
(a) 
Runner-Up to Succeed to Office - If a vacancy shall occur in the office of school committee member the vacancy shall be filled in descending order of votes received by the candidate for the office of school committee member at the preceding town election who received the largest number of votes without being elected, provided such person remains eligible and willing to serve and provided such person received votes at least equal to thirty percent of the vote total received by the person receiving the largest number of votes for the office of school committee member at the said election. The town clerk shall certify such candidate to the office of school committee member to serve for the balance of the then unexpired term, provided, however, if the vacancy occurs during the first eighteen months of the term for which school committee members are elected the person so chosen shall serve only until the next biennial election at which election the remainder of the term shall be filled by the voters.
If a vacancy shall occur in the office of school committee member during the last six months of the term for which councillors-at-large are elected, such vacancy shall be filled by the person at the biennial town election who receives the highest number of votes for the office of school committee member and who is not then serving as a member of the school committee. Such person shall forthwith be certified and shall serve for the last two months of the concluding term in addition to the term for which such person was elected.
(b) 
Filling of Vacancies By School Committee - Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of school committee member and there is no available candidate to fill such vacancy in the manner provided in section 4-6(a), the vacancy shall be filled by the remaining members of the school committee. Persons elected to fill a vacancy by the school committee shall serve only until the next regular election at which time the vacancy shall be filled by the voters and the person chosen to fill such vacancy shall forthwith be sworn and shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term in addition to the term for which elected. Persons serving as school committee members under this section shall not be entitled to have the words "candidate for reelection" printed against their names on the election ballot.