The general management and control of the public schools and
of the school property, buildings and grounds, including insurance
and repairs on buildings, shall be vested in a School Committee of
seven (7), the members, one member elected by the legal voters from
each of the five wards of the City plus two at large members elected
by the legal voters of the entire City.
The School Committee elected as provided herein shall, in addition
to the powers conferred upon them by this act, be held to perform
all the duties and be invested with all the rights and powers of school
committees under the general laws of the state.
The School Committee shall be led by a Chair who shall be elected
by majority vote by the members of the School Committee and shall
preside over meetings of the School Committee.
The School Committee shall appoint a qualified person, not a
member of the School Committee, to be Superintendent of Schools, and
may adopt such rules and regulations for the management of the schools
as are not inconsistent with the laws of the state.
The Superintendent of Schools need not be an inhabitant of the
City. The Superintendent shall be secretary and executive agent of
the School Committee which Committee shall fix the Superintendent's
salary, to be paid from the city treasury as salaries of teachers
are paid.
The members of the School Committee shall receive such compensation
for their services as shall be established by a Council ordinance.
Any appropriation or expenditure of money by the School Department
which exceeds three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) shall, except in
cases of emergency, require the affirmative votes of a majority of
all of the members of the School Committee for its final passage,
which shall be taken by a roll call vote. Every such appropriation
or expenditure shall be read twice, with an interval of a least seventy-two
(72) hours between the first and second reading, before it is an order
for final passage; but if such a matter is amended after its first
reading, it shall be tabled for a period of at least seventy-two (72)
hours before it may be voted upon for final passage.
