0215-sb 0318

AN ACT relative to proposed joint maintenance agreements.

SPONSORS: Sen. Fraser, Dist 4

This bill outlines procedures for the adoption of joint maintenance agreements; authorizes school districts which have entered into joint maintenance agreements to incur indebtedness by issuing notes or bonds subject to the approval of the legislative bodies of the respective districts; and permits joint maintenance agreement districts to be eligible for school building aid grants. This bill also repeals current law on the formation of a joint maintenance agreement among the Barnstead, Pittsfield, and Gilmanton school districts for the purpose of calculating school building aid.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

215:1 School Districts; Joint Maintenance Agreements Amended. Amend RSA 194:21 to read as follows:

I. Two or more adjoining districts in the same or different towns may make contracts with each other for establishing and maintaining jointly a high school or other public school for the benefit of their pupils, and may raise and appropriate money to carry the contracts into effect; and their school boards, acting jointly or otherwise, shall have such authority and perform such duties in relation to schools so maintained as may be provided for in the contracts.

II.(a) The school boards of the component school districts shall hold at least one public hearing in each district. Reasonable notice of each hearing shall be provided no less than 10 days prior to the date of the hearing. Upon adoption of the joint maintenance agreement by the component districts, a copy of the agreement executed by each component school board shall be submitted to the state board of education for approval. If the state board of education approves the agreement, it shall forward it to the clerks of the component school districts for submission to the voters as soon as may be reasonably possible at an annual meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose. A majority of voters present and voting in each component district shall be required for approval of the joint maintenance agreement.

(b) If after review the state board of education determines that the joint maintenance agreement fails to comply with the provisions of this section, the state board shall forward written notice of its findings, including specific areas of deficiency, to the school boards of the component school districts. Such school boards shall correct any deficiencies and resubmit the agreement to the state board for review within 30 days of the state board's deficiency notice.

(c) The state board shall act on all joint maintenance agreement proposals within 30 days of receipt.

III. The school boards of the component school districts shall be authorized to incur indebtedness by the issuance and sale of bonds or notes, or otherwise, in the name of the joint maintenance agreement subject to approval by the legislative body of the component districts pursuant to RSA 33. The school boards of the component school districts shall be authorized to engage in collective bargaining pursuant to RSA 273-A and to hire staff in the name of the joint maintenance agreement, as may be necessary.

215:2 School Building Aid; Amount of Annual Grant; References Amended. Amend RSA 198:15-b, I to read as follows:

I. The amount of the annual grant to any school district duly organized, any city maintaining a school department within its corporate organization, any cooperative school district as defined in RSA 195:1, or any receiving district operating an area school as defined in RSA 195-A:1, shall be a sum equal to 30 percent of the amount of the annual payment of principal on all outstanding borrowings of the school district, city, cooperative school district, joint maintenance agreement, or receiving district, heretofore or hereafter incurred, for the cost of construction or purchase of school buildings and school administrative unit facilities, to the extent approved by the state board of education, provided that any school district may receive an annual grant in the amount of 40 percent for the construction of an educational administration building for school administrative unit, and provided that the amount of the annual grant in the case of a cooperative school district, joint maintenance agreement, or a receiving district operating an area school, shall be 40 percent plus 5 percent for each pre-existing district in excess of 2 and each sending district, in excess of one, and provided further that no cooperative school district, joint maintenance agreement, or receiving district operating an area school, shall receive an annual grant in excess of 55 percent.

215:3 Repeal. RSA 198:15-b, VI, relative to a joint maintenance agreement among the Barnstead, Pittsfield, or Gilmanton school districts, or any combination thereof, is repealed.

The Department of Education indicates state general fund expenditures and local revenue and expenditures may increase by an indeterminable amount in FY 2001 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state revenue or county revenue and expenditures.

The Department states this bill provides a process for school districts to combine for the purposes of building and maintaining a high school or other public school. The Department indicates there are currently 37 school districts that do not maintain a high school and 15 school districts that do not maintain an elementary school. These school districts contract with other schools for the education of their pupils.

The Department also indicates there are currently no joint maintenance agreements in New Hampshire.

The Department is unable to estimate the fiscal impact of this bill because:

· The school districts that would enter into a joint maintenance agreement are unknown;

· The effect on local expenditures as a result of a joint maintenance agreement is not known. The cost of building and maintaining a school may be more or less costly than the existing tuition contracts; and

· The increase in the amount the state will pay for building aid as a result of joint maintenance agreements cannot be estimated.