Title 16 Appendix — Appendix: Education Charters and Agreements

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Chapter 1 University of Vermont and State Agricultural College

§ 1-1 Establishment as corporate body

The University of Vermont and the Vermont Agricultural College, with such other corporations as may hereafter become united therewith, are hereby united and constituted a body corporate, by the name of the “University of Vermont and State Agricultural College,” for the purpose of carrying out the objects contemplated in their respective charters, and as such, shall be and remain a body corporate forever, and as such may hold and convey real and personal estate, have a common seal, and shall be recognized and utilized as an instrumentality of the State for providing public higher education, with all the rights and powers incident to corporations; and the General Assembly of the State of Vermont shall, from time to time, appropriate such sums as it deems necessary for the support and maintenance of the corporation.

§ 1-2 Board of Trustees; membership, terms of service; presiding chair

The Board of Trustees of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College shall be composed of 25 members, whose term of office shall be six years, except as to those who are members ex officio and to those who are student members. Three members shall be appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. During the legislative session of 1955, the Governor shall appoint one member for a term of two years, one member for a term of four years, and one member for a term of six years and it shall be the duty of the Governor during the session of the Legislature prior to expiration of the term of office of any of the members to appoint for the term of six years a successor to the member whose term is expiring. The terms of office of the Trustees shall expire on the last day of February in the respective years of expiration, and the terms of office of their successors shall thereafter begin on March 1 and expire on the last day of February.

Nine members shall be those who have been heretofore elected by the Legislature as members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, and whose terms have not expired, and their successors, and it shall be the duty of the Legislature at its session during which the terms of office of any class of the members expire to elect three successor members for terms of six years. The terms shall commence on March 1 in the year of election. The nine Trustees and their successors shall also constitute the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Agricultural College.

Nine members shall be those who have been heretofore elected on behalf of the University of Vermont as members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College and whose terms have not expired, and their successors, and it shall be the duty of said nine Trustees to elect successors to fill vacancies occurring among their number upon expiration of the terms of office of any of them or otherwise. The nine Trustees and their successors shall also constitute the Board of Trustees of the University of Vermont.

Two members shall be students enrolled at the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College. Their terms of office shall be two years. Prior to February 1, 1978, the Associated Directors for the Appointment of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College Student Trustees, Incorporated shall select and appoint one student for a term of one year and one student for a term of two years, both of whom shall be enrolled as full-time undergraduate or full-time graduate students. Annually thereafter, the Directors shall meet to select and appoint one student trustee for a term of two years in accordance with the provisions of this section. The Directors shall fill any vacancy occurring among the student trustee members upon the expiration of the term of office of any of them or otherwise. A student shall be eligible to serve as a Trustee, provided the student is a full-time undergraduate or full-time graduate student matriculating in accordance with the degree qualifications and requirements established by the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College and if the student remains in that status throughout the length of the term of office. The term of office of a Student Trustee shall begin on March 1 following the date of appointment, and the term of office shall end the last day of February in the year of expiration. Any student elected hereunder shall have reached the age of 18.

All Trustees so appointed and elected as hereinbefore provided, shall, together with his or her Excellency, the Governor of the State, and the President, who shall be, ex officio, a member, constitute an entire Board of Trustees of the corporation known as the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, who shall have the entire management and control of its property and affairs, and in all things relating thereto, except in the elections to fill vacancies, as aforesaid, shall act together jointly, as one entire Board of Trustees; provided, that all future elections or appointments to the Board of Trustees shall be made with special reference to preventing any religious denominational preponderance in the Board. The Board shall annually, at its first regular meeting after the election of new trustees, elect one of its members to serve as Chair.

§ 1-3 Conferral of degrees; election of officers; governance

The Board of Trustees, a majority of whom may constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, may confer such honors and degrees as are usually given in colleges and universities and any other appropriate degrees, and may, from time to time, as occasion may require, elect a President, also a Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, professors, instructors, and any other necessary officers, and prescribe their duties, salaries, and term of office, and may make all necessary bylaws and regulations for the government of themselves and others connected with the institution, not inconsistent with the provisions of this charter, and therein prescribe the terms of admission, rates of tuition, modes of study, and course of instruction, including any proper regulations for uniform, discipline, and military drill, as well as for experimental and practical instruction in the different branches of agricultural labor.

§ 1-4 Control of lands and rents; rights and obligations

Except as otherwise provided by Sec. 4 of No. 66 of the Acts of 1955, the Board of Trustees shall have the right to use, control, sell, or dispose of all the real estate and personal property now or hereafter belonging to the University of Vermont, belonging to the Vermont Agricultural College, and belonging to any other institution at the time of its union or thereafter, if such union shall be made with this corporation agreeably to this charter; subject, however, to the payment of any debts of any of the institutions existing at the time of such union, and subject to any trusts, duties, and obligations connected therewith, and shall be entitled to receive and use, for the purposes aforesaid, the rents and uses of any of the aforesaid lands, including the rents and uses of all such lands as have been heretofore reserved in any charter of land in this State for the use and benefit of any college, and may have the same rights in respect to the lands, and to any leases of the same, and to any rents arising therefrom, that the institutions respectively now have, and may maintain suits in their own name, or in the name of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, to recover the same; provided, that the rights of all parties shall remain, and the same defenses shall be had to such suits as if the same were brought in the name and as between the original parties; and the corporation hereby created shall, at all times, assume, discharge, and perform all the debts, duties, trusts, and obligations which the several institutions were subject to, at the time they became united in the corporation known as the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, by virtue of this charter.

§ 1-5 Curriculum to be maintained

There shall, at all times, be maintained, in the institution hereby created, such instruction, in the various branches of learning, as is contemplated in the several charters of each of the institutions hereby united; and more particularly including a four years’ course of studies, similar to such as are generally taught in other colleges, and not inferior to that recently taught in the University of Vermont, and in addition to that which is usually taught in other colleges, the instruction in this institution shall include such enlarged facilities, and extended scope and variety in the study of those branches which relate to military tactics, agriculture, and the mechanic arts, as shall render the whole instruction in conformity with said act of Congress, as well as with the several charters aforesaid.

§ 1-6 Experimental farm

The Trustees may, in their discretion, obtain by gift, grant, or otherwise, a tract of land which, together with the land now owned by the University of Vermont, shall amount to at least 100 acres, to be used as an experimental farm, whereon they may make any desirable experiments in the breeding of stock, field culture, the analysis and adaptation of soils and horticultural and botanical gardening, or either of them, as they may deem proper, and also for the purpose of military encampment, target firing, drill and review; and the trustees may use, lease, or dispose of the same, as they may think proper, so as best to promote the objects of the institutions.

And in case the land shall be procured, as aforesaid, a sum not to exceed one-tenth of the money which has been received by the State Treasurer for the sale of land scrip, in pursuance of the act of Congress authorizing the same, shall be paid to the Board of Trustees for the purposes aforesaid; provided, that no agricultural labor shall be required of students, except by their voluntary agreement or consent.

§ 1-7 Congressional fund; interest income

Whenever this corporation shall have been duly organized, there shall be appropriated and paid to its Treasurer annually, for the purpose herein mentioned, on the warrant of the Governor, the interest or the income which may be received from the fund created under and by virtue of the act of Congress.

§ 1-8 Legislative reports; Board of Visitors

The corporation hereby created shall make annual reports to the Legislature of this State, of its condition, financially and otherwise, and make and distribute the reports required by the act of Congress, herein referred to, and the Legislature may annually appoint a Board of Visitors, who may annually examine the affairs of the corporation. The provisions of 2 V.S.A. § 20(d) (expiration of required reports) shall not apply to the report to be made under this section.

(Amended 2015, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 4.)

§ 1-9 Permanent location

The permanent location of the institution hereby created, shall be in Burlington, in the State of Vermont, and the first meeting of the Board of Trustees shall be there held on November 15 next, at 7:00 P.M., or if the meeting shall not be held at that time, it shall be held at such other time and place as the Governor of this State may appoint, seasonable notice of the appointment having been first given to each of the Trustees or corporators of the University of Vermont and Vermont Agricultural College.

§ 1-10 Middlebury College; Norwich University

The President and fellows of Middlebury College, and Norwich University, or either of them, may hereafter, with the assent and concurrence by vote of a majority of each of the nine Trustees elected, as aforesaid, and their successors, become incorporated and united with the corporation hereby created, by vote of their said corporations, at any meeting legally warned and holden, and by leaving for record, in the Office of the Secretary of State, a true and attested copy of such vote or votes, and of all the proceedings of the meeting or meetings, at which the votes aforesaid were passed, and causing the same to be recorded in the Office.

§ 1-11 Vacation of charter

If at any time, the corporation hereby created shall fail substantially to carry out the provisions and requirements of this charter, the Supreme Court of this State may, at any stated session thereof, having first given due notice to this corporation, annul and vacate this charter, and in such case, or in case the corporation shall otherwise be dissolved, the Supreme Court may, on application, order and decree that the income thereafter to be derived from the proceeds of the sale of said land scrip, in the hands of the State Treasurer as aforesaid, together with such amount as may have been paid over by the Treasurer for the purpose of an experimental farm, shall revert to the Vermont Agricultural College, and all the other property and effects which, at the time of the union, belonged to the other institution, shall revert to and be the property of the other institution or institutions which shall have been united and incorporated by, or in pursuance of this charter, and in case more than one such other institution shall have been thus united, such other property shall revert to them separately, such specific property to each, as the Court shall adjudge and decree, having reference in making such decree to what was originally owned or contributed by each; provided, that in respect to any property or funds hereafter acquired by the new corporation, by gift, grant, bequest, or otherwise, the same shall be awarded and distributed to each of the institutions hereby incorporated or hereafter united, in such manner as the Court shall deem just and equitable, having reference to the manner the same was acquired, and to any specific trusts, or expressed intention of any donors, made at the time the same was acquired. And for the purposes aforesaid, as well as for all other purposes, the several corporations, which shall have been united by virtue of this charter, shall be deemed and treated as having continued in life, and the several Trustees which shall have been elected by each at the time they were united, and their successors shall be deemed and treated to have been, since the time of their elections, the Trustees of their respective institutions, as well as Trustees of the united corporation, and, as such Trustees may receive the property and effects which may revert to their respective corporations by such decree of Court, and they and their successors, whom they may thereafter appoint, may continue and manage the affairs of their respective corporations thereafter, in the same manner as the Trustees of each might have done before they were united as aforesaid.

§ 1-12 Charter in effect

This charter shall take effect, whenever the two corporations hereby united shall, at a meeting duly warned, vote to accept the same, and to surrender and relinquish to the corporation, hereby created, all the property belonging to them, whether real or personal, and all the rents, profits, and income therefrom arising, including said proceeds from the sale of the land scrip, for the purpose, and subject to all the rights, trusts, and conditions as in this charter provided; and it shall be the duty of each of the corporations to cause a copy of the record of such votes, duly certified by the secretaries of their respective corporations, to be left for record and duly recorded in the office of the Secretary of State; whereupon, by virtue of such votes, such property, rents, profits, and income shall become the property of the corporation hereby created, for the purposes and subject to the rights, trusts, and conditions aforesaid, and the property, and the property hereafter acquired by the corporation hereby created, shall be subject to all the conditions, immunities, and exemptions now pertaining to the property now held by the University of Vermont.

§ 1-13 Repeal of inconsistent law

All of an act entitled “An Act to Establish the Vermont Agricultural College,” approved November 22, 1864, which is inconsistent with the provisions of this act, is hereby repealed.

§ 1-14 Vermont Agricultural College

The divisions of the Vermont Agricultural College set forth in section 4488 of Vermont Statutes, Revision of 1947, shall be continued as divisions of and in the name of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, and all references to Vermont Agricultural College in sections 4489 through 4493 shall be deemed to apply to the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College or the agricultural college of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College as the context may require.

§ 1-15 Tax exemption

Real and personal property now held or owned or hereafter acquired by the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College for educational purposes shall be exempt from taxation.

§ 1-15a Statutory purposes

The statutory purpose of the exemption for the University of Vermont in section 1-15 of this chapter is to allow institutions providing higher education to deploy more of their financial resources to their educational missions.

(Added 2013, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 10.)

§ 1-16 Amendment of charter

This charter may be amended from time to time by the General Assembly to provide for the more perfect and effective accomplishment of its objects.

Chapter 2 Barre Town School District

§ 2-1 Meetings and elections

(a) The first Tuesday in March shall be the date for the annual election of School District officers and for voting upon all questions to be decided by Australian ballot. Polls shall be open no less than nine consecutive hours. The School Board may designate one or more polling places within the District for voting and may provide for the use of any mechanical or computer type devices for voting or counting votes, consistent with the requirements of law. However, the voters at any annual election may designate a different date, time, or place for subsequent annual elections.

(b)(1) Special School District meetings or elections:

(A) may be called by a majority of the School Board; or

(B) shall be called by the School District Clerk upon receipt by him or her of a petition signed by at least ten percent of the voters, specifying the business to be transacted at such meeting.

(2) The meeting shall be held within 60 days from the date the petition is filed with the Clerk.

(c) Budget preparation process:

(1) At such time as may be prescribed by the School Board, the School Superintendent shall submit a line itemized estimate of the income and expenditures required for the operation of the School District for the next ensuing fiscal year.

(2) The School Board, with a committee of not less than five voters appointed by them, shall review the proposed school budget publicly and prepare it for presentation to the voters at the annual School District election. Sufficient copies shall be available to the voters not less than ten days prior to the election, at the five public places required by subsection 2(a) of this chapter and the warning shall state the availability of the proposed budget.

(d) Budget adoption process: The budget proposal shall be submitted to the electorate at the annual election. If this proposal fails, the School Board shall warn another election at which a revised budget shall be submitted to the voters and decided by Australian ballot. If the School Board’s second or subsequent budget proposals fail, the Board shall continue to warn special elections and submit revised budget proposals to the voters until a budget is adopted by the voters by Australian ballot.

§ 2-2 Warnings

(a) Public notice of every annual or special School District meeting or election shall be given by a warning posted in at least five public places in the District at least 12 days prior to the meeting; and published two times, on the same day of the week for two consecutive weeks, in a newspaper having general circulation in the district. The first such publication shall be at least ten days prior to the date of the meeting.

(b) The warning shall:

(1) state the date, time, and place of the annual meeting as well as the date, time, and place of any informational hearing required to be held by virtue of the use of the Australian ballot system of voting;

(2) be signed by a majority of the School Board;

(3) specifically indicate by separate articles what business is to be transacted at the meeting;

(4) contain any article approved by the School Board;

(5) contain any article requested by petition signed by at least ten percent of the voters and filed with the School District Clerk at least 45 days prior to the day of the meeting; and

(6) state that copies of the School Board’s proposed budget shall be available as required by subsection 1(d) of this chapter.

§ 2-3 Reconsideration of actions taken on the budget

Reconsideration of actions, as applied to the budgetary process, shall not be permitted.

Chapter 3 Barton Academy and Graded School District

§ 3-1 Incorporation of district

Such portions of the Town of Barton as lie within the present limits of School District Number One and the inhabitants thereof are hereby incorporated and constituted a school district of the Town of Barton, by the name of the Barton Academy and Graded School District; and the schoolhouse and all other property of School District Number One, of whatever character, shall become the general property of the Barton Academy and Graded School District; and all debts and liabilities of the District shall be assumed and paid by the Barton Academy and Graded School District, and the Barton Academy and Graded School District shall have all the powers and privileges, and shall be subject to all the duties and liabilities that are incident to school districts established under the Revised Laws of Vermont and the laws in addition thereto, or in amendment thereof.

§ 3-2 Districts may merge

If any other school district or districts in the Town of Barton shall at any time, by their vote at a meeting duly warned for that purpose, signify their desire to become united with the Barton Academy and Graded School District, and if the Barton Academy and Graded School District, at a meeting duly warned for that purpose, shall vote to agree to such union, then the additional district, or districts, shall become and form a part of the Barton Academy and Graded School District; and such union of the districts may be made upon such terms in regard to the school property of each as may be mutually agreed upon by the districts. And by vote of the Town of Barton and consent by vote of the Academy and Graded School District, at any annual or special meeting of the Town and the district duly warned for that purpose, territory from adjoining districts may be added to the Graded School District by vote of the Town as aforesaid, and by the consent of two-thirds of the voters in the Graded School District present at any meeting legally warned for that purpose.

§ 3-3 Transfer of property; assumption of debts; rent payments

All property of whatever character, belonging to the Barton Academy, an institution incorporated by the Legislature by act approved November 14, 1854, shall become the property of the Barton Academy and Graded School District whenever the Barton Academy shall vote, at a meeting legally called for that purpose, to accept the provisions of this act and all debts and liabilities of the Barton Academy shall be assumed and paid by the corporation hereby created. The Selectboard of the Town of Barton shall annually pay over the rents and profits arising from the grammar school lands in the town to the Trustees of the Barton Academy and Graded School District together with all sums arising from that source now in their hands and unappropriated.

§ 3-4 Officers and trustees

Instead of the prudential committee required by law to be elected, the Academy and Graded School District, at its first annual meeting, shall elect three Trustees as follows: one for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, and one for the term of three years; and at all subsequent annual meetings, vacancies caused by the expiration of the term of office of Trustees shall be filled by the election of Trustees for the term of three years each; provided, however, that when the voters thereof so vote at any annual meeting, wherein the warning contains an appropriate article relating thereto, two additional Trustees may be elected thereat for a term of one year each. Such vote so taken shall remain in effect until such time as the voters of the Barton Academy and Graded School District rescind the same by a majority vote of the legal voters present and voting at an annual or special meeting duly warned and including such purpose. All vacancies caused by death, resignation, removal from the District, or other cause shall be filled at an annual or special meeting, warned for the purpose, for the unexpired term of such Trustees only; provided, however, that the Trustees may fill one vacancy occurring on the Board of Trustees or in any other office, during the year, until an election is had at the next annual meeting, or a special meeting called for that purpose. The Trustees shall have all the powers and perform all the duties of a prudential committee and board of school directors, or either, and shall choose one of their members to be President, and may appoint a Secretary of the Board; each of whom shall hold office for the term of one year and until their successors are chosen and appointed. The other officers of the Barton Academy and Graded School District shall be the same as now or may hereafter be provided for all school districts in the State; shall be elected in the same manner and be subject to the same duties and liabilities as now or hereafter prescribed by law.

§ 3-5 Annual meeting

The time of holding the annual meeting in the Graded School District shall be the same as now is or hereafter shall be fixed by law for all school districts in the State; and in accordance therewith the first meeting for the election of Trustees as hereinbefore provided shall be held on the last Tuesday of March, A. D. 1887.

§ 3-6 Adoption of bylaws and rules

The Barton Academy and Graded School District may make such bylaws, rules, and regulations as it may deem expedient, not inconsistent with the laws of this State, and may provide for the establishment and maintenance of such number of schools, of such length, and of such grade or grades, and for teaching such branches therein as it may deem expedient; and may in its option give instruction in the studies usually taught in higher academic schools and which are requisite to prepare scholars for entering college. The Academy and Graded School shall not be required to teach gratuitously drawing, music, or the languages, other than English, but may at its option. All residents of the District between the ages of five and 20 years may attend the academy and graded school free of tuition for all branches except those mentioned herein, tuition to be charged upon the branches excepted at the option of the District.

§ 3-7 Courses of study; acceptance of scholars

The Trustees may make such bylaws, rules, and regulations, for the gradation, instruction, and management of the Academy and Graded School, and for the care of the property of the District, as they may deem expedient not inconsistent with the laws of the State; they shall establish a course or courses of study in each of the schools and shall, in conjunction with the teachers of the schools, arrange and hold a public examination of all the schools at the close of each term thereof if thought best, and assign each scholar to the particular grade or department which each shall be found qualified to enter; shall assign each student to the proper grade upon admission to the school, and may change students from one grade to another during term time, whenever the interest of the students or the good of the school may seem to require it. The Trustees shall, unless otherwise directed by a vote of the District at any annual meeting thereof, allow scholars from other districts in the Town of Barton or from other towns to attend the Academy and Graded School with equal advantages of resident scholars, at rates of tuition corresponding as nearly as may be to the usual rates for the same instruction in schools of like character in the State.

(Amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 302, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)

§ 3-8 Acceptance of endowments and legacies

The Academy and Graded School district is hereby empowered to receive any endowment fund or legacy in fee or in trust, that may be donated as an endowment toward the support or for the use of the Academy and Graded School, on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the donor or legator, not inconsistent with the laws of this State; and the Trustees of such Academy and Graded School shall be the custodians of such fund and of the income of the same, subject to instructions of the District in regard to the use of the fund or income, unless otherwise provided by the terms of the endowment, donation, or legacy.

§ 3-9 Distribution of public moneys

In the distribution of the public moneys, that portion which may be divided among the several school districts, irrespective of the number of scholars or the attendance at school, shall be so divided as to give the Barton Academy and Graded School District the share of the original district of which it is composed, and the Barton Academy and Graded School District shall have all the rights, privileges, and benefits now enjoyed by Barton Academy by School District Number One in Barton.

Chapter 5 Bennington School District Incorporated

§ 5-1 Districts authorized to dissolve and merge

Bennington Graded School District, Inc., incorporated by No. 121 of the Acts of 1870, and Greater Bennington Schools, Inc., incorporated by Nos. 240 and 241 of the Acts of 1935, are hereby authorized and enabled to surrender their respective charters, dissolve, and thereby merge into and form a municipal corporation to be called Bennington School District Incorporated, upon the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth.

§ 5-2 Merger to constitute incorporation of new district

If Bennington Graded School District, Inc. and Greater Bennington School, Inc. vote to surrender their respective charters and dissolve and thereby merge, this chapter shall constitute the incorporating charter of Bennington School District Incorporated the territorial limits of which shall be all of the Town of Bennington exclusive of the portion of the Town which is within the North Bennington Graded School District, Inc.

§ 5-3 New district to own all property of old districts

All real estate and other property and all assets of Bennington Graded School District, Inc. and Greater Bennington Schools, Inc. shall become the property of Bennington School District Incorporated on July 1 in the year following the calendar year in which it is voted to dissolve the old districts and to create the new district pursuant to subsection 8(a) of this chapter, subject, however, to any agreements with respect thereto made by Bennington Graded School District, Inc., or Greater Bennington Schools, Inc., before July 1 in such year.

§ 5-4 New district to provide public schools for grades kindergarten through sixth

(a) The Bennington School District Incorporated shall provide for the elementary education of students within the territorial limits of the District for grades kindergarten through sixth.

(b) Sixth grade. The School Board shall not allow the attendance of sixth graders of the Bennington School District at the Mount Anthony Union School District Middle School until receiving authorization from a majority of the voters of the District by Australian ballot vote at a regular or special meeting. If authorization is given, the authorization shall remain in effect until the provisions of this charter are amended.

(Amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 302, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)

§ 5-5 New district responsible for Mt. Anthony Union High School District (No. 14) expenses of old districts.

§ 5-6 New district responsible for debts and liabilities of old districts.

§ 5-7 New district to vote a tax on the combined grand list of old districts; fiscal year

(a) The taxable estates within the territorial limits of Bennington School District Incorporated shall be combined into one grand list. The Bennington School District Incorporated may vote a tax upon those taxable estates for the lawful purposes of the district, including the payment of obligations imposed upon the District by sections 4, 5, and 6 of this chapter.

(b) The fiscal year of Bennington School District Incorporated shall be from July 1 in any calendar year to June 30 in the following calendar year.

§ 5-8 When new district becomes body politic and old districts cease to exist; joint board governs affairs of new district during interim.

§ 5-9 Officers of new district

(a) The officers of Bennington School District Incorporated shall be a Moderator, Clerk, Board of School Directors, and Treasurer.

(b) The Board of School Directors of Bennington School District Incorporated shall have seven members who shall be elected at large. When Bennington School District Incorporated so votes at an annual or special meeting, the Board of School Directors may be increased or decreased by such number as is voted.

(c) All officers of Bennington School District Incorporated elected at an annual meeting shall enter upon their duties immediately following their election and shall serve until their successors are elected and qualified.

(d) The terms of office of the members of the Board of School Directors, Moderator, Clerk, and Treasurer shall be three years and of all other officers one year.

(e) The Board of School Directors shall annually appoint a certified public accountant to audit the financial records of Bennington School District Incorporated.

§ 5-10 First annual meeting of district.

§ 5-11 Mt. Anthony Union High School District (No. 14) directors elected at large

The two Directors of Mt. Anthony Union High School District (No. 14) elected by Bennington Graded School District, Inc. and the two Directors of the Union District elected by Greater Bennington Schools, Inc. shall be elected as four Directors at large from Bennington School District Incorporated at the first annual meeting of the District and thereafter.

§ 5-12 Organization of Mt. Anthony Union High School District (No. 14) validated

The organization and operation of Mt. Anthony Union High School District (No. 14), consisting of Bennington Graded School District, Inc., Greater Bennington Schools, Inc., North Bennington Graded School District, Inc., Shaftsbury Town School District, Woodford Town School District, and Pownal Town School District as altered and affected by this chapter, is hereby validated.

Chapter 7 Bradford Academy and Graded School District

§ 7-1 Incorporation of district

Such portions of the Town of Bradford as lie within the present limits of School District Number 2 and within the present limits of School District Number 12, and the inhabitants thereof, are hereby incorporated and constituted a school district of the Town of Bradford, by the name of the Bradford Academy and Graded School District; all the property owned by the Districts Numbers 2 and 12 shall be the property of the Bradford Academy and Graded School District; and all debts and liabilities of the District Numbers 2 and 12 shall be assumed and paid by the Bradford Academy and Graded School District; and the Bradford Academy and Graded School District shall have all the powers and privileges, and shall be subject to all the duties and liabilities that are incident to graded school districts under the general laws of this State.

§ 7-2 District boundaries

If any other school district or districts in the Town of Bradford shall at any time, by their vote at a meeting duly warned for that purpose, signify their desire to become united with the Bradford Academy and Graded School District, and if the Bradford Academy and Graded School District, at a meeting duly warned for that purpose, shall vote to agree to such union, then the additional district or districts shall become and form a part of Bradford Academy and Graded School District; and such union of districts may be made upon such terms in regard to the school property of each as may be mutually agreed upon by the districts. And by vote of the Town of Bradford, and by consent of the Bradford Academy and Graded School District, at any annual or special meeting of the Town and the District, duly warned for that purpose, territory from adjoining districts may be added to the Bradford Academy and Graded School District; or territory may be taken from the Bradford Academy and Graded School District by vote of the town as aforesaid, and by the consent of two-thirds of the voters in the Bradford Academy and Graded School District present at any meeting legally warned for that purpose.

§ 7-3 Officers and trustees

Instead of a prudential committee now required by law to be elected, the Bradford Academy and Graded School District at its first annual meeting shall elect three Trustees, as follows: one for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, and one for the term of three years; and at all subsequent annual meetings, vacancies caused by the expiration of the term of office of Trustees shall be filled by the election of Trustees for the term of three years each; and all vacancies caused by resignation, death, removal from the District, or other cause, shall be filled at an annual or special meeting duly warned for that purpose, for the unexpired term of such Trustees only. Such Trustees shall have all the powers and perform all the duties of a prudential committee, and shall choose one of their number to be President, and shall appoint a Secretary of the Board of Trustees, who shall hold office for the term of one year and until their successors are chosen and appointed. All other officers of the District shall be elected in the manner prescribed by law.

§ 7-4 Annual meeting

The time for holding the annual meetings and elections shall be the same as now is or hereafter shall be fixed by law for all school districts in the State; and the first annual meeting under this charter shall be holden on the last Tuesday of March A.D. 1893.

§ 7-5 Transfer of property

The Trustees of the Bradford Academy, an institution located at Bradford, in the county of Orange, established by an act of the Legislature of November 2, 1820, are hereby authorized to transfer by deed the Academy building and all the property appertaining thereto, and to deliver any and all funds in their hands belonging to the institution, to the Bradford Academy and Graded School District, which deed shall become operative and binding whenever the District shall vote to accept the same.

§ 7-6 Library and Library Committee

Within ten days after the first annual meeting of the Bradford Academy and Graded School District the Trustees shall appoint a Library Committee of three persons, one for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, and one for the term of three years, to hold their offices until their successors are appointed. And within ten days after each annual meeting after the first, the Trustees shall appoint one committee to fill the place of the committee whose term has expired, and such committee shall hold his or her place for the term of three years. And the Trustees may fill all vacancies occasioned by death, removal, or resignation. The Committee shall take charge of the Merrill Library and apparatus and such other books and apparatus as shall come into the possession of the District, and shall select and purchase books and apparatus for the library, and shall make such rules and regulations for the care and use of the same as may seem to them best. And it is hereby made the duty of the Trustees to pay for such books and apparatus so selected by the Library Committee to an amount not exceeding the annual income of the Merrill Library fund of $2,500.00. They shall also provide a room or rooms for the library and apparatus whenever the District shall build a new schoolhouse.

§ 7-7 Transfer deed

The deed referred to in section 5 of this charter may, on the part and in behalf of the Trustees of the Bradford Academy, be executed by one of their number who may be authorized so to do by a vote of a majority or the Board of Trustees.

§ 7-8 Receipt of county and State funds; maintenance of school and curriculum

Upon the transfer and acceptance of the Academy buildings and property, the powers and duties of the Trustees of the Bradford Academy shall cease and the Bradford Academy and Graded School District shall be entitled to such equal share of the income of the grammar school lands of Orange County, as the aforesaid Bradford Academy was entitled to receive before the passage of this chapter, and also those funds granted in common with other academies and grammar schools in this State, so long as the School District shall maintain, in connection with their schools, a good English high school, not less than 30 weeks each year, and shall in addition thereto, teach therein ancient and modern languages and higher mathematics and sciences to the extent necessary to prepare students entering at the beginning of the regular course in common American colleges, and shall employ as the principal thereof a teacher who is a graduate of some college of good reputation.

§ 7-9 Adoption of rules and bylaws; acceptance of scholars

The Trustees of the Bradford Academy and Graded School District may make such bylaws, rules, and regulations for the graduation, instruction, and management of the Academy and graded school, and for the care of the property of the District, as they may deem expedient, not inconsistent with the laws of this State; they shall establish a course or courses of study in each of the schools, and shall, in conjunction with the teachers of the schools, arrange and hold a public examination of all the schools during each school year thereof and assign each scholar to the particular grade or department which each shall be found qualified to enter; shall assign each student to the proper grade upon admission to the school, and may change students from one grade to another during term time, whenever the interest of the student or the good of the school seems to require it. The Trustees shall, unless otherwise directed by vote of the District at an annual meeting thereof, allow scholars from outside the District to attend the Academy and Graded School with equal advantages of resident scholars, at rates for the same instruction in schools of like character in the State.

(Amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 302, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)

§ 7-10 Acceptance of endowments or legacies

The Bradford Academy and Graded School District is hereby empowered to receive any endowment, fund, or legacy in fee or in trust that may be devoted as an endowment toward the support or for the use of the Academy and Graded School on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the donor or legator, not inconsistent with the laws of this State; and the trustees of the Academy and Graded School shall be the custodians of such fund and of the income of the same, subject to the instructions of the District in regard to the use of the fund or income, unless otherwise provided by the terms of the endowment, donation, or legacy.

§ 7-11 Public acts; first meeting

This chapter shall be under the control of future legislatures to alter or amend as the public good may require, and shall take effect on March 1 next. The first annual meeting of the Bradford Academy and Graded School District shall be held at the Bradford Academy and shall be warned by the Clerk of the School District Number 12 by posting a notice in due form of law on the outside door of the Academy at least seven days before the time for holding the meeting.

Chapter 9 Enosburg Falls Incorporated School District

§§ 9-1- 9-10 Repealed

[Repealed]

2009, No. M-4, effective July 1, 2008.

Chapter 11 Essex Junction School District

Subchapter 1 Purpose, Definitions, Legal Matters, and Miscellaneous Comprehensive Revision 1983

§ 11-1.1 Consolidation

No. 113 of the Acts of 1872, entitled “An act to establish the Essex Junction Graded School District” (which shall hereafter be called the Essex Junction school district) and all amendments and additions thereto, is hereby amended and consolidated so as to read as follows.

§ 11-1.2 Incorporation of district

All that portion of the Town of Essex now embraced within the limits of the Essex Junction School District as incorporated by No. 113 of the Acts of 1872, and as has been amended and added thereto and which is also embraced within the limits of the incorporated Village of Essex Junction together with the inhabitants therein is hereby incorporated and made a body politic and corporate and shall hereafter be known by the name of the Essex Junction School District and by that name may use and be used, prosecute and defend in any court, may have a corporate seal and alter it at pleasure, may take, hold, and convey real and personal property and estate, may levy and collect taxes, and generally shall have the rights and liabilities incident to municipal corporations.

§ 11-1.3 Disposition of property

All property, assets, and liabilities now belonging to the Essex Junction Graded School District shall at the time of the taking effect of this chapter vest in and become property, asset, liability or both, of the Essex Junction School District as incorporated by this chapter.

§ 11-1.4 Definition of district

Wherever the “District” hereafter appears in this chapter, it shall mean the Essex Junction School District.

§ 11-1.5 Exemption from taxation

The District shall be exempt from all local taxation in the Town of Essex.

§ 11-1.6 District voter

A citizen of voting age, as defined by State and federal law, whose name is on the voting list taken in the Village of Essex Junction at the annual assessment next preceding a District meeting or who has attained voting age subsequent to such assessment, shall while residing in the District be a voter in such District.

§ 11-1.7 Inconsistency with general law

This chapter shall control whenever any general act or law is inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.

§ 11-1.8 Effect of prior law

All acts, parts of acts, and bylaws, inconsistent with this chapter, except as herein otherwise provided, are hereby repealed. By the provisions of this chapter, so far as they are the same as those acts hereby amended, shall be construed as a continuation and consolidation of such acts, and not as new enactments.

§ 11-1.9 Implementation of charter

This chapter shall not become operative or effective until approved, ratified, and adopted by a majority of the legal voters of the Essex Junction School District voting at a duly warned meeting. If this chapter is voted favorably by a majority of the District, that vote shall be certified to the Secretary of State pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 702 and shall become effective pursuant to the provisions thereof.

Subchapter 2 Election, Duties, and Powers of Officers of Essex Junction School District

§ 11-2.1 Officers

The officers shall be a Moderator, five Prudential Committee members composing the Prudential Committee, a Clerk-Treasurer who shall be the same person, and a Collector of Taxes. All officers shall be chosen from legally qualified voters in the District.

§ 11-2.2 Election and terms of officers

The Moderator and the five Prudential Committee members shall be elected at the annual meeting or on the day following. A Moderator shall be elected every year and shall serve a term of one year. The Moderator’s term of office shall commence on July 1 following his or her election, and shall terminate at midnight, June 30, following election of a successor. One or more persons shall be elected to the Prudential Committee each year. Effective as of the 1994 annual meeting, one of the two seats scheduled that year for election to the Prudential Committee shall be for a term of two years. Effective as of the 1995 annual meeting, one of the two seats scheduled that year for election to the Prudential Committee shall be for a term of two years. All other newly elected Prudential Committee members shall hold office for three year terms. Prudential committee members shall be elected by Australian ballot on the day following the annual meeting as set forth in Vermont law. All officers, excepting the Moderator, the Clerk-Treasurer, and the Collector of Taxes, shall hold office for terms commencing upon their election and terminating upon the election of their successor. The Clerk-Treasurer and the Collector of Taxes shall each be appointed by the Prudential Committee for a term of one year. The appointment shall be made following elections every year and before July 1st. The Clerk-Treasurer and the Collector of Taxes shall each be appointed for a term commencing July 1 following appointment and terminating at midnight on June 30 following the appointment of a successor.

§ 11-2.3 Vacancies

When an officer resigns, dies, becomes incapacitated, or removes residency from the District, such office shall be considered vacant. When a vacancy occurs in any office, other than the office of Moderator, Clerk-Treasurer, and Collector of Taxes, the Prudential Committee shall forthwith, by appointment, in writing, fill such a vacancy until the election of a successor at the annual meeting next thereafter. At such annual meeting, the voters of the School District shall fill the vacancy in any elected office, other than the office of Moderator, for the remainder of the term. When the office of the Moderator, Clerk-Treasurer, or Collector of Taxes becomes vacant, the Prudential Committee shall forthwith by appointment, in writing, appoint a Moderator, Clerk-Treasurer, or Collector of Taxes to fill such vacancy until midnight of June 30 following election of a successor, in the case of the Moderator’s office, or appointment of a successor, in the case of the Clerk-Treasurer’s office or the Collector of Taxes’ office. All appointments under this section shall be filed and recorded in the office of the Clerk-Treasurer. No person shall be appointed to fill a vacancy in office who would not be eligible for election to such office.

§ 11-2.4 Bonding of officers

A Prudential Committee member shall not be a Clerk-Treasurer or Collector of Taxes. Before entering upon their duties, the Collector of Taxes and Clerk-Treasurer shall give a bond to the District conditioned for the faithful performance of their duties in such sums as may be required. When the Collector or Clerk-Treasurer for ten days neglects to give a bond as required, the office shall be vacant.

§ 11-2.5 Board of Civil Authority

The Moderator, Prudential Committee, Clerk-Treasurer, and Justices of the Peace residing in the District shall constitute a Board of Civil Authority in the District. The Board of Civil Authority shall have the same authority and power to abate taxes as the board of civil authority in towns. The Board of Civil Authority shall be responsible for conducting elections and shall decide all questions as to the eligibility of a person to vote in a district meeting. The members of the Board of Civil Authority present and acting at any meeting shall constitute a quorum in which to act.

§ 11-2.6 Moderator

The Moderator shall preside at the District meeting and in his or her absence, a Moderator Pro Tempora may be elected. As the presiding officer at District meetings, the Moderator shall perform the same duties and have the same authority as moderators at town meetings.

§ 11-2.7 Clerk-Treasurer

The Clerk-Treasurer of Essex Junction School District shall keep a record of the proceedings of the District and shall have the power to certify the copies of the same and shall perform the duties and have the authority and powers incident to clerks and treasurers of other municipal corporations. All money belonging to the District shall be paid to the Clerk-Treasurer, be safely kept, and paid out by the Clerk-Treasurer only upon orders issued by the Prudential Committee, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

§ 11-2.8 Collector of Taxes

Except as modified by this charter, the Collector of Taxes shall perform the same duties and have the same authority and power in the collection of taxes as those given by law to collectors of taxes and collectors of delinquent taxes in towns.

Subchapter 3 Duties and Powers of Prudential Committee

§ 11-3.1 Duties and powers of Prudential Committee

The Prudential Committee in addition to other powers and duties specifically assigned and allowed by law for school boards shall:

(1) Have the management of all business and affairs of the District and all authority and powers necessary for that purpose.

(2) Elect its own Chair and Clerk and other officers deemed necessary during the first regular Prudential Committee meeting following the annual meeting every year.

(3) Meet at least once each month, unless otherwise so voted by the Prudential Committee, and only after giving proper notice as to the time and place of the meeting.

(4) Determine the educational policies of the School District, and prescribe rules and regulations for the conduct and management of the public schools in the District. Such rules and regulations shall be of general application to the District, shall be in writing, codified, and made available to the public. Regulations shall be adopted only at regularly scheduled or specifically scheduled Prudential Committee meetings after giving at least ten days’ public notice of the substance of the proposed regulation. Public notice of the substance of proposed regulations need not include verbatim copies of the proposed regulations, but shall indicate where complete copies may be obtained.

(5) Have the power to take any action which is required for the sound administration of the School District.

(6) Subject to the authority vested in the electorate of any School District official, have the possession, care, control, equipping, and management of the property of the School District.

(7) Have discretion to furnish more than 12 years of instruction to students in deserving cases.

(8) Relocate or discontinue use of any schoolhouse or facility.

(9)(A) Examine claims against the District for school expenses and draw orders for such as shall be allowed by it payable to the party entitled thereto. Such orders shall state definitely the purpose for which they are drawn.

(B) However, it shall be lawful for the Prudential Committee to submit to its Treasurer a certified copy of the pay orders, properly signed by the Clerk and Chair or majority of the Board, showing all bills approved for payment by the Prudential Committee. Such certified copy shall serve as full authority to the Treasurer to make the payments as thus approved. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall preclude the use of a voucher system, or any other system of sound accounting and business procedure, provided that such system reflects the facts as recited in this subdivision.

(10) Establish a system of accounts for the proper control of School District finances and for stating the annual financial condition of the School District.

(11) Not less than ten days prior to the District’s annual meeting, prepare and distribute to the electorate a report of the conditions and needs of the District school system, including the Superintendent’s and Treasurer’s annual report for the previous school year and an auditor’s report.

(12) Annually prepare and include in the annual report a budget for the next school year.

(13) Upon prior recommendation by the superintendent, employ and dismiss such persons as may be required to carry out the work of the School District.

(14) Annually on or before August 5, prepare a report for the School District containing, on forms prescribed and furnished by the state, a statement under oath of the actual cash expenditures of the School District for the preceding school year for school purposes, and other such information as the State prescribes. Such report shall be in triplicate, one copy shall be retained by the Superintendent, one copy shall be sent to the School District Clerk-Treasurer, and one copy sent to the State on or before August 15.

(15) Provide, at the expense of the District, subject to approval of the superintendent, all textbooks, learning materials, equipment, and supplies.

(16) Exercise all the general powers given to a legislative branch of a municipality.

(17) By its Chair, or any person designated by the Chair whose appointment is recorded in the minutes of the Prudential Committee, execute contracts on behalf of the School District. Contracts for leases of real or personal property for more than three years or for the purchase and sale of real estate shall be executed only upon prior authorization of the electorate as specified by the laws of the State of Vermont.

(18) Employ a public accountant to audit the financial affairs of the School District and prepare the annual financial report. The annual financial report shall be included in the annual report each year.

(19) Be authorized to operate and maintain a recreation program.

(20) Be authorized to negotiate and execute assessment and taxation agreements between the District and a taxpayer or taxpayers within the District consistent with the applicable requirements of the Vermont Constitution, notwithstanding section 5.1 of this charter and the requirements of the general laws of the State of Vermont.

(21) Be authorized to exempt from tax business personal property acquired by a taxpayer after September 30, 1995, notwithstanding section 5.1 of this charter and the requirements of the general laws of the State of Vermont.

(Amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 302, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)

Subchapter 4 District Meetings

§ 11-4.1 Annual meeting

The annual meeting of the District shall be held at an appropriate meeting place within the District on the second Tuesday of May in each year, or at such place or time as the District may vote, but never later than June 15. Annual meetings shall be warned by the Clerk-Treasurer or in case of his or her absence or neglect, by the Prudential Committee.

§ 11-4.2 Special meetings

Special meetings of the District shall be warned by the School District Clerk, or by the Prudential Committee, either upon its own volition or upon application in writing signed by one percent or more of the legal voters of the District.

§ 11-4.3 Warnings

A warning for an annual or special District meeting shall be posted in three or more public places in the District not less than 30 and not more than 40 days before the meeting, setting forth the time and place of the meeting and the business to be done.

§ 11-4.4 Parliamentary and voting procedures

All decisions at District meetings shall be decided by majority vote unless otherwise provided in this chapter. Parliamentary matters shall follow Robert’s Rules of Order as it is from time to time revised.

Subchapter 5 Financial Matters

§ 11-5.1 Grand list

The grand list of the Town of Essex composed of the taxable property and estate within the limits of the District shall constitute the grand list of the District. The District may at an annual or special meeting legally warned for that purpose vote to lay and assess a tax on its grand list for school purposes, and all taxes so voted, laid, or assessed shall be paid and collected in the same manner as is proved by law or by this chapter for the payment and collection of town taxes, and the Prudential Committee, Clerk-Treasurer, and Collector of Taxes shall perform the same duties and have the same authority in respect thereto as is provided by law for members of selectboards, treasurers, collectors of taxes, and collectors of delinquent taxes in towns, except that the District shall charge a collection fee of eight percent in addition to any interest owing on any and all tax payments, including installment payments, made after expiration of the time established in the notice of taxes due mailed to each taxpayer as required by law.

§ 11-5.2 Borrowing

The District may borrow money in any year in anticipation of taxes assessed in such year, in an amount not to exceed 90 percent of the taxes assessed in such year. Such notes or orders, however, must mature within one year from the date thereof and be paid from the taxes assessed and collected in such year.

§ 11-5.3 Issuance of negotiable bonds

The District is hereby authorized and empowered by a vote of a majority of all voters voting at a legally warned meeting held for that purpose to issue its negotiable bonds or negotiable interest-bearing notes pursuant to State statutes.

Chapter 13 Middlebury Incorporated School District No. 4

§ 13-1 Incorporation of district

School District No. 4 in Middlebury, in the County of Addison, a corporation duly established under the laws of this State, is hereby empowered and required to educate the scholars in the District in a grade 1 school or schools; and for that purpose may sell and convey any real estate belonging to the District, purchase, build, lease, and hold as many schoolhouses or school rooms, and establish and keep as many schools, and cause to be taught therein as extended a course of study as the District shall direct.

§ 13-2 Merger of districts

In order that a competent number of schools shall be maintained in the Town of Middlebury, for the convenient instruction of youth, School District No. 4 in Middlebury, in the County of Addison, an incorporated school district established by Act No. 89 of the laws of 1866, is empowered to merge with the Town School District of Middlebury, provided a majority of the legal voters of the Town School District of Middlebury present and voting at any meeting legally warned of the Town School District of Middlebury vote to become a part of School District No 4. in Middlebury, and a majority of the legal voters of School District No. 4 in Middlebury present and voting at any meeting legally warned of School District No. 4 in Middlebury vote to accept the merger. If the merger occurs, School District No. 4 in Middlebury shall retain all its present corporate powers and shall continue its corporate existence heretofore granted, and the Town School District of Middlebury shall no longer exist except for the settlement of its own pecuniary affairs and for the purpose only of voting, assessing, and collecting of a special tax annually to pay its indebtedness, if any, which settlement and payment shall be made before the expiration of two years from the date of the vote of School District No. 4 in Middlebury accepting the merger.

§ 13-3 Transfer of real estate

The Town School District is hereby authorized and empowered when the merger occurs to transfer and assign to School District No. 4 in Middlebury all right title and interest or use in any estate, real or personal, wherever situate, and from whatever source derived appertaining or belonging to the Town School District of Middlebury, provided said present School District of Middlebury so votes by a majority of its legal voters present and voting at a meeting thereof legally warned.

§ 13-4 Records of Town School District

The records of the Middlebury Town School District shall be deposited with the Town Clerk when said merger occurs.

§ 13-5 School funds; State aid

If the merger occurs, School District No. 4 in Middlebury shall be entitled to all the public money distributed to Middlebury and to all State aid granted to the town of Middlebury and provisions heretofore granted to the District inconsistent with this section shall be repealed.

§ 13-6 Adoption of rules and regulations

The Incorporated School District may make all such necessary rules and regulations in regard to the attendance of scholars, and the course of instruction in the school or schools, as shall not be inconsistent with the laws of this State.

§ 13-7 Acceptance of scholars

The Prudential Committee of the Incorporated School District may admit scholars coming from outside the District upon such terms as they may prescribe.

§ 13-8 Officers and Prudential Committee

The officers of the Incorporated School District shall be a Moderator, a Clerk, a Treasurer, a Collector, and an Auditor, who shall be chosen annually, and a Prudential Committee of seven hereafter to be chosen as follows:

At each annual meeting of the Town of Middlebury, there shall be elected a member of the Committee for a term of three years. A vacancy on the Committee shall be filled for the unexpired term by appointment by a majority of the members of the Committee. All elected officers shall be elected by Australian ballot, chosen from the legally qualified voters of the Town, and shall hold their respective offices until their successors are elected and qualified.

§ 13-9 General provisions

The general provisions of law pertaining to schools not inconsistent with the provisions of law pertaining to this charter and with the rights heretofore granted School District No. 4 by special legislation shall apply to school District No. 4 when the merger occurs.

Chapter 15 North Bennington Graded School District

§ 15-1 Establishment of District

All of the Town of Bennington which is included within the limits of the incorporated Village of North Bennington is hereby constituted a school district in the Town by the name of the North Bennington Graded School District and the Graded School District shall have all the powers and privileges and shall be subject to all the duties and liabilities that are incident to school districts as established under the laws of this State.

§ 15-2 Prudential Committee

The Prudential Committee shall consist of five persons, and at the annual meeting of the District, vacancies occasioned by the expiration of the term of office of members of the Committee shall be filled by the election of members for the term of three years each; and all vacancies on the Committee caused by resignation, death, removal from the District, or other cause shall be filled at an annual or special meeting warned for that purpose for the unexpired term of such members only.

§ 15-3 Authority to make rules and establish schools

The Graded School District may make bylaws, rules, and regulations as it may deem expedient, not inconsistent with the laws of this State, and may provide for the establishment and maintenance of such number of schools and of such grade or grades and for teaching therein such branches of knowledge as it may deem expedient.

§ 15-4 Distribution of public funds

In the distribution of public moneys, that portion which may be divided among the several districts, irrespective of the number of scholars or their attendance at school, shall be so divided as to give the Graded School District the shares of the several original districts of which it is or shall be composed.

§ 15-5 Additional districts

If any other school district or districts in the Town of Bennington or in the adjoining Town of Shaftsbury shall at any time, by their vote at a meeting duly warned for that purpose, signify their desire to become united with the Graded School District, and if the Graded School District at a meeting duly warned for that purpose shall vote to agree to the union, the additional District shall to all intents and purposes become and form a part of the North Bennington Graded School District, and the union of the districts may be made upon the terms in regard to the school property of each as may be mutually agreed upon by the districts.

Chapter 17 Orleans School District

§ 17-1 Incorporation; boundaries

Such portions of the Town of Barton as were included within the limits of School District Number Seven, prior to the enactment of an act, entitled “An act relating to public instruction,” approved November 12, 1892, and bounded as the District was then bounded and the inhabitants thereof are hereby incorporated and constituted a school district of the Town of Barton by the name of the Orleans School District, and the school house and all other property of whatever character in the District shall become the general property of the Orleans School District; and the Graded School District shall have all the powers and privileges, and shall be subject to all the duties and liabilities of such districts under the laws of this State, and the laws in addition thereto or in amendment thereof.

§ 17-2 Officers; trustees

The School District at its first annual meeting shall elect three Trustees as follows: One for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, and one for the term of three years; and at all subsequent annual meetings vacancies by the expiration of the terms of office of Trustee shall be filled by the election of Trustees for the term of three years each; and all vacancies caused by death, registration, removal from the District, or other cause shall be filled at an annual or special meeting warned for the purpose, for the unexpired term of such Trustees only. The Trustees shall have all the powers and perform all the duties of a Prudential Committee of a school district, and shall choose one of their number to be President, and may appoint a Secretary of the Board, each of whom shall hold office for the term of one year and until their successors are chosen and appointed. There shall also be elected a Collector, Treasurer, and three Auditors at each annual meeting of the District for the term of one year each, and vacancies in either of the offices may be filled at any special meeting called for that purpose, and they shall serve in their respective offices until their successors are elected. The President of the Board of Trustees shall serve as Moderator at all meetings of the District, and the Secretary of the Board of Trustees who shall not be a member of the Board shall serve as Clerk of the District and shall be invested with the same powers and subject to the same duties and liabilities of clerks of school districts under the school district system.

§ 17-3 Annual meeting

All annual meetings of the School District shall be held on the second Tuesday of March in each year, at such time of day and place as shall be designated by the Clerk of the District and the notice thereof shall not be less than six nor more than ten days from the date of such notice or warning, and special meetings may be called at any time under the direction of the Trustees or on petition of any five or more legal voters in the District, and the notice for such meetings shall be the same as that herein provided for annual meetings and the notices for all annual and special meetings shall be posted in three or more public places in the District.

§ 17-4 Powers of officers

All persons elected to the office of Collector, Treasurer, and Auditors shall be invested with the same powers and privileges and subject to the same duties and liabilities of such officers of school districts under the school district system under the laws of this State prior to the adoption of the town system of schools.

§ 17-5 Bylaws, rules, and regulations; District

The Orleans School District may make such bylaws, rules, and regulations as it may deem expedient, not inconsistent with the laws of this State, and may provide for the establishment and maintenance of such number of schools, of such length, and of such grade or grades, and for teaching such branches of study therein as it may deem expedient; and may at its option afford and provide for the studies taught in higher academic schools and which are requisite to prepare scholars for admission to colleges. The graded school shall not be required to afford instruction gratuitously in drawing, music, or the languages other than English or the higher mathematics, but may do so at its option; all residents of the District between the ages of five and 20 years may attend the graded school free of tuition for all branches of study, except those above mentioned, tuition to be charged upon the branches excepted at the option of the District.

§ 17-6 Bylaws, rules, and regulations; Trustees

The Trustees may make such bylaws, rules, and regulations for the graduation, instruction, and management of the school, and for the care of the property of the District as they may deem expedient, not inconsistent with the laws of the State; they shall establish a course or courses of study in each of the schools or departments of the school, and shall in conjunction with the teachers of the several schools or departments arrange and hold a public examination of all the scholars at the close of each term thereof, if thought best, and assign each scholar to the particular grade or department which each shall be found qualified to enter; shall assign each student to the proper grade upon admission to the school and may change students from one grade to another during term time, whenever the interest of the student or the welfare and good of the school may seem to require it. The Trustees, shall, unless otherwise directed by a vote of the District at any annual meeting thereof, allow and make provision for the attendance and instruction of students from other parts or portions of the Town of Barton or from other towns in the graded school with equal advantages of resident students, at rates of tuition corresponding as nearly as may be to the usual rates for the same instruction in schools of like character in the State.

(Amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 302, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)

§ 17-7 Gifts, benefactions, legacies, and endowments

The School District is hereby empowered to receive any gift, benefaction, legacy, or endowment fund in fee or in trust, that may be donated, devised, given, or bestowed, for the support and use of the Graded School on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed and limited by any donor or legator not inconsistent with the laws of this State; and the Trustees of such Graded School shall be the custodians of such gifts, benefactions, legacies, or endowment funds and of the income of the same, subject to the order and direction of the District in relation to the same, unless otherwise provided by the terms of such gift, benefaction, legacy, or endowment fund.

§ 17-8 Public money

In the distribution of the public moneys for the support of schools, the school district shall be entitled to such a share thereof, as Graded School Districts shall receive by virtue of the laws of this State.

§ 17-9 Public act; effective date

This act shall be under the control of future legislation to alter or amend as the public good may require, and shall take effect whenever a majority of the legal voters resident within the limits of that part of the Town of Barton, which prior to March 31 A.D. 1892 was known and designated as School District Number Seven in the Town, present at a meeting of the voters legally notified and warned to be held at the school house in the Village of Barton Landing on the third Tuesday of March, A.D. 1895, shall vote to accept the provision of this act; the notice and warning for the meeting shall be made by one of the Selectboard members of the Town of Barton, to be held as aforesaid, giving at least ten days’ notice of the time and place of such meeting, and such notices to be posted in three or more public places in the Village, who is hereby directed to insert in the warning for the meeting an article requesting the legal voters aforesaid to vote upon the acceptance of the provisions of this act, the Selectboard member shall preside at the meeting, and if a majority present of the voters shall vote to accept the provision of this act, the Selectboard member shall then direct the voters to proceed to the election of the officers hereinbefore provided for, and such officers shall hold their respective offices for the respective terms hereinbefore provided, and the commencement and expiration of the same shall be taken to be the same as though this meeting was held on the second Tuesday of March 1895.

(Amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 72.)

Chapter 19 Underhill Incorporated School District

§ 19-1 Incorporation of district

School Districts Number 2 of Jericho and Number 3 of Underhill are hereby incorporated as a graded school district, by the name of the Underhill Graded School District, and shall have all the powers, duties, and privileges granted by law to graded school districts.

§ 19-2 Officers

The officers of the graded school district shall be the same as are or may be provided by law for other school districts in the State, and shall have the same power and perform the same duties as the same officers in other school districts, except as hereinafter limited.

§ 19-3 First election

The first election of officers of the Graded School District may be held at a special meeting duly warned by the District Clerk of District Number 2 in Jericho or of Number 3 in Underhill by both of the District Clerks, on a petition signed by seven legal voters in the Graded School District, under the laws governing the warning of special school meetings in other districts, and the officers so elected shall hold their respective offices until their successors are elected at the next annual school meeting.

§ 19-4 Annual meeting

The annual meeting of the Graded School District shall be held each year on the second Tuesday of March.

§ 19-5 Adoption of rules and bylaws; acceptance of scholars

The Prudential Committee of the Graded School District, may make such bylaws, rules, and regulations as may be deemed expedient, not inconsistent with the laws of this State, and may establish the grade for the admission of all scholars.

§ 19-6 Transfer of property

The Trustees of Bell Institute are hereby authorized, by a vote at a meeting duly warned for that purpose, to transfer by deed or lease the academy building of the institution and all the property appertaining thereto, to the Graded School District, provided the Graded School District, at a school meeting lawfully warned for that purpose, shall vote to accept the property for school purposes.

§ 19-7 Effective date

This act shall take effect from passage.

Chapter 21 Vergennes Incorporated School District

§ 21-1 Incorporation of district

The City of Vergennes as the city is bounded, is hereby incorporated as a graded school district by the name of Vergennes Graded School District and shall have all the powers, duties, and privileges granted by law to graded school districts.

Chapter 23 Winooski Incorporated School District

§ 23-1 Incorporation of district; powers

The territory now included within the City of Winooski and the inhabitants thereof are hereby incorporated and constituted a school district of the City of Winooski, by the name of the Winooski School District. Except where inconsistent with the provisions of this charter, all provisions of the statutes of the State of Vermont relating to incorporated school districts and municipalities shall apply to the Winooski School District. The Winooski School District shall have all the powers granted to incorporated school districts and municipalities by the laws of the State and this charter, together with all implied powers necessary to carry out its express powers.

§ 23-2 Trustees

Instead of the prudential committee required by law to be elected, the Winooski School District shall be governed by a Board of five Trustees, to be elected at large, and that three of the positions will hold office for a term of three years each and that two of the positions will hold office for a term of two years each, commencing on the day elected. All vacancies caused by resignation, death, or otherwise shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term, if any, at an annual or special meeting, duly warned for that purpose, but the Board of School Trustees by a majority vote of all its remaining members may appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy until the person elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term takes office. The Trustees shall have the powers and perform all the duties of a prudential committee, shall choose one of their members to be President, and shall appoint a Secretary of the Board of Trustees who shall hold office for the term of one year and until their successors are chosen and appointed.

§ 23-3 Annual District meeting

The annual District meeting shall be held on the first Tuesday of March and the immediate preceding Monday as follows:

(1) Monday: At 7:30 p.m. at a place to be selected by the Board of Trustees. The Moderator shall convene the annual District meeting with the following agenda:

(A) The District shall elect a Moderator and Clerk, the term of office to start July 1.

(B) The Board of School Trustees shall present the annual reports of the District to the assembled voters, answer any questions, and ask for approval.

(C) The District shall authorize the Board of School Trustees to allow appropriate groups and agencies to use school facilities and equipment in accordance with District policy and Vermont law.

(D) The District shall conduct an informational public session for the Board of Trustees to present the budget for the following fiscal year and answer any questions regarding the same.

(E) The District shall conduct any other business of the District which may be legally conducted, except as provided in section 7 of this charter.

(2) Tuesday: The voters shall at this continued annual District meeting, to be held on the first Tuesday in March from seven o’clock in the forenoon to seven o’clock in the afternoon and conducted at the same place and manner as the annual meeting of the City of Winooski (Appendix A):

(A) Vote a sum of money necessary for the support of the public schools as is required by law. Such sum shall include the amounts anticipated from State education aid and other sources of revenue. The Board of School Trustees shall determine how the voted funds shall be expended.

(B) Elect Trustees as set forth in section 2 of this charter.

(C) Conduct any other business of the District which may legally be conducted as set forth in section 6 of this charter.

(D) Elect a School District Treasurer for a term of three years, the term of office to start July 1, whose duties, authority, and responsibilities shall be those established by law.

(Amended 2013, No. M-10 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Feb. 12, 2014.)

§ 23-4 Nominations for Trustee

Nominations for the office of Trustee shall be made by petitions to be filed with the Clerk of the City of Winooski and shall meet the requirements of section 7 of the charter of the City of Winooski (Appendix B) as now and hereinafter amended, and voting shall be upon a separate ballot. The City of Winooski voter checklist shall be used (Appendix C).

§ 23-5 Bylaws, rules, and regulations

The School District may make such bylaws, rules, and regulations as it may deem expedient, not inconsistent with the laws of this State, and may provide for the establishment and maintenance of such number of schools and of such grade or grades and for teaching such branches of knowledge as it may deem expedient.

§ 23-6 Additional revenue sources

The Board of School Trustees is hereby authorized to apply for, accept, and expend additional funds not included in the annual budget on behalf of the District from whatever sources, except local taxation, without further action of the District.

§ 23-7 Australian ballot

All questions at any annual or special meeting, except for the acceptance of the annual report and the election of School District officers other than the Board of Trustees and the School District Treasurer, shall be voted by Australian ballot. The election of School District officers other than the Board of Trustees and the School District Treasurer, the acceptance of the annual report, and public discussion of Australian ballot issues shall be on the day preceding the Australian ballot.

§ 23-8 Abatement board

The officers of the Winooski School District, except the Collector, shall be a Board for the Abatement of District Taxes, and it shall have the same power which the Board for abatement of town taxes has in the abatement of such taxes. The Trustees of the District, on request of the Collector, shall call a meeting of such Board on or before January 15 in each year, by posting a notice thereof in three public places in such District at least five days before such meeting.

§ 23-9 Taxes assessed

The taxes assessed by the Winooski School District shall be paid to the Treasurer of the City of Winooski on the same date as the corresponding taxes of the City of Winooski are paid to the Treasurer of the City in each year; and thereafter, if unpaid, shall be turned over to the Tax Collector of the City of Winooski for collection, together with legal addition and fees.

§ 23-10 Taxes; payment

On the first day of each and every month, the Treasurer of the City shall pay to the Treasurer of the School District all monies collected by the City Treasurer and belonging to the school district by virtue of this charter, after deducting therefrom one-half of one percent of the amount to be retained and paid over to the City as compensation for the expenses of collection and which shall be in lieu of all other fees provided by law for the collection of the taxes.

§ 23-11 Voters; qualification

The qualifications of a voter in the District shall be the same as the qualifications of a voter in the City of Winooski (Appendix D).

§ 23-12 Severability

If any provisions of this charter are held invalid, the other provisions of this charter shall not be affected thereby. If the application of this charter or any of its provisions to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the application of the charter and its provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

§ 23-13 Applicability; State statutes

If any matter mentioned in this charter is said to be controlled by State statutes, the reference to the State statute shall apply to the statute as amended or renumbered, or any statute substituted therefor and having similar subject matter.

§ 23-14 Public act; effective date

This charter and its amendments shall be deemed a public act, and shall take effect from its passage.

§ 23-15 Sale of real or personal property

The Board of School Trustees may authorize the sale of real or personal estate belonging to the District in the same manner as the Winooski City Council is authorized under the provisions of section 5.12 of the Winooski City Charter (Appendix E).

§ 23-16 Professional audit

The Board of School Trustees shall annually contract for a professional audit of all District financial accounts. The audit report shall be published as part of the District’s annual report. Copies of the audit report shall be available for public inspection upon acceptance by the Board. This provision shall be in lieu of electing local officials.

§ 23-17 District Treasurer

The School District Treasurer shall:

(1) Deposit in the school account school tax levies paid over and received, as well as State education spending payments and all other State and federal public education payments.

(2) Serve as a member of the board of abatement.

(3) Keep an account and registry of monies, bonds, notes, and evidences of debt paid or delivered to or issued by the School District, and monies received and disbursed for the School District, which accounts shall be open to the inspection of persons interested.

(4) Invest and reinvest monies received on behalf of the School District with the approval of the Board of School Trustees.

(5) Keep uniform accounts.

(6) Appoint an Assistant District Treasurer and revoke any such appointment at any time, and file notice of the appointment and revocation with the School District clerk and School Board of Trustees.

(7) Keep a record showing the amount of taxes voted for the support of the School District.

(8) Pay orders drawn by the Board of School Trustees, keeping a record thereof.

(9) Settle with the person conducting the audit required under section 23-16 of this chapter 30 days prior to each annual School District meeting and at such other times as the Board of School Trustees may require.

(10) Upon retirement or resignation, immediately pay over to his or her successor all funds in his or her possession belonging to the School District, together with all official books and records.

(11) Keep in a separate bank account all monies appropriated or given for the use of the School District.

(12) Procure and maintain a personal bond in such sum as the Board of School Trustees shall determine, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the School District Treasurer’s duties.

(13) Prepare an annual report and deliver the same to the Board of School Trustees within 60 days following the close of the School District’s fiscal year.

Historical Citation

Added 2011, No. M-13 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 3, 2012.

Appendices

Editor’s note—2004. The following appendices represent sections of the Winooski City charter that were incorporated by reference in the Winooski School District charter.

Appendix A

§ 7.1. City elections

(a) Regular elections. Annually on the first Tuesday in March, a meeting of the legal voters of said City shall be held at seven o’clock in the forenoon at a place to be designated by the City Council. Notice of said meeting shall be posted in at least three public places within said City not less than 14 days nor more than 25 days prior thereto. Such notices shall be signed by the City Clerk and in case of the Clerk’s failure to do so, by the Mayor. If the annual meeting shall fail to be held for want of notice, the officers of the City may, at any time thereafter be elected at a special meeting called for that purpose. The several officers shall be elected by ballot, using the Australian system, and the ballot boxes shall remain open until seven o’clock in the afternoon for all offices and on all other questions to be voted upon, notwithstanding any State law to the contrary.

Appendix B

§ 7.2. Nominations in general

Nominations for the office of Mayor and Councilor shall be made by petitions which shall be filed with the City Clerk not less than 30 days nor more than 40 days before an annual City election or a special City election called for that purpose. The petition shall state the name of the candidate, the candidate’s residence and the office sought and shall be signed by at least 50 legal voters of said City qualified to vote at the time the petition is filed. The petitions shall contain no party designations. A person shall not sign more than one petition for each office to be filled. The City Clerk shall cause the names of the persons so nominated to be printed on a ballot in alphabetical arrangement according to surname and sample ballots shall be posted in at least three public places at least ten days before election.

Appendix C

§ 7.1. City elections

(d) Checklist. Preceding each annual or special meeting of said City the City Council shall, at least 15 days before the annual or special City meeting, prepare and correct, except as herein otherwise provided, in the manner provided for the preparation and correction of checklists to be used in town meetings, and shall forthwith cause copies of such list to be posted by or under the direction of the City Clerk in two or more public places in such City and a copy to be filed in the City Clerk’s office.

Appendix D

§ 7.1. City elections

(b) Qualified voters. The qualifications of voters in the City meetings shall be the same as those prescribed by law for voters in town meetings.

Appendix E

§ 5.12. Property sales and leases

(a) The City Council may authorize the sale of real or personal estate belonging to the City when the same shall not exceed in value ten thousand dollars, or may lease the same for a term not exceeding one year and all conveyances, grants and leases of any such real estate shall be executed by the Mayor and sealed with the City seal. The voters, at a duly warned annual or special City meeting, may authorize the sale of real or personal property belonging to the City when the value exceeds ten thousand dollars except for those sales provided for in subsection (c) of this section.

(b) The City shall have the authority to purchase real estate for the purpose of development. The purchase of such property must be approved by resolution of the City Council.

(c) The City Council may authorize the sale of real estate, belonging to the City, that exceeds ten thousand dollars in value, provided that such property was acquired for development purposes and that such transfer is made to the Winooski Community Development Corporation. Such transfers shall be executed by the Mayor and sealed with the City seal.

(Added 2011, No. M-13 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 3, 2012.)

Chapter 131 Town of Danville School District

§ 131-101 Annual and special meetings

All annual and special meetings of the Danville School District shall be called and warned in the manner provided by the laws of the State. All voting on the school budget at all annual and special meetings shall be by Australian ballot.