The School Committee shall consist of seven members elected
at large to serve a term of four years and until each one's successor
is elected and qualified. Members shall be elected in staggered fashion
and no member shall serve more than two consecutive terms.
Members of the School Committee shall be qualified electors
of the Town and shall hold no paid public employment in the service
of the Town. Any person serving as a member of the Rhode Island General
Assembly shall not be permitted to serve as a School Committee member.
No member of the School Committee shall hold or be appointed to any
paid public office of the Town during his current term of office.
If a School Committeeman shall cease to possess any of these qualifications
or shall be convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, his office
shall immediately become vacant.
Any vacancy in the membership of the School Committee shall
be filled by a majority of the whole number of members of the Council
until the next regular Town election when the office shall be filled
for the unexpired term thereof.
No member of the School Committee shall vote on any proposition
through which the member, or an immediate family member, could personally benefit, directly or indirectly.
The School Committee shall determine and control all policies
affecting the administration, maintenance and operation of the public
schools and shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties
as prescribed by the laws of the State.
The School Committee shall determine its own rules and order
of business and the time of its meetings.
The School Committee shall submit its proposed budget in the
prescribed format and with line item details as required by the Board
of Finance to the Municipal Finance Officer on or before the first
Monday of March of each year. The proposed budget shall include line
item comparisons to the prior year's actual and budgeted amounts
as well as actual amounts for the two years prior to the previous
year. The allocations of the amounts appropriated shall be determined
by the School Committee and be prepared consistent with a Uniform
Chart of Accounts ("UCOA") as promulgated by the Rhode Island Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education ("RIDE").