An Act Relating to the Flanders Bay Community School District
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1851
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: BIERMAN

Legislative Document 
No. 1851 
H.P. 1291 
House of Representatives, January 3,2006 
An Act Relating to the Flanders Bay Community School District 
(EMERGENCY) 
Approved for introduction by a majority ofthe Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 28,2005. Referred to the Committee on 
Education and Cultural Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to 
Joint Rule 401. 
Presented by Representative BIERMAN of Sorrento. 
Printed on recycled paper 
7il~ 
/J1.11l~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
I 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts of the Legislature do not become effective 
until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, the Flanders Bay Community School District is composed of the towns of 
Franklin, Gouldsboro, Sorrento, Sullivan, Steuben and Winter Harbor and provides 
education for the pupils from those towns in grades 9 to 12; and 
Whereas, the governing body of the Flanders Bay Community School District was 
denominated the "Board of Trustees" of the district when the district was formed in 1950; 
and 
Whereas, the Commissioner of Education approved a reapportionment plan for the 
governing body of the Flanders Bay Community School District in 1994 that 
II 
denominated the governing body of the district as the "Board of Directors"; and 
Whereas, in recent years the governing body of the district has been denominated 
the "District School Committee" in the official records of the district; and 
Whereas, the original votes in the member municipalities that created the district 
IS 
included limitations on the authority of the district to own property and to incur 
indebtedness that are inconsistent with the general laws of the State governing 
community school districts; and 
Whereas, these facts have created uncertainty as to the legal existence of the 
governing body of the Flanders Bay Community School District, its authority and the 
validity of its past actions; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 
Flanders Bay Community School District. 
The Flanders Bay 
Community School District is hereby validated and approved as a legally constituted 
community school district within the meaning of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, 
chapter 105, responsible for operating grades 9 to 12 for the towns of Franklin, 
Gouldsboro, Sorrento, Sullivan, Steuben and Winter Harbor. 
Sec. 2. District school committee. The governing body of the Flanders Bay 
Community School District is called the district school committee and shall perform the 
duties of both the district school committee and the district board of trustees under the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 105. The members of the district school 
committee on the effective date of this Act as appointed by the school committees of the 
district's member towns continue to serve on the district school committee until their 
terms expire or until a vacancy is otherwise created. 
Sec. 3. District authority. The Flanders Bay Community School District and the 
district school committee's authority to hold and acquire property, to borrow money and 
to issue bonds and notes are governed by laws applicable to community school districts 
and are not subject to any limitations adopted or established by the district prior to 
January 1,1965. 
Sec. 4. District's costs. The Flanders Bay Community School District's costs 
must be shared in accordance with the applicable provisions of state law, except that all 
costs that are subject to local cost-sharing formulas under state law are shared on the 
basis of the average of the 2 pupil counts for April I st and October 1 st of the most recent 
calendar year prior to the fiscal year at issue. This cost-sharing formula may be changed 
in accordance with law. 
Sec. 5. Actions; obligations. All actions and obligations of the Flanders Bay 
Community School District and its governing body, including contracts, notes, bonds and 
II 
other legal obligations of the district, entered into prior to the effective date of this Act 
are validated and approved. 
Sec. 6. P&SL 1951, c. 203, as amended by P&SL 1967, c. 55, is repealed. 
Sec. 7. P&SL 1965,c. 82 is repealed. 
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble. this Act takes 
effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill removes existing uncertainties with respect to the name and legal authority 
of the governing body of the Flanders Bay Community School District. The bill clarifies 
the authority of the district school committee of the Flanders Bay Community School 
District to act as the governing body of the district, it provides that the district is governed 
by the laws of the State applicable to community school districts and it validates and 
approves all prior actions and obligations of the district and its governing body.