An Act To Allow a Municipality To Withdraw from a Regional School Unit
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1732
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: MILLER
Amends: 20-A MRSA §1467, 20-A MRSA §1468

124th MAINE LEGISLATURE· 
Legislative Document 
No. 1732 
H.P.1230 
House 
Representatives, January 11, 2010 
An Act To Allow a Municipality To Withdraw from a Regional 
School Unit 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Jqint Rule 
203. 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative MILLER of Somerville. 
Cosponsored· by Senator ROSEN of Hancock and 
'77/~ 
/J1.7J?0/;~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
. Representatives: CAIN of Orono, CONNOR of Kelmebunk, MacDONALD of Boothbay, 
MILLETT of Waterford, NUTTING of Oakland, SCHATZ of Blue Hill, Senator: RAYE of 
.. Washington. 
Printed on recycled pilper 
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 20-A MRS A §1466 is enacted to read: 
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§1466. Withdrawal of asingle municipality from a regional-school unit 
1. '. Petition. The residents of a municipality that has been a member of a regional 
school unit for at least 3 years may petition to withdraw from the regional schooltmit in 
accordance with this subsection. 
. 
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A.' Ten percent of the number of voters in the municipality who voted at the last 
gubernatorial election must sign the petition' to withdraw from the regional school. 
unit. 
B. At least 10 days before the special election called pursuant to this paragraph, the 
- municipal officers of the municipality· within the' regional school unit shall hold a 
posted or otherwise advertised public hearing on the petition. The municipal officers 
shall call and hold a special election in the manner provided for' the calling and 
holding of town meetings· or, city elections to vote on the withdrawal ftom the 
regional school unit. 
C. The petition to withdraw fi~om the regional school unit must be approved by secret 
ballot by a majority vote of the voters present and voting before it may be presented 
to the regional school unit board and the commissioner. Voting in towns must be 
conducted· in accordance with Title 30-A, sections 2528 and 2529, even if the towns 
have not accepted the provisions of Title 30-A, section 252.8, and voting in cities 
must be conducted in accordance with Title 21-A. 
2. Form. The article to be voted upon must be in substantially the following form: 
"Article: 
Do you favor filing a petition for withdrawal with the board of 
directors of regional school unit (name of regional school unit) and with the 
Commissioner of Education, authorizing the withdrawal committee to expend $ 
(insert amount) and authorizing the (municipal officers; i.e., selectpersons, town 
council,. etc.) to issue notes in the name of the. (name of the municipality) or 
otherwise pledge the credit of the (name of the municipality) in an amount not to 
exceed $ (insert amount) for this purpose? 
Yes No" 
3.' Notice of vote. If residents of the municipality vote favorably on a' petition for 
withdrawal, the clerk shall immediately give wfitten notices, by registered mail, to the 
secretary of the regional school unit and the commissioner that must include: . 
A. The petition adopted by the voters, including the affirmative and negative votes 
cast; and' 
B. An explanation by the municipal officers, stating to the best of their knowledge 
the reason or reasons why the municipality seeks to withdraw from the regional 
school unit. 
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4. Agreement for withdrawal; notice; changes in agreement; final agreement. 
The agreement for withdrawal must comply with this subsection. 
A. 
The commissioner shall direct the municipal officers of the petitioning 
municipality to select representatives to a withdrawal committee as follows: 
one 
member from the municipal officers, one member from the general public and one 
member from the group filing the petition. The commissioner shall also direct the 
directors of the regional school unit board representing the petitioning municipality to 
select one member of the regional school unit 'board who represents that municipality 
to serve on the withdrawal committee. The municipal officer and the m~mber of the 
regional school unit board serve on the withdrawal committee only so long as they 
hold their respective offices. Vacancies must be filled by the municipal officers and 
the regional school unit board. The chair of the regional school unit board shall call a 
meeting of the withdrawal committee within 30 days of the filing of the notice of the 
vote in subsection 3. The chair of the regional school unit board shall open the 
meeting by presiding over the election of a chair of the withdrawal committee. The 
responsibility for the preparation of the agreement rests with the withdrawal 
committee, subject to the approval of the commissioner. The withdrawal committee 
may draw upon the resources of the department for information not readily available 
at the local level and employ competent advisors within the fiscal limit authorized by 
the voters. The agreement must be submitted t6 the commissioner within 90 days 
after the withdrawal committee is formed: Extensions of time may be granted by the 
commissioner upon the request of the withdrawal committee. 
(1) The agreement must contain provisions to provide educational services for all 
"students of the petitioning municipality within the regional 'school unit. The 
agreement must provide that during the first year following the withdrawal, 
students may attend the school they would have attended if the petitioning 
municipality had not withdrawn. The allowable tuition rate for students sent, 
from one municipality to another in the former regional school unit must be 
determined under section 5805, subsection 1, except that it is not subject to the 
state per pupil average limitation in section 5805, subsection 2. 
(2) The agreement must establish the withdrawal to take effect at the end ofthe' 
regional school unit's ii'scal year. 
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(3) The agreement must establish that the withdrawal will not cause a need 
within 5 years from the effective date of withdrawal for .school construction 
projects that would be eligible for state funds. This limitation does not apply 
when a need for school construction existed prior to the effective date of the 
withdrawal or when a need for school construction would have arisen everi if the I 
municipality had not withdrawn: 
(4) The agreement must establish how transportationserviceswill be provided. 
(5) The agreement must provide foradministrat'ion of the new administrative 
unit, which should not inClude the creation of new supervisory un'its if at all 
possible. 
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(6) 
The agreement must make provIsIon for the distribution of financial 
commitments arising from outstanding bonds, notes and any other contractual 
obligation's that extend beyond the proposed date of withdrawal. 
(7) 
The agreement must provide appropriately. for the· distribution of any 
outstanding financial commitments to the superintendent of the regional school 
unit. 
. 
(8) 
The agreement must provide for the continuation and' assignment of 
collective bargaining agreements as they applYto the new or reorganized regional 
school unit for the duration of those agreements and must provide for the 
continuation of representational rights. 
(9) The agreement· must provide for the continuation of continuing contract 
rights under section 13201. 
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(10) The agreerrient must provide for the disposition of all real and personal 
property and other monetary assets. 
(] 1) . The agreement must provide for the transition of administration and 
governance of the schools to properly elected goVerning bodies of the newly 
created administrative 'unit and must provide that the ,governing body may not be 
elected simultaneously with the vote on the aI1icie to' withdraw unless the 
commissione'r finds there are extenuating circumstances that necessitate 
simultaneous elections. 
! B. Within 60 days of the ,receipt of the agreement, the commissioner shall either give 
it conditional approval or recommend changes. The changes must be based upon the 
standards set forth in paragraph A and the commissioner's findings of whether the 
contents of the agreement will provide for appropriate educational and related, 
services to the students of the petitioning municipality and for the orderly transition 
of assets, governance and other matters related to the petitioning municipality and the 
regional school unit. 
C. 
If the commissioner gives conditional approval of the' agreement, the 
commissioner shall notify the regional school unit board and the municipal officers 
by registered mail of the time and place of a public hearing at least 20 days prior to 
, the date set for the hearing to discuss the merits of the proposed agreement of 
withdrawal. The chair of the re'gional school unit board shall conduct the hearing. 
(1) The regional school unit board shall posta public notice in each municipality 
of the time and location onhe hearing at least 10 days before the hearing. 
(2) Within 30 days following the hearing under this paragraph, the withdrawal 
committee shall forward the final agreement to the commissioner. 
D. If the commissioner recommends changes to the agreement, the commissioner 
shalE 
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(1) 
Send the agreement, back to the withdrawal committee for necessary 
corrections; 
(2) Establish a maximum time within which to make the corrections; and 
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(3) Indicate. that the corrected agreement must be returned to the commissioner 
for conditional approval before it goes to public hearing as set forth in paragraph 
C. 
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5. Date of municipal election; notice; warrant; polling hours. The date and time 
for voting is as set foith in this subsection. 
A. 
The commissioner shall determine the date upon which the voters of the 
petitioning municipality must vote upon the agreem'ent submitted to them. 
The 
election must be held as soon as practicable, and the commissioner shall attempt to 
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set the date of the vote to coincide with a statewide election. 
B. At least 35 days before the date set in paragraph A, the commissioner shall. give 
written notice of the date by registered or certified mail to the town clerk or city clerk 
of the municipality petitioning to withdraw. 
C. The town clerk or city clerk shall immediately notify the municipal officers upon 
receipt of the notice under paragraph B,and the municipal officers shall meet and 
immediately issue a warrant for a special town meeting or city election, as the case 
may be, to be held on the date designated by the commissioner. No other date may 
be used .. 
D. In a warrant under paragraph C, the municipal officers shall direct that the polls 
are to be open at 10 a.m. and remain open until 8 p.m. 
6. Public hearing; voting procedures. The following requirements apply to the 
voting procedures. 
A. At least 10 days before the election, the municipal officers shall hold a posted or 
otherwise advertised public hearing on the withdrawal question. 
B. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the voting at the meeting held in a . 
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town must be conducted in accordance with Title 30-A, section 2528 and 2529, even 
if the town has not accepted the provisions ofTitle
i 30-A, section 2528. 
C. The voting at the meeting held in a city must be conducted in accordance with 
Title 21-A. 
7. Article. The article to be voted on must be in the following form. 
"Article:· Do you favor the withdrawal of the (name of municipality) from the 
regional school unit (name of regional· school unit) subject to the terms and 
conditions of the withdrawal agreement dated (insert date)? 
Yes No" " 
8. Ballots; posting of agreement. The withdrawal agreement need not be printed on 
the ballot. 
Copies of the agreement must be posted in the municipality 'in the same 
manner as specimen ballots are posted under Title 30-A, section 2528. 
9. Restriction on withdrawal petitions. "A municipality within a regional school 
unit may not petition for withdrawal within 2 year~ after the date of: 
. 
A. A municipal vote on a petition for withdrawal if the petition received less than 
45% of the votes cast; or 
. 
B. A municipal vote on a withdrawal agreement if the agreement received less than 
60% of the votes cast. 
10. 
Cost of advisors. 
The expense of employing competent advisors by the 
municipality petitioning to withdraw must be borne by the municipality, and the expense 
of employing competent advisors by the regional school unit must be borne· by the 
regional school unit with the municipality bearing its share according to the regional 
school unit's cost-sharing agreement. , 
. 11. Determination of vote. The tbwn clerk or city clerk shall, withiIl 24 hours of 
determination orthe result Of the vote in the municipality, certify the total number of 
votes cast in the affirmative and the total number of votes cast in the negative on the 
article to the commissioner. 
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12. Determination of results; execution of agreement. If the commissioner finds 
that a majority of the-voters voting on the article have voted in the· affirmative, the 
commissioner shall notify the municipal officers and the regional school unit board to 
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take steps for the withdrawal in accordance with the terms of the agreement for 
withdrawal. 
13. Recount; checklists and ballots; disputed ballots. This subsection applies to 
recounts, checklists, ballots and disputed ballots .. 
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A. If, within 7 days of the computation and recording bfthe results of the voting, the 
municipality requests to the commissioner in· writing a recount of the votes, the 
commissioner shall immediately cause the checklists and all the ballots cast in the 
municipality to be collected and kept at the commissioner's office so they may be 
recounted by the municipality. 
B. The town clerk or city clerk of tile municipality is authorized to deliver the 
checklists and ballots to the commissioner, notwithstanding any other provision of 
law to the contrary. 
C. The commissioner shall resolve any question with regard to disputed ballots. 
14. Execution of agreement; certified record; certificate of withdrawal. When 
the agreement for withdrawal has been put into effect by the municipality, the municipal 
officers shall notify the commissioner by certified mail that the agreement of withdrawal 
has been executed .. 
15. Indebtedness. This subsection applies to outstanding indebtedness. 
A. 
Whenever a municipality withdraws from a regional school unit having 
outstanding indebtedness, the regional school unit remains intact for the purpose of 
securing and retiring the indebtedness. The withdrawal agreement may provide for 
alternate means for retiring outstanding indebtedness. 
B. For the purposes of this subsection, "outstanding indebtedness" means bonds or 
notes for school construction projects issued by the regional school unit board 
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pursuant to the authorization established under chapter 609 or Title 20, sections 3457 . 
to 3460 or obligations to the Maine School Building Authority pursuant to any 
contract, lease or agreement made by the regional school unit board pursuant to 
approval of the contract, lease or agreement in a meeting of the regional school unit, 
but does not include any indebtedness of the municipality assumed by the regional 
school unit at the time of formation nor any contract, lease or agreement of the Maine 
School Building Authority to which by operation of law the regional 'school unit has 
become the assignee. 
16. General purpose aid. When a municipality withdraws from a regional school 
unit, the general purpose aid for the municipality must be computed in accordance with 
chapter 606-B. 
17. 
Committee recall. 
If the c'ommissioner determines that the withdrawal 
committee has failed to comply with the requirements of this section, the commissioner 
may authorize the municipal officers to appoint new representatives to the withdrawal 
committee. 
18. Transfer of property; The regional school unit board may negotiate with the 
withdrawal committee regarding an equitable division of the regional school unit's 
property between the regional school· unit and the municipality. represented by the 
withdrawal committee and transfer title of the property to the municipality following 
withdrawal. The regional school unit board shall determine that the regional school unit's 
educational program wiII not be disrupted solely because of the transfer of any given 
property before it may complete the transfer. 
19. Reorganization. A municipality that withdraws from a regional school unit 
under this section shall join the same oranother regionai school unit using the procedures 
provided in section 1465 within 2 years after withdrawing from the regional school unit. 
A municipality that does not join a regional school unit within 2 years of withdrawal is 
subject to the penalties applicable to a nonconforming school administrative unit under 
section 15696. 
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §1467 is enacted to read: 
§1467. Transfer of a municipality from one regional school unit to another 
, 
1. Petition to commissioner. Two regional school unit boards may petition the 
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commissioner by joint resolution to permit a municipality to transfer from one regional 
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school unit to the other; as long as that municipality is being transferred to a regional 
school unit contiguous to the municipality. 
2. 
Transfer agreement. The 2 regional school unit boards and the municipal 
officers of the municipality involved shall form a committee to prepare a transfer' 
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agreement within 60 days after beirig authorized by the commissioner to prepare the 
agreement. Extensions of time may be granted by the commissioner. 
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A. The committee shall consider the standards set forth in section 1466, subsection 4,' 
paragraph A in preparing the agreement.' 
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'B. The approval process for the agreement must follow the steps set forth in section 
1466, subsections 4 to 16. 
C. 
The following article must appear on the ballot when the transfer of a 
municipality is considered under paragraph B. 
"Article: Do you favor permitting the (name of municipality) to transfer 
from regional school unit (name of regional school unit) into regional 
school unit (name of regional school unit) as a participating municipality of 
that regional schoo I. unit . subject, to the terms and conditions of the 
agreement of transfer approved by the Commissioner ·of Education dated 
. (insert date)? 
Yes No" 
A copy of the agreement must be posted with each warrant that directs the citizens to 
vote upon the question. 
D. The article must be approved· by a majority of votes cast in both regional school 
units and by a majority of votes cast in the municipality to be transferred before the 
agreement may take effect. 
E. A complete certified record of the transaction involved in the transfer must be 
filed with the commissioner. The commissioner shall issue immediately a certificate 
of transfer to the secretaries of the regional school units by registered mail to be filed 
with the regional school unit boards involved and shall file a·copy of the certificate of 
transfer in the office of the Secretary of State. 
3. Outstanding indebtedness. Whenever a municipaIityis detached from a regional 
school unit having outstanding indebtedness, the municipality remains as part of the 
regional school unit from which it was detached for the purposes of paying its proper 
portion ofihe indebtedness until the indebtedness is redeemed. The municipality is not 
·part of the regional school unit from 'which it was detached for the purpose of any 
outstanding indebtedness incurred subsequent to the date of the certificate of transfer. 
For purposes of this subsection, "outstanding indebtedness" means bonds or notes for 
school construction projects issued by the regional school unit board pursuant to the 
authorization established under chapter 609 or Title 20, sections 3457 to 3460 or 
obligations to the Maine School Building Authority pursuant to. any contract, lease or 
agreement made by the regional school unit board pursuant to approval of the contract, 
lease or agreement in a meeting of the regional school unit, but does not include any 
indebtedness of the municipality assumed by the. regionaJ school unit at the time of 
fOlmation nor any contract, lease oragreerrient of the Maine School Building Authority to 
which by operation of law the regional school unit·has become the assignee, 
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §1468 is enacted to read: 
§1468. State board review of commissioner's decisions 
A regional school unit or other interested party may request that the state board 
reconsider decisions made by the commissioner under this subchapter. The ·state board. 
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has the authority to overturn decisions made by the commissioner. In exercising this 
power, the state board is limited by this subchapter. 
SUMMARY 
This bill enacts into law provisions regarding the reorganization of regional school 
units. The new provisioris are similar to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, former 
sections 1405 and 1406 and allow the withdrawal from a regional school unit of a 
municipality and the tra~sfer of a municipality out of one regional school unit and into 
. another. A municipality that wishes to withdraw from a regional school unit must have 
been a member of that regional school unit for at least 3 years and must become a 
member of a regional school· unit within 2 years of withdrawal or be subject to the 
penalties that apply to nonconforming school administrative units. The bill also includes 
provisions that formerly applied in this area of law authorizing the State Board of 
Education to review decisions of the Commissioner of Education.