PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Amend the Process for a Single Municipality To Withdraw from a Regional School Unit’
Amend the bill in section 1 in paragraph A in the 15th to 22nd lines (page 1, lines 18 to 25 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "If the withdrawal committee submits a proposed agreement to the directors of the regional school unit board, the directors shall respond to the withdrawal committee within 30 days of receipt of the proposed agreement. The withdrawal committee may request the commissioner to provide assistance to the withdrawal committee and the directors of the regional school unit board in any negotiations that may occur between the withdrawal committee and the directors of the regional school unit board relating to the agreement. If requested, the commissioner shall provide that assistance."
Amend the bill by adding after section 1 the following:
‘Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §1466, sub-§5, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 580, §9, is amended to read:
 
A. The commissioner shall determine the date upon which the voters of the petitioning municipality must vote upon the agreement submitted to them. The election must be held as soon as practicable, and the commissioner shall attempt to set the date of the vote to coincide with a statewide election. The commissioner shall set a date that allows determination of the vote no later than November 30th of the year prior to the intended July 1st effective operational date for the schools of the withdrawn municipality.’
 
SUMMARY
The bill requires that the directors of a regional school unit board respond to a withdrawal committee within 30 days of receipt of the committee's proposed agreement and allows the committee to request assistance in any negotiations. This amendment strikes that requirement. The amendment also provides that the referendum vote to approve withdrawal must be completed by November 30th of the year prior to the intended July 1st effective operational date for the schools of the withdrawn municipality.