TITLE XV
EDUCATION

CHAPTER 195
COOPERATIVE SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Cooperative School Districts Hereafter Formed

Section 195:18

    195:18 Procedure for Formation of Cooperative School District. –
Cooperative school districts shall be organized solely in accordance with the following procedure:
I. (a) Any school district pursuant to an article in the warrant for any annual or special meeting may vote to create a cooperative school district planning committee consisting of 3 qualified voters of whom at least one shall be a member of the school board. The members of the committee shall be elected at the meeting at which the committee is created, unless the district determines that they shall be appointed by the moderator. The members of the committee shall serve without pay for a term ending (1) at the third annual meeting of the district following the creation of the committee, if the committee is created at an annual meeting, or (2) at the first annual meeting of the district next following the expiration of 3 years from the date of the creation of the committee, if the committee is created at a special meeting, or (3) upon the final adjournment of the organization meeting of any cooperative school district of which the district becomes a part. If the term of the committee ends at an annual meeting of the district, the district may create a successor cooperative school district planning committee pursuant to the foregoing provisions. Vacancies on the committee shall be filled by the moderator for the balance of the unexpired term. The district may appropriate money to meet the expenses of the committee at the meeting at which it is created or at any subsequent district meeting notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 32 or RSA 197:3, and such expenses may include the cost of publication and distribution of reports. Cooperative school district planning committees from any 2 or more school districts may join together to form a cooperative school district planning board which shall organize by the election of a chairperson and a clerk-treasurer. The planning board may thereafter admit to membership planning committees from other school districts, but the members of a planning committee shall not be members of more than one planning board at any one time. A cooperative school district planning board shall act by a majority vote of its total membership.
(b) Any school district which votes at any annual or special district meeting to create a cooperative school district planning committee under RSA 195:18 shall elect the members of such committee as provided in RSA 195:18.
II. It shall be the duty of the cooperative school district planning board to study the advisability of establishing a cooperative school district in accordance with the standards set forth in RSA 195:2, its organization, operation and control, and the advisability of constructing, maintaining and operating a school or schools to serve the needs of such district; to estimate the construction and operating costs thereof; to investigate the methods of financing such school or schools, and any other matters pertaining to the organization and operation of a cooperative school district; and to submit a report or reports of its findings and recommendations to the several school districts.
III. A cooperative school district planning board may recommend that a cooperative school district composed of all the school districts represented by its membership or any specified combination of such school districts be established. The planning board shall prepare proposed articles of agreement for the proposed cooperative school district, which shall be signed by at least a majority of the membership of the planning board, which set forth the following:
(a) The school districts which shall be combined to form the proposed cooperative school district and the name of such cooperative school district.
(b) The number, composition, method of selection and terms of office of its cooperative school board, all in accordance with the provisions of RSA 195:19 through 23 inclusive, provided that the cooperative school board shall consist of an odd number of members not more than 15 for terms not exceeding 3 years.
(c) The grades for which the cooperative school district shall be responsible.
(d) The specific properties of pre-existing districts to be acquired by the cooperative school district and the general location of any proposed new schools to be initially established or constructed by the cooperative school district.
(e) The method of apportioning the operating expenses of the cooperative school district among the several preexisting districts and the time and manner of payment of such shares. Home education pupils who do not receive services from the cooperative school district shall not be included in the average daily membership relative to apportionment formulas.
(f) The indebtedness of any preexisting district which the cooperative school district is to assume.
(g) The method of apportioning the capital expenses of the cooperative school district among the several preexisting districts, which need not be the same as the method for apportioning operating expenses, and the time and manner of payment of such shares. Capital expenses shall include the costs of acquiring land and buildings for school purposes, including property owned by a preexisting district; the construction, furnishing and equipping of school buildings and facilities; and the payment of the principal and interest of any indebtedness which is incurred to pay for the same or which is assumed by the cooperative school district. Home education pupils who do not receive services from the cooperative school district shall not be included in the average daily membership relative to apportionment formulas.
(h) The manner in which the state aid referred to in RSA 195:15, or any other available state aid, shall be allocated, unless it is otherwise expressly provided by the law making such aid available.
(i) The method by which the articles of agreement may be amended with the approval of the board; except that no amendment may permit secession of territory. The provisions adopted under either subparagraph (e) or (g) above may be subject to review pursuant to an article for that purpose duly inserted in the warrant for a district meeting which may be held at any time after the expiration of the 5-year period measured from the date of the first annual meeting. If the apportionment formula for a cooperative school district has been duly changed, or if an article to continue the current formula has been passed at a district meeting, the basis for the apportionment of all such costs may be subject to review pursuant to an article for that purpose duly inserted in the warrant for a district meeting which may be held at any time after the expiration of the 5-year period measured from the date of the meeting at which the last change was made to the cost apportionment or the last article to continue the current formula was passed. However, such provisions may be amended at any time in order to permit the enlargement of a cooperative school district or an increase in the number of grades for which the cooperative school district shall be responsible.
(j) The date of operating responsibility of the proposed cooperative school district, and a proposed program for the assumption of operating responsibility for education by the proposed cooperative school district and any school construction; which the cooperative school district shall have the power to vary by vote as circumstances may require.
(k) For cooperative districts formed after the effective date of this subparagraph, a plan for dissolution of the cooperative school district. Issues to be considered shall include, but shall not be limited to, the process for ongoing education following dissolution, maintenance of student records, employment, ongoing liability, capital issues, and bond issues.
(l) Any other matters, not incompatible with law, which the cooperative school district planning board may consider appropriate to include in the articles of agreement.
IV. Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 195:9, the articles of agreement, or any amendment thereto, may provide for the donation, the sale or the transfer under a lease-purchase agreement of any school property owned by a pre-existing district to the cooperative school district, except that no lease-purchase agreement shall extend for a period of more than 20 years. The adoption of the articles of agreement or any such amendment shall be sufficient authorization for the appropriate school boards to carry out the transaction. Obligations incurred by the cooperative school district in connection with any lease-purchase agreement hereunder shall not be deemed indebtedness of the cooperative school district for the purposes of ascertaining its borrowing capacity.
V. Before final approval of a proposed articles of agreement by the planning board, it shall hold at least one public hearing thereon within the proposed cooperative school district and shall give such notice thereof as it may determine to be reasonable. An executed copy of the proposed articles of agreement shall be submitted by the planning board to the board, and, when the board finds that the same are in accord with the standards set forth in RSA 195:2, it shall approve the same and cause them to be submitted to the school boards of the several pre-existing districts for acceptance by the districts as provided in paragraph VI. Upon such submission, the board shall cause the approved articles of agreement to be published once in some newspaper generally circulated within the proposed cooperative school district at the expense of the state. The planning board may amend a proposed articles of agreement to conform to recommendations of the board after holding a further public hearing thereon with notice as above provided.
VI. Upon the receipt of written notice of the board's approval of the articles of agreement, the school board of each preexisting district which is to be included in the cooperative school district shall cause the articles of agreement to be filed with the clerk of such preexisting district and submitted to the voters of the district as soon as may reasonably be possible at an annual meeting or at a special meeting called for the purpose, the voting to be by ballot with the use of the checklist, after reasonable opportunity for debate in open meeting. The duty to call such meeting for such purpose may be enforced by the superior court in an equity proceeding commenced by any voter or taxpayer of such school district. The article in the warrant for each district meeting and the question on the ballot to be used at the meeting shall be in substantially the following form:
"Shall the school district accept the provisions of RSA 195 (as amended) providing for the establishment of a cooperative school district, together with the school districts of __________ and __________ etc., in accordance with the provisions of the proposed articles of agreement filed with the school district clerk?"
Yes _________ No _________
If a majority of the voters present and voting in each district shall vote in the affirmative, the clerk of each preexisting district shall forthwith send to the board a certified copy of the warrant, certificate of posting, evidence of publication if required, and minutes of the meeting in such district. If the board finds that a majority of the voters present and voting in each preexisting district meeting have voted in favor of the establishment of the cooperative school district, it shall issue its certificate to that effect. Such certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the lawful organization and formation of the cooperative school district as of the date of its issuance.
VII. If any pre-existing district fails to vote in the affirmative on the proposed articles of agreement within 90 days after its school board receives notice of approval thereof by the board, such district shall be deemed to have rejected the same. If the proposed articles of agreement fail of adoption as herein required, they may be resubmitted to all or a different combination of the several pre-existing districts either in their original form or as amended by the cooperative school district planning board, with the approval of the board, such articles if amended to be published once by the board as provided in the case of initial articles of agreement in paragraph V, and shall in such case be again acted upon by each district, as provided herein; but, prior to the approval thereof by the board for resubmission, the planning board shall hold one further hearing thereon as provided in paragraph V in the case of initial articles of agreement.
VIII. The board shall fix a time and place for a special meeting of the qualified voters within the cooperative school district for the purpose of organization and shall prepare the warrant for the meeting after consultation with the cooperative school district planning board. The warrant shall include articles for the selection of a school board and other necessary officers, the appropriation of money for the operation of the district, and any other items of business that require action at the organization meeting. The warrant shall be under the hand of the commissioner, in the name of the board, and the commissioner shall cause attested copies of same to be posted at least 14 days before the meeting in 3 public places in each pre-existing district and a copy of the same to be published at least one week before the date of the meeting in some newspaper generally circulated within the cooperative school district. The expense of posting and publishing the warrant shall be paid by the state. The agent or agents of the commissioner who post and cause publication of the warrant shall make a return thereof, which, with the warrant, shall be made a part of the district records. The organization meeting shall have the same power and authority as an annual meeting with reference to the raising or appropriating of money.
IX. The organization meeting of a cooperative school district shall be called to order by the chairperson of the cooperative school district planning board, or by the clerk-treasurer thereof, who shall serve as temporary chairperson for the first order of business which shall be the election of a moderator and of a temporary clerk, by ballot, who shall be qualified voters of the district. From and after the issuance of the certificate of formation by the board to the date of operating responsibility of the cooperative school district, such district shall have all the authority and powers of a regular school district for the purposes of incurring indebtedness, for the construction of school facilities and for such other functions as are necessary to obtain proper facilities for a complete program of education. When necessary in such interim, the school board of the cooperative school district is authorized to prepare a budget and call a special meeting of the voters of the district, which meeting shall have the same authority as an annual meeting, for the purpose of adopting the budget, making necessary appropriations, and borrowing money. Whenever the organization meeting is held on or before April 20 in any calendar year, no annual meeting need be held in such calendar year. Sums of money raised and appropriated at the organization meeting or any interim meeting prior to the first annual meeting shall be forthwith certified to the commissioner of revenue administration and the state department of education upon blanks prescribed and provided by the commissioner of revenue administration for the purpose, together with a certificate of estimated revenues, so far as known, and such other information as the commissioner of revenue administration may require. The commissioner of revenue administration shall examine such certificates and delete any appropriations which appear not made in accordance with the law, and adjust any sum which may be used as a setoff against the amount appropriated when it appears to the commissioner such adjustment is in the best public interest. The commissioner of revenue administration shall certify to the state department of education the total amount of taxes to be raised for said cooperative school district and the state department of education shall determine the proportional share of said taxes to be borne by each preexisting school district and notify the commissioner of revenue administration of its determination. Upon certification by the commissioner of revenue administration the selectmen of each town shall seasonably assess the taxes as provided by law. The selectmen shall pay over to the treasurer of the cooperative district such portion of the sums so raised as may reasonably be required according to a schedule of payments needed for the year as prepared by the treasurer and approved by the cooperative school board, but no such payment shall be greater in percentage to the total sum to be raised by one local district than that of any other local district comprising such cooperative school district.
X. The provisions of RSA 195:7 and 8 shall not apply to cooperative school districts organized under this section, but all other sections of this chapter shall apply to such districts, except as otherwise expressly provided in this section or in any articles of agreement adopted pursuant hereto.
XI. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs I-X or any other law to the contrary, no single school district that includes a city shall be prohibited from participating in a school district planning committee.

Source. 1963, 258:1. 1971, 252:6, 7. 1973, 544:8. 1991, 148:1. 1996, 158:10-12; 222:11-13, 18. 1999, 17:39, 40; 281:10, 11. 2000, 59:2, eff. June 16, 2000. 2018, 255:1, eff. Aug. 11, 2018. 2021, 80:2, eff. Aug. 17, 2021. 2026, 297:6, eff. July 1, 2026.