AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE ESSEX NORTH SHORE AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL SCHOOL.
Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to make forthwith technical changes to the Essex agricultural and technical high school, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
SECTION 1. The second paragraph of section 3 of chapter 463 of the acts of 2004 is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- The North Shore vocational regional school and the Essex agricultural and technical high school shall be dissolved and cease to exist on the July 1 preceding the opening of the Essex North Shore agricultural and technical school. The temporary oversight board, shall be dissolved and cease to exist upon convening of the new school committee as established under section 7.
SECTION 2. Said chapter 463 is hereby further amended by striking out section 4 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 4. A city or town which is a member of the North Shore Vocational Regional School District, or the city of Peabody may elect to become a member municipality of the district by vote of the city council or town meeting taken before July 1, 2010. A certified copy of the vote shall be sent by the city or town clerk to the commissioner. Upon the election by cities and towns representing at least 75 per cent of the October 1, 2004, foundation enrollment of the North Shore Vocational Regional School District, the commissioner shall certify the local adoption of this chapter to the secretary of the commonwealth. Additional elections may be made by any city or town subsequent to the date of certification, but before July 1, 2010. On or after July 1, 2010, the admission of additional member municipalities shall be governed by the district’s by-laws.
SECTION 3. The second paragraph of section 7 of said chapter 463 is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Upon certification of the vote the commissioner or his designee shall fix the time and location of the initial meeting of the school committee as soon as practicable and shall preside at the meeting until the election of a chairperson.
SECTION 4. The first paragraph of section 14 of said chapter 463 is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Employees of the Essex agricultural and technical high school, employees of the North Shore Vocational Regional School District and all displaced employees of Peabody school district who shall become employees of the Essex North Shore agricultural and technical school as a result of the merger shall suffer no impairment of employment rights held immediately before that date.
SECTION 5. Section 15 of said chapter 463 is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence, as amended by section 13 of chapter 304 of the acts of 2008, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Any remaining proceeds shall be used to reduce the incurred indebtedness of members of the Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District as established under section 4.
SECTION 6. Said chapter 463 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 17 the following section:-
Section 17A. (a) Notwithstanding section 7 of chapter 268A of the General Laws, a special state employee who is providing professional services to the Massachusetts School Building Authority may have, directly or indirectly, a financial interest in a contract made by the temporary oversight board established by section 3, the district established by section 6, the school committee established by section 7, a member municipality as defined in section 1 or the governing entities in place for the North Shore vocational regional school and the Essex agricultural and technical high school, which is funded in whole or part by a school building assistance grant made by the authority relative to the Essex North Shore agricultural and technical school; provided, however, that the special state employee discloses the relevant facts and nature of the financial interest to the executive director of the authority and receives the written approval of the executive director of the authority and the disclosure and approval are filed with the state ethics commission.
(b) Notwithstanding section 5 of said chapter 268A, a former special state employee who has provided professional services to the authority in connection with the Essex North Shore agricultural and technical school may act as agent or attorney for or accept compensation from the temporary oversight board, district, school committee, member municipality or the governing entities in place for the North Shore vocational regional school and the Essex agricultural and technical high school, under a contract for professional services assigned by the authority to the entity for the provision of services relative to the Essex North Shore agricultural and technical school.
(c) Upon the termination of the temporary oversight board, the authority, at its sole discretion, may assume any of the board’s contracts for professional consulting services in relation to the Essex North Shore agricultural and technical school, subject to additional terms and conditions as it may deem appropriate, or it may enter new contracts for substantially the same scope of services as set forth in the contracts of the board. Notwithstanding section 18 of said chapter 268A, an individual who has provided professional consulting services to the temporary oversight board may act as agent for or accept compensation from the authority in connection with the Essex North Shore agricultural and technical school. An individual who provides services to the authority shall be exempt from section 7 of said chapter 268A to the extent and under the conditions provided in subsection (a).
SECTION 7. Said chapter 463 is hereby further amended by striking out section 18 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 18. Sections 1, 12 and 14 shall take effect on July 1 preceding the opening of the Essex North Shore agricultural and technical school. Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16 and 17 shall take effect following certification by the commissioner of education of the votes required by section 4. This certification by the commissioner shall occur not later than July 1, 2010.
SECTION 8. Notwithstanding section 7 of chapter 268A of the General Laws, a special state employee who is providing professional services to the Massachusetts School Building Authority in connection with projects for the repair or replacement of school building roofs, windows or boilers, including ancillary work, which are approved as part of the Massachusetts school building authority’s qualified school construction bonds repair program, as authorized by section 137 of chapter 27 of the acts of 2009, may have, directly or indirectly, a financial interest in a contract funded in whole or part by the authority under said chapter 70B of the General Laws; provided, however, that the special state employee discloses the relevant facts and nature of the financial interest to the executive director of the authority and receives the written approval of the executive director and the disclosure and approval are filed with the state ethics commission.
Approved, June 29, 2010.