NOTIFICATION OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The Smithfield School Committee must provide written notice of regularly scheduled meetings at the beginning of each calendar year. This notice shall include the dates, times, and locations of all meetings, and shall be provided to the public upon request.

A minimum of 48 hours prior to each meeting (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays), the Committee shall post a listing of each subject the Chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting (the agenda). The notice must contain a sufficient statement to apprise the public of the nature of the business to be discussed. The School Committee must also maintain a copy of this supplemental notice for at least one year and the notice must contain: (a) the date the notice was posted, (b) the date of the meeting, (c) the time of the meeting, (d) the location of the meeting, and (e) a statement specifying the nature of the business to be discussed.

Annual and supplemental notices, at a minimum, must be posted: (a) at the administration building (49 Farnum Pike, Smithfield, RI), (b) at the town hall (68 Farnum Pike, Smithfield, RI), (c) posted on the School Department website, and (d) filed electronically with the Secretary of State in accordance with procedures established by the Secretary of State.

Notification of a change in a regular meeting time, place, or agenda and notification, including agenda, of a special meeting will be filed with the town clerk at least 48 hours in advance, as required by law. If the School Committee postpones or continues a meeting, every effort must be made to reschedule the meeting so that notice may be posted at least forty-eight hours in advance. In the event of a pressing circumstance, such as inclement weather or insufficient capacity of the meeting hall, notice of these changes must be posted as soon as practicable.

The only exception for a 48 hour advance notice permitted is in case of emergency, which the law defines as "a sudden, generally unexpected occurrence or set of circumstances demanding immediate action." Such emergency meetings shall only be convened upon a vote by a majority of the Smithfield School Committee. In the event of an emergency meeting, the Committee must state in open session and must record in its open session minutes the reason the meeting is being convened with less than forty-eight (48) hours notice; and the Committee must discuss only the issue(s) that created the need for the emergency meeting.

LEGAL REFS.: R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-6.

ADOPTED: May 3, 2021