2012 Rhode Island General Laws
Title 16 - Education
Chapter 16-60 - Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education
Chapter 16-60-2 - Appointment of board members.

§ 16-60-2 Appointment of board members. – (a) The governor shall with the advice and consent of the senate establish the board by appointing eight (8) members to serve staggered terms. The appointments shall be made for terms of three (3) years commencing on February 1 in the year of appointment and ending on January 31 in the third (3rd) year after this, except, at the expiration of their terms members shall remain and continue in their official capacity until a new member is appointed and confirmed. Any vacancy among the public members of the board shall be filled by appointment of the governor for the remainder of the unexpired term. In the selection and appointment of members of the board the governor shall seek persons who best serve the entire needs of the state. Public members shall not be appointed for more than three (3) successive three (3) year terms each; provided, that this limitation shall not apply to that person designated as chairperson by the governor who may be a member so long as he or she shall serve as chairperson.

(b) No person shall be eligible for appointment to the board after the effective date of this act [March 24, 2006] unless he or she is a resident of this state.

(c) Members of the board shall be removable by the governor pursuant to the provisions of § 36-1-7 of the general laws and for cause only, and removal solely for partisan or personal reasons unrelated to capacity or fitness for the office shall be unlawful.

(d) There is hereby established a student advisory council to the board of regents, consisting of one elected high school student representative from each public secondary school in the state of Rhode Island.

(1) Each public secondary school shall hold elections for its representative to the student advisory council no earlier than the first (1st) day of March and no later than the end of the second (2nd) full week of April. Each school shall elect only one representative. Elected members shall be notified of their election on or before the Friday of the third (3rd) week of April of the year of their election. No person shall be eligible to be elected to the student advisory council unless at the time of his or her election he or she is enrolled as a student in a secondary school between the grades of nine (9) and eleven (11) within the state of Rhode Island. No person shall be allowed to vote if they are not currently enrolled in a Rhode Island public secondary school between the grades of nine (9) and eleven (11). If at any time during his or her term of office a member of the student advisory council ceases to be so enrolled, his or her membership shall be terminated and his or her position shall be deemed vacant. This vacancy shall be filled by the public secondary school within thirty (30) school days of the opening of the vacancy.

(2) The student advisory council will serve from the first (1st) day of May of the year it is elected until the last day of April of the following year. A student may serve no more than three (3) terms.

(3) Said student advisory council shall meet from time to time and shall consider such matters as it deems appropriate.

(4) Prior to the first (1st) day of June of each annual session the student advisory council shall adopt a set of bylaws.

(5) Members of the council shall not be compensated for service in attending meetings except that they shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in travelling to and from meetings.

(6) The members of said student advisory council shall, by majority vote prior to the first (1st) day of June in each year, elect from their members a chairperson who shall serve for a term of one year beginning on the first (1st) day of June. Said chairperson shall serve as an ex officio and nonvoting member of the board of regents for a term of one year, unless the student advisory council removes said chairperson from his or her position in a manner described within the bylaws of that council and/or if he or she is otherwise removed by the governor.

History of Section.
(P.L. 1981, ch. 32, § 3; P.L. 1986, ch. 227, § 2; P.L. 1988, ch. 533, § 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 86, § 55; P.L. 2006, ch. 8, § 2; P.L. 2006, ch. 28, § 2; P.L. 2012, ch. 291, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 341, § 1.)