§ 713. Certification of votes; designation of district as union school district; recording by Secretary of State
(a) Within 45 days after the vote or 15 days after a vote to reconsider the original vote under 17 V.S.A. § 2661, whichever is later, the clerk of each school district voting on the proposal to form a union school district shall certify the results of that vote to the Secretary of Education. The clerk shall submit the certification regardless of whether the district voters approved the proposed formation of a union school district.
(b) If the voters voting in each school district identified as “necessary” to formation of the proposed union school district vote to form the district, then the “necessary” school districts constitute a union school district, together with any school district designated as “advisable” that votes to form the proposed union school district.
(c) If the voters approve formation of a union school district pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, then upon receiving the certification of each clerk pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, but not sooner than 30 days after the initial vote, the Secretary shall designate the newly formed district as a union school district. The Secretary shall certify that designation and send the certification together with the clerks’ certifications to the Secretary of State, who shall record the certification.
(d) When the Secretary of State records the certification of the Secretary of Education, the union school district shall be a body politic and corporate with the powers incident to a municipal corporation, shall be known by the name or number given in the recorded certification, by that name or number may sue and be sued, and may hold and convey real and personal property for the use of the union school district. The recorded certification shall be notice to all parties of the formation of the union school district with all the powers incident to such a district as provided in this title.
(e) The Secretary of State shall file a certified copy of the recorded certification with the clerk of each member district of a new union elementary or union high school district and with the town clerk of each town within a new unified union school district. The Secretary of State shall file the certified copies not later than 14 days after the date on which the Secretary of Education certifies the existence of the union school district to the Secretary of State. Filing a certified copy with each clerk shall be prima facie evidence of full compliance with the requirements for the formation of a union school district as set forth in this subchapter. (Added 2021, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. June 7, 2022.)