The Charter Change Committee will be comprised of one town council member from each town, one school committee member to represent each town and two community members to represent each town. The committee decided that the school committee member representatives would be Greg Coutcher  for West Greenwich and Mark Rafanelli for Exeter. The school committee plans to post the information about the positions on the charter committee that need to be filled by community members.

The existence of the Charter Change Committee will be based on the outcome of the votes at Monday’s district financial meeting. Chairperson Susan DeSack said the meeting will determine what the committee has to do with the  sports programs, clubs, and additional cuts.

The committee is expecting a large turnout Monday, where voters will determine how much funding the regional school district will receive for the 2009-10 school year.

The committee will present its $29.4 million proposed budget and two proposed amendments that seek to reduce that budget, one by $640,000 and a second by $400,000.

The public will not vote on the committee’s proposal for a one-year amendment to the school distric charter on Monday. That proposal will be presented separately to Exeter and West Greenwich voters at their respective financial town meetings in June.

The main meeting area for citizens will be in the auditorium and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. There will be cameras broadcasting the meeting on screens in multiple rooms throughout the school should it be needed. Through these cameras and screen, citizen will be able to address the committee no matter which room they are in; there will be communication from room to room.   

 
The Girl Scouts will also be at themeeting to provide free childcare for parents who wish to come and vote, but have no one to stay with their child(ren). The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Those who wish to be in the auditorium are encouraged to arrive early.

The committee also discussed a new policy regarding kindergarten and first grade enrollment age requirements. A motion was made to adopt the language as such: A child must be 5-years old as of Sept. 1 of the school year in order to be enrolled in the kindergarten program. A child must be 6-years old as of Sept. 1 of the school year to be enrolled in the first grade program, or by Sept. 30 should the child be switching into the school from another school district.

The committee noted that for the 2009-10 school year, those parents who have already planned for their children to enroll in kindergarten and first grade who do not fit the age requirement will be grandfathered into the new policy. These kids have to be 5-years old by Dec. 31 to enroll in kindergarten and 6-years old by Dec. 31 to enroll in the first grade.