AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- MAYORAL ACADEMIES (Provides that only a mayor or town administrator could be a voting member of the board of directors or trustees for a mayoral academy.)

S2783

2026 -- S 2783
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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A N A C T
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- MAYORAL ACADEMIES

Introduced By:
Senators Pearson, Gallo, Murray, and Zurier

Date Introduced:
March 04, 2026

Referred To:
Senate Education
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
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SECTION 1. Section 16-77.4-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-77.4 entitled "Mayoral
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Academies [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby
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amended to read as follows:
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16-77.4-1. Entities eligible to apply to become, or for the expansion of, a mayoral
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academy.
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(a) A “mayoral academy” means a charter school created by a mayor of any city or town
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within the State of Rhode Island, acting by, or through, a nonprofit organization established for
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said purpose (regardless of the time said nonprofit organization is in existence), that enrolls students
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from more than one city or town, including both urban and non-urban communities, and that offers
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an equal number of enrollments to students on a lottery basis; provided, further, that such mayoral
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academies shall have a board of trustees or directors that is comprised of representatives from each
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included city or town and is chaired by a mayor of an included city or town.
Provided further, that
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the only voting members of the board of trustees or directors of a mayoral academy shall be the
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mayor or, if there is no mayor, the town administrator, from each included city or town. The boards
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of trustees or directors may have other nonvoting members, from each included city or town, who
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shall serve in an advisory capacity.
The mayor from each city or town, or in the absence of a mayor,
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the city or town council via a resolution or ordinance, shall approve the participation in the mayoral
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academy’s catchment area for a proposed charter or an amendment to a charter for expansion. For
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purposes of this chapter, the term “mayor” shall include any elected town administrator.

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(b) No child shall be required to attend a mayoral academy, nor shall any teacher be
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required to teach in a mayoral academy. The school committee of the district in which a mayoral
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academy is located shall make accommodations to facilitate the transfer of students who do not
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wish to participate in a mayoral academy into other public schools. It shall also make
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accommodations for those students who wish to transfer into the mayoral academy as space
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permits. If the total number of students who are eligible to attend and apply to a mayoral academy
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is greater than the number of spaces available, the mayoral academy shall conduct a lottery to
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determine which students shall be admitted.
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SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- MAYORAL ACADEMIES
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This act would provide that only a mayor or town administrator could be a voting member
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of the board of directors or trustees for a mayoral academy. The act would also authorize other
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nonvoting members on the board of directors and trustees, from each included city or town that the
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mayoral academy serves.
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This act would take effect upon passage.
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