permitting towns to unilaterally withdraw from a cooperative school district.
HB 1644 allows any single town within a cooperative school district to initiate withdrawal from the district without needing approval from the entire district. Previously, a 3/5 supermajority vote of all district voters could block a town's withdrawal; this bill removes that requirement. The process now begins when a town's voters approve withdrawal by a 3/5 majority at a town meeting, after which the state board reviews the withdrawal plan. This change directly affects towns in cooperative school districts by giving them unilateral authority to leave the arrangement.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Dec 10, 2025
Last action Mar 11, 2026
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
5
Key actions
1
Committee
1
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Report: Refer for Interim Study 03/02/2026 (Vote 15-3; CC) HC 10 P. 13
lower
Dec 10, 2025
Introduced
Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Education Policy and Administration HJ 1 P. 29
lower
1 primary · 4 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Dan McGuire
RRepublican
Co
Donald McFarlane
RRepublican
Co
Mary Murphy
RRepublican
Co
Ruth Ward
RRepublican
Co
Terry Spilsbury
RRepublican
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