RANGELEY — The School Committee signed warrants Tuesday night for a Nov. 6 referendum that calls for all newly-elected committeemen to take office on July 1.

If a town meeting elects a new committee member before that date, the current member will finish out their term.

The public is invited to a hearing on the referendum at 6 p.m. Oct. 9 at Rangeley Lakes Regional School. On the suggestion of Ginny Nuttall, the committee will invite selectmen and assessors from all the townships to the October meeting.

Special Ed Tech Nini Christiansen requested approval for an overnight camping trip sponsored by the Outing Club. The committee unanimously granted approval.

The trip is planned for Sept. 29-30 for Black Brook Cove in Oquossoc, where the club has permission to camp. Activities to be determined may include programs by a fishing guide, a game warden, or a forest ranger. The trip is a school-sponsored activity and is offered to students in grades six through 12.

A brief discussion about a possible pay raise for committee members was tabled when some members expressed reluctance to consider it in the current economic climate.

State law requires local school committee members to be paid from $10 to $25 per meeting. Many said they would be working as volunteers if the state did not require a minimum payment for meetings.

The entire school staff finished a Skype training session this week in academic and behavioral criteria in collaborative problem solving. Principal Sherry Connally has also been working with the teachers this week in setting goals, focusing on the Common Core Curriculum, asking them how they are aiming to implement the five-year shift to standards-based curriculum.

Connally also noted that the school will celebrate Peace Day on Sept. 24. It will be celebrated nationally on Sept. 21, but some of the school’s sports teams will be traveling that day.

The Finance Committee’s Steve Dudley passed out a document detailing the committee’s suggestions for restructuring the budget calendar. Implementing the 11 suggestions would have a budget concept in place by the end of October and a working model by the first of the year. The new plan is meant to avoid last-minute budget scrambling at the end of the year, and the board adopted the plan unanimously.

A second reading of policies on the use and procedures of physical restraint and seclusion prompted serious discussion. Superintendent Brian Foster said the new state law has produced head-shaking and confusion, and is a cumbersome problem for the staff.

According to the new law, staff are not allowed to touch students engaged in destruction of property; they may only be restrained if they are a danger to themselves or others, but the police may be called.

Foster said the law originated with a couple of students elsewhere in the nation who were inappropriately restrained and died as a result. The law is viewed by the public as a way to keep kids safe.

As the school must have policies that fit the law, the board voted to waive a third reading, and adopted the new policies.

Connally said her goal is to publish the policy to the parents.