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USA Statutes : massachusetts
Title : PART I. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
Chapter : TITLE XII. EDUCATION
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Chapter 69: Section 1. Intent of title Section 1. It is hereby declared to be a paramount goal of the commonwealth to provide a public education system of sufficient quality to extend to all children including a limited English proficient student as defined in section 1 of chapter 71A, and also, including a school age child with a disability as defined in section 1 of chapter 71B the opportunity to reach their full potential and to lead lives as participants in the political and social life of the commonwealth and as contributors to its economy. It is therefore the intent of this title to ensure: (1) that each public school classroom provides the conditions for all pupils to engage fully in learning as an inherently meaningful and enjoyable activity without threats to their sense of security or self-esteem, (2) a consistent commitment of resources sufficient to provide a high quality public education to every child, (3) a deliberate process for establishing and achieving specific educational performance goals for every child, and (4) an effective mechanism for monitoring progress toward those goals and for holding educators accountable for their achievement.
Chapter 69: Section 10. Reimbursement for expenditures Section 10. Expenditures for courses maintained under sections nine and nine A, with the approval of the department, shall be reimbursable under chapter seventy.
Chapter 69: Section 10A. Education for American citizenship; director Section 10A. The department is charged with responsibility for leadership in the co-operative study and fuller use, in the public schools and teachers colleges of the commonwealth, of teaching materials and methods, student activities, and administrative and supervisory procedures directed toward more effective preparation for the duties of American citizenship. The board of education shall appoint a director to carry out the purposes of this section, and shall provide said director with such facilities and assistance as may be requisite for the discharge of his duties.
Chapter 69: Section 11. Powers and duties Section 11. The division of immigration and Americanization shall employ such methods, consistent with law, as in its judgment, will tend to bring into sympathetic and mutually helpful relations the commonwealth and its residents of foreign origin, protect immigrants from exploitation and abuse, stimulate their acquisition and mastery of English, develop their understanding of American government, institutions and ideals, and generally promote their assimilation and naturalization. For the above purposes, the division may co-operate with other officers and departments of the commonwealth and with all public agencies, federal, state or municipal. It may investigate the exploitation or abuse of immigrants and in making any investigation may require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books and documents relating to the matter under investigation. Subject to the approval of the department and of the commission on administration and finance, the division may make reasonable charges for any service rendered or material furnished by it.
Chapter 69: Section 12 to 15. Repealed, 1966, 535, Sec. 5 Chapter 69: Section 16. Repealed, 1952, 345 Chapter 69: Section 17. Repealed, 1966, 535, Sec. 5 Chapter 69: Section 18. Repealed, 1951, 673, Sec. 4 Chapter 69: Section 19 to 19B. Repealed, 1966, 535, Sec. 5 Chapter 69: Section 1A. Department of education; commissioner; duties Section 1A. There shall be a department of education, hereinafter called the department, which shall be under the supervision and management of a commissioner of education, hereinafter called the commissioner. Said commissioner shall be appointed pursuant to section one of chapter fifteen and shall devote full time to the duties of the office.
The commissioner, with the approval of the board of education, hereinafter called the board, shall establish such bureaus and other offices and employ such staff and consultants as may be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the department. There shall be within the department an office of language acquisition to assist the commissioner in overseeing and monitoring the development and implementation of English language learners programs established under chapter 71A. The office shall compile best practices relative to effective programs and techniques to assist limited English proficient students in becoming proficient in English and shall disseminate such information to school districts on an annual basis.
The commissioner shall propose a budget to the board; said budget shall reflect the goals and objectives of the board. Upon approval by the board, the commissioner shall submit the department’s budgetary proposals simultaneously to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on education, arts and humanities, and to the secretary of administration and finance.
The commissioner shall analyze the present and future goals, needs and requirements of public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical education in the commonwealth and recommend to the board comprehensive means to achieve a well-coordinated system of high achievement in public education in the commonwealth.
The commissioner shall prepare a five year master plan for public early childhood, elementary, secondary, and vocational-technical education in the commonwealth. The master plan shall include, but not be limited to, enrollment projections, utilization of existing facilities, promotion of research, programmatic excellence, community service activities and community school activities, recommendations for the construction or acquisition of new facilities, program distribution and the need for program revision, including the termination of absolute or unnecessarily duplicative programs. Said master plan along with an annual progress report shall reflect the goals and standards established by the board.
The commissioner shall receive reports, undertake research, and facilitate coordination among and between school districts.
The commissioner shall assist school districts in the development of school based management systems. Such assistance shall focus on the implementation of participatory management systems involving all school based professionals, parents, and on the secondary level, students.
The commissioner shall provide guidelines and ongoing training for school districts and charter schools in order to ensure the quality of student evaluations conducted pursuant to the provisions of section 3 of chapter 71B.
The commissioner shall monitor the implementation of independent evaluations of students with disabilities.
The commissioner shall assess the effectiveness of special education programs developed by school districts and charter schools pursuant to chapter 71B and shall supervise and monitor on an on-going basis: (i) the compliance of school districts and charter schools in adhering to the standards for evaluating students pursuant to the provisions of said chapter 71B; (ii) the compliance of school districts and charter schools in fully implementing the educational program recommendations required by individual educational plans of students with disabilities; (iii) the educational results of services provided by school districts and charter schools pursuant to the provisions of said chapter 71B; (iv) the collection and analysis of data reported by school districts and charter schools regarding educational programs offered pursuant to the provisions of said chapter 71B.
The commissioner shall collect and analyze data reported by school districts regarding educational programs offered pursuant to the provisions of chapter 71A.
The commissioner shall encourage and facilitate the adoption of regional districts to improve the delivery of a quality public education in an economical manner. The commissioner shall encourage and facilitate the use of existing, or the formation of new, educational collaboratives to foster interdistrict cost effective purchasing, management collaboration, sharing of resources and other multipurpose educational activities.
The commissioner shall facilitate partnerships of public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical schools with civic, conservation, business, cultural and labor organizations, and with institutions of higher education particularly through the development of regional teacher centers and the expansion of the Bay State centers for global education, to enhance educational programs.
The commissioner shall assess the effectiveness and monitor the improvement of the public schools in each district, including charter schools.
The commissioner shall assess current programs of alternative education and shall develop a statewide action plan to expand and improve the delivery of alternative education programs.
The commissioner shall recommend, to the board, changes necessary to the competency determination as appropriate to reflect evolving notions of vocational education.
The commissioner shall appoint independent fact-finding teams to assess the reasons for a school or school district’s under-performance under sections one J and one K, and shall assess the prospects for school district improvement. The commissioner shall also supervise the receiver of a school district declared to be chronically under-performing under said sections one J and one K, and shall provide technical assistance to a school or school district deemed under-performing or chronically under-performing pursuant to said sections one J and one K.
The commissioner shall initiate the process for selecting a list of impartial arbitrators as provided in sections thirty-eight, forty-one and forty-two of chapter seventy-one and, upon receipt of a request for review pursuant thereto, the commissioner shall provide the names of three arbitrators as provided therein.
The commissioner shall distribute to the chief executive officer in each city and town a copy of any notice or other information, including all notices given under chapter seventy, that is provided to the school committee or the superintendent of schools in such city or town, or to the school committee or superintendent of a regional school district of which such city or town is a member, if such notice or information affects the appropriation or budget of the municipality or school district.
Chapter 69: Section 1B. Board of education; duties Section 1B. The board shall establish policies relative to the education of students in public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical schools. The board shall be the state agency responsible for the administration of vocational education and the supervision of the administration thereof by local educational agencies.
For the purposes of this section the term “local educational agency” shall mean any agency which has administrative control and direction of a vocational education program funded in whole or in part by federal funds.
The board shall establish standards for certifying all teachers, principals, and administrators in public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical schools, as provided in and subject to section thirty-eight G of chapter seventy-one.
The board shall promote the implementation of participatory management systems involving school based personnel and school councils.
The board shall provide technical assistance, curriculum, materials, consultants, support services and other services to schools and school districts, to encourage programs for gifted and talented students.
The board shall publish profiles of each public elementary and secondary school and school district in the commonwealth, providing information concerning student achievement of performance goals, school spending, special programs, curriculum offerings, qualifications of teaching staff, and other information which may be pertinent to teachers, parents, students, and elected officials regarding the performance of said schools and school districts. These profiles shall be in a form readily comprehensible by the general public and shall permit meaningful comparisons among individual schools and school districts. The board also shall identify those schools and school districts that are particularly successful in improving the performance of the students whom they serve and shall undertake to analyze and publish the strategies employed by such schools and districts for the purpose of recognizing the efforts of the educators involved and of encouraging the replication, where appropriate, of their successful strategies. In producing said profiles and review of successful strategies, the board shall have access to all information gathered by the joint committee on education of the general court, which may be relevant to the production of said profiles and review. The board shall release its report annually on or before the thirtieth day of June, and shall make said report available to the public.
The board may withhold state and federal funds from school committees which fail to comply with the provisions of law relative to the operation of the public schools or any regulation of said board authorized in this section.
The board shall see to it that all school committees comply with all laws relating to the operation of the public schools and in the event of noncompliance the commissioner of education shall refer all such cases to the attorney general for appropriate action to obtain compliance.
The board shall establish the standards for the recognition of high achievement by students and school districts.
The board shall establish the process and standards for declaring a school or school district to be “under-performing” or “chronically under-performing” in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
The board shall review and approve federal grant applications for public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical schools and may develop guidelines as needed for the disbursement of such funds in accordance with law. The board shall be the approving authority for all federal educational grants and programs to be undertaken by public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical schools in the commonwealth. The board shall be the state education agency for purposes of federal law.
The board shall establish guidelines for establishing systems of personnel evaluation, including teacher performance standards. Public school districts in the commonwealth shall be encouraged to develop programs and standards which provide for a more rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process. Said guidelines shall be reviewed at least every other school year.
The board shall seek, accept, establish and administer grants, gifts, awards, and trusts for public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical education from foundations, corporations, individuals and federal agencies, and develop guidelines as needed for the disbursement of such funds in accordance with applicable law and pursuant to the terms of the grant, gift, award or trust and such guidelines shall, where appropriate, give preference to school districts and educational collaboratives, provided said school districts and educational collaboratives are developing programs to educate children with disabilities together with children without disabilities in programs located in regular education school buildings which are chronologically age-appropriate, as an incentive for the formation of inclusive educational programs.
The board shall establish the criteria to define areas with a high number of low-income children for purposes of the school breakfast program, the early childhood program and any other program focused on low-income children.
The board shall establish minimum standards for all public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical school buildings, subject to the provisions of the state building code. The board shall establish standards to ensure that every student shall attend classes in a safe environment.
The board shall, in coordination with local school districts, improve the management and efficiency of public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical schools and school districts.
The board shall encourage the collaboration between local school districts, vocational-technical school districts, and regional employment boards to prepare students for the employment needs of the region.
The board shall establish a policy to ensure that, so far as practical, school districts distribute financial resources equitably among all schools in the district.
The board shall establish maximum pupil-teacher ratios for classes in public elementary and secondary schools.
The board shall establish the permissible and mandatory ages for school attendance and shall consider the advisability of raising the minimum age for attendance in the first grade to the national average age for such attendance.
The board shall carry out its responsibilities with a view toward increasing the accountability and effectiveness of public early childhood, elementary, secondary and vocational-technical schools and school districts for the performance of the students they serve.
The board shall provide information to schools concerning the titles and sources of Braille text books and technical assistance to schools to develop Braille translation of titles not presently available. The board shall ensure, through referral by the Massachusetts commission for the blind’s children’s services specialists or other appropriate persons for investigation of any alleged violations, that schools within its jurisdiction purchase or otherwise provide written material to meet the individual education needs of blind persons, either directly or through adaptation.
The board shall adopt a model policy concerning student travel sponsored by a school that is planned to occur between the hours of midnight and 6:00 a.
m.
, or that will include an overnight stay away from a student’s home. The model policy shall address, but not be limited to, such issues as safety of transportation and accommodations, cost, including expectations for fundraising by students, time away from school, appropriateness of the trip for the grade level, and the trip approval process. The model policy shall take into account the recommendations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, including its student motorcoach travel safety guide, as well as relevant safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies and organizations. The board shall review the model policy and modify it as appropriate at least every 10 years. The board shall communicate the model policy, and any subsequent revisions of it, to each school committee for use by the school committee in adoption of the policy required by section 37N of chapter 71.
The board shall establish such other policies as it deems necessary to fulfill the purposes of this chapter and chapters fifteen, seventy, seventy-one A, seventy-one B, and seventy-four. In accordance with the provisions of chapter thirty A, the board may promulgate regulations as necessary to fulfill said purposes. Said regulations shall be promulgated so as to encourage innovation, flexibility and accountability in schools and school districts. Notwithstanding the provisions of any special or general law or executive order to the contrary, the board of education shall notify the joint committee on education, arts, and humanities of any amendments or revisions to regulations in effect on April first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six at least ninety days before the effective date of such amendments or revisions; provided, however, that if federal law should require that amendments to regulations be made in less than ninety days to ensure continued federal funding, notification to the committee shall be made as soon as possible, but failure to provide ninety days’ notice shall in no manner affect the legality or validity of said regulations.
The board shall establish an executive committee and such other committees as it may from time to time deem necessary.
Chapter 69: Section 1C. Minimum nutritional standards for school food services; regulations; breakfast programs; guidelines for reimbursement of costs; Hepatitis B immunization Section 1C. The board shall establish minimum nutritional standards for all school food services in all public early childhood, elementary, secondary, and vocational-technical schools. The board shall require all public schools to make lunches available to children. Standards and regulations of the board promulgated pursuant to this paragraph shall be adopted in the following manner. A copy of such regulations and standards shall be filed by the board with the clerk of the house of representatives and of the senate who shall refer such regulations and standards to the joint committee on education, arts and humanities of the general court for review. Within thirty days after such filing, said committee shall hold a public hearing on the regulations and standards, shall issue a report, and file a copy thereof with the board of education. The board shall adopt final regulations and standards making such revisions in the interim regulations and standards as it deems appropriate in view of such report and shall forthwith file a copy of the regulations and standards with chairpersons of said committee of the general court and not earlier than thirty days after the date of such filing, the board shall file the final regulations and standards with the state secretary and the said regulations shall thereupon take effect.
The board shall further require all public schools which draw their attendance from areas with a high number of needy children, as defined by the board, to make school breakfast programs available to children, and to operate such programs in accordance with the federal laws and regulations pertaining to school breakfast programs. Such breakfast programs shall be made available to children who do not qualify for free or reduced price breakfast under federal income eligibility guidelines at a price to each such child which is not less than the cost to the school of making such breakfast available to such child. The commonwealth shall reimburse each city or town required by this paragraph to make school breakfast programs available to children who qualify for free or reduced price meals pursuant to federal income eligibility guidelines, at a uniform rate determined pursuant to the following paragraph, which rate shall provide for the payment by the commonwealth of the reasonable costs of making breakfast available to such children, reduced by the amount of revenue received by the city or town from federal reimbursements or any other source with respect to the provision of such breakfasts. The department shall make said reimbursements in accordance with the same schedule as federal reimbursements are made to the city or town with respect to such breakfast programs.
The secretary for administration and finance shall convene a working committee made up of his own designee, a designee of the Massachusetts school committee association and a designee of the Massachusetts school business managers association, a designee of the commissioner of education and a designee of the local government advisory committee to establish guidelines for the purposes of reimbursing cities and towns for the reasonable costs associated with the implementation of school breakfast programs pursuant to the preceding paragraph. Such guidelines shall be filed by the working committee with the clerk of the house of representatives and senate only upon approval of said committee. Reimbursements of costs made pursuant to such guidelines shall constitute complete satisfaction of the obligation of the commonwealth to assume such costs pursuant to any general or special law.
The board may require that all public schools provide for immunization against Hepatitis B for any school employee who works with developmentally disabled students and requests such immunization; provided, however, that such employee is not covered for immunization against Hepatitis B by his own health insurance. The commissioner shall establish guidelines for the purpose of reimbursing cities and towns for such immunization.
Chapter 69: Section 1D. Statewide educational goals; academic standards; vocational training; grant program Section 1D. The board shall establish a set of statewide educational goals for all public elementary and secondary schools in the commonwealth.
The board shall direct the commissioner to institute a process to develop academic standards for the core subjects of mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, English, foreign languages and the arts. The standards shall cover grades kindergarten through twelve and shall clearly set forth the skills, competencies and knowledge expected to be possessed by all students at the conclusion of individual grades or clusters of grades. The standards shall be formulated so as to set high expectations of student performance and to provide clear and specific examples that embody and reflect these high expectations, and shall be constructed with due regard to the work and recommendations of national organizations, to the best of similar efforts in other states, and to the level of skills, competencies and knowledge possessed by typical students in the most educationally advanced nations. The skills, competencies and knowledge set forth in the standards shall be expressed in terms which lend themselves to objective measurement, define the performance outcomes expected of both students directly entering the workforce and of students pursuing higher education, and facilitate comparisons with students of other states and other nations.
The standards shall provide for instruction in at least the major principles of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Federalist Papers. They shall be designed to inculcate respect for the cultural, ethnic and racial diversity of the commonwealth and for the contributions made by diverse cultural, ethnic and racial groups to the life of the commonwealth. The standards may provide for instruction in the fundamentals of the history of the commonwealth as well as the history of working people and the labor movement in the United States. The standards may provide for instruction in the issues of nutrition, physical education, AIDS education, violence prevention, and drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse prevention. The board may also include the teaching of family life skills, financial management and consumer skills, and basic career exploration and employability skills. The board may also include in the standards a fundamental knowledge of technology education and computer science and keyboarding skills; the major principles of environmental science and environmental protection; and an awareness of global education and geography. The board may set standards for student community service-learning activities and programs. The board may also institute a process for drawing up additional standards in other areas of education.
Academic standards shall be designed to avoid perpetuating gender, cultural, ethnic or racial stereotypes. The academic standards shall reflect sensitivity to different learning styles and impediments to learning. The board shall develop procedures for updating, improving or refining standards, but shall ensure that the high quality of the standards is maintained. A copy of said standards shall be submitted to the joint committee on education, arts, and humanities at least sixty days prior to taking effect. The standards shall also include criteria for three determinations or certificates as follows:(i) The “competency determination” shall be based on the academic standards and curriculum frameworks for tenth graders in the areas of mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, foreign languages, and English, and shall represent a determination that a particular student has demonstrated mastery of a common core of skills, competencies and knowledge in these areas, as measured by the assessment instruments described in section one I. Satisfaction of the requirements of the competency determination shall be a condition for high school graduation. If the particular student’s assessment results for the tenth grade do not demonstrate the required level of competency, the student shall have the right to participate in the assessment program the following year or years. Students who fail to satisfy the requirements of the competency determination may be eligible to receive an educational assistance plan designed within the confines of the foundation budget to impart the skills, competencies and knowledge required to attain the required level of mastery. The parent, guardian or person acting as parent of the student shall have the opportunity to review the remedial plan with the student’s teachers. Nothing in this section shall be construed to provide a parent, guardian, person acting as a parent or student with an entitlement to contest the proposed plan or with a cause of action for educational malpractice if the student fails to obtain a competency determination.
(ii) The “certificate of mastery” shall be based upon a determination that the recipient has demonstrated mastery of a comprehensive body of skills, competencies and knowledge comparable to that possessed by accomplished graduates of high school or equivalent programs in the most advanced education systems in the world. The criteria for a certificate of mastery may incorporate a number of factors which may include, but not be limited to, any of the following: high school graduation standards, superior performance on advanced placement tests administered by the educational testing service, and demonstrated excellence in areas not reflected by the state’s assessment instruments, such as artistic or literary achievement. Eligibility for potential receipt of a certificate of mastery shall extend to all secondary students residing in the commonwealth.
(iii) The “certificate of occupational proficiency” shall be awarded to students who successfully complete a comprehensive education and training program in a particular trade or professional skill area and shall reflect a determination that the recipient has demonstrated mastery of a core of skills, competencies and knowledge comparable to that possessed by students of equivalent age entering the particular trade or profession from the most educationally advanced education systems in the world. No student may receive said certificate of occupational proficiency without also having acquired a competency determination.
Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a student from beginning a program of vocational education before achieving a determination of competency. Such vocational education may begin at grade nine, ten or eleven. No provision of law shall prohibit concurrent pursuit of a competency determination and vocational learning. There shall be no cause of action for a parent, guardian or student who fails to obtain a competency determination, a certificate of mastery or a certificate of occupational proficiency.
Subject to appropriation, the board shall establish a grant program which shall award grants to school districts for the costs associated with establishing advanced placement courses. The board shall promulgate regulations defining the standards of eligibility and other implementation guidelines.
Subject to appropriation, the board shall establish an advanced placement test fee grant program which shall award grants to school districts for the reimbursement of application fees for students based on financial need in order to assist students with paying the fee for advanced placement tests. The board shall promulgate regulations defining the standards of eligibility and other implementation guidelines for this program.
Chapter 69: Section 1E. Curriculum frameworks Section 1E. The board shall direct the commissioner to institute a process for drawing up curriculum frameworks for the core subjects covered by the academic standards provided in section one D. The curriculum frameworks shall present broad pedagogical approaches and strategies for assisting students in the development of the skills, competencies and knowledge called for by these standards. The process for drawing up and revising the frameworks shall be open and consultative, and may include but need not be limited to classroom teachers, parents, faculty of schools of education, and leading college and university figures in both subject matter disciplines and pedagogy. In drawing up curriculum frameworks, those involved shall look to curriculum frameworks, model curricula, content standards, attainment targets, courses of study and instruction materials in existence or in the process of being developed in the United States and throughout the world, and shall actively explore collaborative development efforts with other projects, including but not limited to the national New Standards Project. The curriculum frameworks shall provide sufficient detail to guide and inform processes for the education, professional development, certification and evaluation of both active and aspiring teachers. They shall provide sufficient detail to guide the promulgation of student assessment instruments. They shall be constructed to guide and assist teachers, administrators, publishers, software developers and other interested parties in the development and selection of curricula, textbooks, technology and other instructional materials, and in the design of pedagogical approaches and techniques for early childhood programs and elementary, secondary and vocational-technical schools. The board may review and recommend instructional materials which it judges to be compatible with the curriculum frameworks.
Frameworks shall be designed to avoid perpetuating gender, cultural, ethnic or racial stereotypes. The frameworks shall reflect sensitivity to different learning styles and impediments to learning. The board shall develop procedures for updating, improving or refining said curriculum frameworks. A copy of said frameworks shall be submitted to the joint committee on education, arts and humanities at least sixty days prior to taking effect.
Chapter 69: Section 1F. Vocational-technical education and school-to-work transition programs; standards; grants Section 1F. The board shall set standards for vocational-technical education and programs for school-to-work transition. The board shall give particular emphasis for setting standards for the integration of academic and vocational education and to the progress in educating students for all aspects of a chosen industry.
The board shall assess progress in the areas of integration of academic and vocational education, and education for all aspects of an industry by assessing curriculum plans, staffing patterns, and other factors the board deems pertinent to said assessment.
The board shall, subject to appropriation, establish demonstration grants to develop alternative education program models. Said grants shall be awarded to public or public/private entities in an effort to design programs for students who may be identified as having difficulty achieving a certificate of initial mastery, and which assist students in achieving said certificate or moving directly into the work force.
The board shall, subject to appropriation, establish a grant program to create job compacts for communities to coordinate summer and after school employment opportunities for students. Eligible districts shall demonstrate private sector participation in the compact which helps to provide work opportunities for students.
The board shall, with the assistance of the board of higher education and subject to appropriation, establish grants for technology preparation programs. Said grants shall be available to all public secondary schools in the commonwealth and public institutions of higher education for the purposes of improving collaboration between secondary and post-secondary technology programs.
The board shall, with the assistance of the board of higher education and subject to appropriation, establish four demonstration grants to consortia of vocational schools, comprehensive secondary schools, and community colleges to promote further collaboration between grades nine through twelve and higher education institutions.
For the purpose of this chapter, Technology Education shall mean organized education programs in the K–12 comprehensive schools which offer courses instructing all students how to use and apply technology through critical and creative thinking and problem solving. These programs shall provide all students with activities concentrated in an action-based, problem solving, solution seeking format in the areas of communication, construction, manufacturing, power, energy, transportation, and biotechnology.
Technology Education shall also mean an integrated approach to education through organized programs K–12 comprehensive schools which emphasizes career awareness, consumer knowledge, impacts and consequences of technology, and understanding of technical systems through the application of science, mathematics, language arts educational technology.
Chapter 69: Section 1G. Minimum length of school day and school year Section 1G. The board shall establish the minimum length for a school day and the minimum number of days in the school year.
Chapter 69: Section 1H. Adult basic education and literacy services system; grants; objectives Section 1H. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department, in coordination with other state agencies, shall develop a comprehensive system, subject to appropriation, for the delivery of adult basic education and literacy services that will ensure opportunities leading to universal basic adult literacy and better employment opportunities. Said system shall be designed to strengthen, enhance, and where needed, to create intensive community based literacy programs for AFDC recipients and other unemployed and marginally employed adults who need a foundation of basic skills to qualify for further education, job training and employment. These trainees shall include parents of young children who need strong basic skills to move their families out of poverty and raise the educational aspirations of their children.
Said system shall also include instruction for immigrants, migrants, and refugees who need English language and literacy skills to function effectively at home and in the workplace. Instruction to the aforesaid populations will emphasize instruction at the lowest grade levels.
Said system shall further include instruction for young persons, aged sixteen through twenty-four, who have dropped out of school without sufficient skills to qualify for employment. Instruction shall be designed with emphasis on linking education with vocational training and supported work.
The department shall distribute grants, subject to appropriation, to provide comprehensive literacy services, including support services, in the context of adults’ daily lives in their communities, including, but not limited to, public housing, schools, the work place, correctional institutions, community-based organizations, community colleges, libraries, and in social and cultural organizations.
The department shall endeavor to develop the following objectives: (1) a full continuum of services that take an adult from the lowest level of literacy or English language proficiency through high school completion leading to advanced education and training; (2) a network of self-trained, full-time adult literacy and English as a second language professional instructors, qualified to provide high quality effective services; (3) a strong documentation and evaluation capacity that will enable the state to determine what methods of instruction and what means of service delivery are most effective in educating adults; and (4) coordinated accountability mechanisms that simplify existing reporting and refunding processes.
The board of education shall grant certification to teachers of adult education who possess such qualifications as prescribed by said board. The commissioner of education shall have authority to grant, upon application, adult education certificates which shall be valid for five years to teachers of adult education who possess qualifications prescribed by said board. Each education certificate shall be renewable every five years thereafter upon successful completion of an individual professional development plan that meets standards established by said board. Said board shall establish policies and guidelines for approval for fulfilling the professional development requirement. Nothing herein shall be construed to require certification of teachers of adult education. A certificate issued by the commissioner may be revoked for cause pursuant to standards and procedures established by said board. Said board shall have the authority to promulgate, amend and rescind such rules or regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
Chapter 69: Section 1I. Performances of public school districts and individual public schools; evaluation system; assessment instruments; reports Section 1I. The board shall adopt a system for evaluating on an annual basis the performance of both public school districts and individual public schools. With respect to individual schools, the system shall include instruments designed to assess the extent to which schools and districts succeed in improving or fail to improve student performance, as defined by student acquisition of the skills, competencies and knowledge called for by the academic standards and embodied in the curriculum frameworks established by the board pursuant to sections one D and one E in the areas of mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, English, foreign languages and the arts, as well as by other gauges of student learning judged by the board to be relevant and meaningful to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and taxpayers.
The system shall be designed both to measure outcomes and results regarding student performance, and to improve the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction. In its design and application, the system shall strike a balance among considerations of accuracy, fairness, expense and administration. The system shall employ a variety of assessment instruments on either a comprehensive or statistically valid sampling basis. Such instruments shall be criterion referenced, assessing whether students are meeting the academic standards described in this chapter. As much as is practicable, especially in the case of students whose performance is difficult to assess using conventional methods, such instruments shall include consideration of work samples, projects and portfolios, and shall facilitate authentic and direct gauges of student performance. Such instruments shall provide the means to compare student performance among the various school systems and communities in the commonwealth, and between students in other states and in other nations, especially those nations which compete with the commonwealth for employment and economic opportunities. The board shall take all appropriate action to bring about and continue the commonwealth’s participation in the assessment activities of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and in the development of standards and assessments by the New Standards Program.
In addition, comprehensive diagnostic assessment of individual students shall be conducted at least in the fourth, eighth and tenth grades. Said diagnostic assessments shall identify academic achievement levels of all students in order to inform teachers, parents, administrators and the students themselves, as to individual academic performance. The board shall develop procedures for updating, improving or refining the assessment system.
The assessment instruments shall be designed to avoid gender, cultural, ethnic or racial stereotypes and shall recognize sensitivity to different learning styles and impediments to learning. The system shall take into account on a nondiscriminatory basis the cultural and language diversity of students in the commonwealth and the particular circumstances of students with special needs. Said system shall comply with federal requirements for accommodating children with special needs. All potential English proficient students from language groups in which English language learners programs established under chapter 71A are offered under chapter seventy-one A shall also be allowed opportunities for assessment of their performance in the language which best allows them to demonstrate educational achievement and mastery of academic standards and curriculum frameworks established under sections 1D and 1E. For the purposes of this section, a “potential English proficient student” shall be defined as a student who is not able to perform ordinary class work in English; provided, however, that no student shall be allowed to be tested in a language other than English for longer than three consecutive years.
The commissioner is authorized and directed to gather information, including the information specified herein and such other information as the board shall require, for the purposes of evaluating individual public schools, school districts, and the efficacy and equity of state and federal mandated programs. All information filed pursuant to this section shall be filed in the manner and form prescribed by the department.
Each school district shall maintain individual records on every student and employee. Each student record shall contain a unique and confidential identification number, basic demographic information, program and course information, and such other information as the department shall determine necessary. Said records shall conform to parameters established by the department.
For the purposes of improving the performance of school districts and individual public schools and the efficacy and equity of state and federal programs and for the purposes of reducing the amount of paperwork to relieve the administrative burden on local districts, each district shall file with the commissioner once in each 3 year period a comprehensive, 3 year district improvement plan. The plan shall be developed and submitted in a manner and form prescribed by the department of education.
The plan shall, to the extent feasible, be designed to fulfill all planning requirements of state and federal education laws, and shall include, but not be limited to: (a) an analysis of student and subgroup achievement gaps in core subjects; (b) identification of specific improvement objectives; (c) a description of the strategic initiatives the district will undertake to achieve its improvement objectives; and (d) performance benchmarks and processes for evaluating the effect of district improvement initiatives. Also the plan shall describe the professional development activities that will support each district improvement initiative and the teacher induction and mentoring activities that will be undertaken to support successful implementation of the district’s improvement efforts.
On an annual basis, not later than September 1 of each year, each district shall prepare and have available for state review an annual action plan. The district annual action plan shall enumerate the specific activities, persons responsible, and timelines for action to be taken as part of the strategic initiatives set forth in the district’s 3 year improvement plan, and shall identify the staff and financial resources allocated to support these initiatives.
Annually, the principal of each school, in consultation with the school council established pursuant to this section, shall adopt student performance goals for the schools consistent with the school performance goals established by the department of education pursuant to state and federal law and regulations and, consistent with any educational policies established for the district shall assess the needs of the school in light of those goals and formulate a school plan to advance such goals and improve student performance. The school’s plan to support improved student performance shall include, but not be limited to, the same components required for district improvement plans and shall conform to department and district specifications to ensure that such school improvement plans meet state and federal law requirements. Each school improvement plan shall be submitted to the superintendent for review and approval not later than July 1, of the year in which the plan is to be implemented according to a plan development and review schedule established by the district superintendent. Upon request of the school committee, copies of the plans shall be made available to the committee for review in order to ensure consistency with the 3-year district improvement plan and the district annual action plan; provided, however, that the superintendent shall have the final approval authority of all school improvement plans.
The 3-year comprehensive district plan, annual district action plan and annual school improvement plan shall replace any district and school plans previously required under the education reform including, but not limited to, the school improvement plans required by section 59C of chapter 71, the provisional educator program plan required by section 38G of chapter 71, the professional development plan required by section 38Q of chapter 71, the curriculum accommodation plan required by section 38Q1/2 of chapter 71, the MCAS success plan, if any, required under this section and any other report or plan called for by the General Laws or regulation, which, in the professional opinion of the commissioner, would be most effectively presented as part of the coordinated district or school plan for improving student achievement. The department shall identify any additional reports or plans called for by any general law or regulation which can be incorporated into this single filing in order to reduce paperwork and eliminate duplication.
Each school district in which more than 20 per cent of the students score below level two on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam, in this paragraph called MCAS, shall submit an MCAS success plan to the department. The plan shall describe the school district’s strategies for helping each student to master the skills, competencies and knowledge required for the competency determination described in subparagraph (i) of the fourth paragraph of section 1D. The department shall determine the elements that shall be required to be included in such plan. These elements may include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) a plan to assess each student’s strengths, weaknesses and needs; (b) a plan to use summer school, after school and other additional support to provide each child with the assistance needed; and (c) a plan for involving the parents of students as described in said subparagraph (i) of said fourth paragraph of said section 1D. The department shall examine each district’s plan and determine if it has a reasonable prospect of significantly reducing the school district’s failure rates. The department shall coordinate oversight of the MCAS success plans with existing audit and oversight functions and with the MCAS grant program.
Each school district shall file a report with the department every year by a date and in a format determined by the board. Said report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:(a) an outline of the curriculum and graduation requirements of the district;(b) pupil/teacher ratios and class size policy and practice;(c) teacher and administrator evaluation procedures;(d) statistics, policies, and procedures relative to truancy and dropouts;(e) statistics, policies, and procedures relative to expulsions and in-school and out-of-school suspensions;(f) percent of school-age children attending public schools;(g) racial composition of teaching and administrative staff;(h) enrollment and average daily attendance;(i) the annual budgets and expenditures for both the district and the individual schools in the district.
Each school district shall file a description of the following instructional procedures and programs with the department every year:(a) art and music programs;(b) technology education;(c) programs for gifted and talented students;(d) adult education programs;(e) library and media facilities;(f) condition of instructional materials including textbooks, workbooks, audio-visual materials, and laboratory materials;(g) types and condition of computers and computer software;(h) basic skills remediation programs;(i) drug, tobacco and alcohol abuse programs;(j) multi-cultural education training for students and teachers; and(k) global education.
Each school district and charter school shall file an annual report for the current school year regarding implementation of chapter 71B with the department every November 1 first in a format determined by the board. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:—(a) the number of children receiving services pursuant to said chapter 71B within each disability category as set forth in section 1 of said chapter 71B;(b) the number of children, by grade level, within each such disability category and the costs of services provided by each such category for such children receiving their education in a publicly operated day school program;(c) the number of children, by grade level, within each such disability category and the costs of services provided by each such category for such children receiving their education in a private day setting;(d) the number of children, by grade level, within each such disability category and the costs of services provided by each such category for such children receiving their education in a private residential setting;(e) the number of children who remain in the regular education program full time; the number of children who are removed from the regular classroom for up to 25 per cent of the day; the number of children who are removed from the regular classroom between 25 and 60 per cent of the day;(f) the number of children who are placed in substantially separate classrooms on a regular education school site;(g) the number of children, ages three and four, who are educated in integrated and separate classrooms; and the assignment by sex, national origin, economic status, race and religion, of children by age level to special education classes and the distribution of children residing in the district by sex, national origin, economic status, race and religion of children by age level; and(h) the number of children, by grade level, receiving special education services who have limited English proficiency.
Each school district and charter school shall furnish in a timely manner such additional information as the department shall request.
Each school district shall furnish to the department in a timely manner such additional information as the department shall request.
Each school district required to provide an English language learners program under chapter 71A shall file the following information with the department annually:(a) the type of English language learners programs provided;(b) with regard to limited English proficient students (i) the number enrolled in each type of English language learners program; (ii) the number enrolled in English as a second language who are not enrolled in another English language learners program; (iii) the results of basic skills, curriculum assessment, achievement and language proficiency testing, whether administered in English or in the native language; (iv) the absentee, suspension, expulsion, dropout and promotion rates; and (v) the number of years each limited English proficient student has been enrolled in an English language learners program;(c) the number of students each year who have enrolled in institutions of higher education and were formerly enrolled in an English language learners program;(d) the academic progress in regular education of students who have completed an English language learners program;(e) for each limited English proficient student receiving special education, the number of years in the school district prior to special education evaluation and the movement in special education programs by program placement;(f) the number of limited English proficient students enrolled in programs of occupational or vocational education;(g) the name, national origin, native language, certificates held, language proficiency, grade levels and subjects taught by each teacher of an English language learners program, bilingual aides or paraprofessionals, bilingual guidance or adjustment counselors and bilingual school psychologists;(h) the per pupil expenditures for each full time equivalent student enrolled in an English language learners program;(i) the sources and amounts of all funds expended on students enrolled in English language learners programs, broken down by local, state and federal sources, and whether any such funds expended supplanted, rather than supplemented, the local school district obligation; the participation of parents through parent advisory councils; and(j) whether there were any complaints filed with any federal or state court or administrative agency, since the program’s inception, concerning the compliance with federal or state minimum legal requirements; the disposition of such complaint and the monitoring and evaluation of any such agreement or court order relative to such complaint.
Said information shall be filed in the form of the total for the school district as well as categorized by school, grade and language.
The commissioner annually shall analyze and publish data reported by school districts under this section regarding English language learners programs and limited English proficient students. Publication shall include, but need not be limited to, availability on the department’s worldwide web site. The commissioner shall submit annually a report to the joint committee on education, arts and humanities on such data on a statewide and school district basis, including, but not limited to, by language group and type of English language learners program.
Chapter 69: Section 1J. Chronic failure by school or district to improve educational program; regulations; remedial plan; determination of school’s chronic under-performance; dismissal of principal; dismissal of teachers Section 1J. The board shall establish regulations defining when a school or school district has chronically failed to improve the educational program provided to students served by the school or district. Such regulations shall be consistent with the goals and standards adopted by the board and the basis for the determination of chronic failure shall include, but not be limited to, the evaluations performed pursuant to section one I. The regulations adopted by the board shall take into account the turnover of students in particular schools and districts.
Schools that have consistently failed to improve the academic performance of their students shall be deemed under-performing, in accordance with the board’s regulations. Upon determination that a school is under-performing, the commissioner shall immediately appoint an independent fact-finding team which shall forthwith assess the reasons for the under-performance and the prospects for improvement and report its findings to the commissioner and the district in which the school is located no later than ninety days from the date of its appointment. No more than six months after the determination that a school is under-performing, the district in which the school is located shall present to the board a remedial plan that shall set forth specific goals for improvement, specific means for attaining such goals, and a timetable, not to exceed twenty-four months, for carrying out the plan. The district shall implement said remedial plan, with such changes or amendments as the board shall direct. During the period of implementation, the commissioner shall provide to the school technical assistance for the improvement of the educational program provided to the students served therein.
If the school fails to demonstrate significant improvement as dictated by its remedial plan within twenty-four months after the approval of its remedial plan, the board may declare the school to be chronically under-performing. Upon a determination that a school is chronically under-performing, the following steps may be taken:(1) The principal of the school shall be immediately removed and shall not be assigned to the school for the following school year unless the board finds that the principal did not play a significant role in the under-performance of the school;(2) The superintendent may designate a new principal for the school. Any principal of a chronically under-performing school shall have such extraordinary powers, including the power to dismiss, in accordance with paragraph (4), any teacher or other employee assigned to the school without regard to the procedures set forth under sections forty-one and forty-two of chapter seventy-one or the provisions of any collective bargaining agreement. Such dismissed teachers shall otherwise retain such rights as may be provided under law or any applicable collective bargaining agreement, except that they shall not have the right to displace any teacher in any other school;(3) In order to recruit and retain talented personnel, the commissioner may make available funds, subject to appropriation, to permit the superintendent during the period of remediation to increase the salary of any principal or teacher assigned to the school by not more than one percent for every ten percent of the enrollment of the chronically under-performing school comprised of low-income students, as that term is used in chapter seventy;(4) If the school does not receive funding from the district at least equal to the average per pupil funding received for students of the same classification and grade level in the district, the district shall provide additional funding sufficient to bring funding for that school to such level;(5) Such other actions determined by the board of education, to be reasonably calculated to increase the number of students attending the school who satisfy the student performance standards.
A principal appointed to a chronically under-performing school may dismiss a teacher with professional teacher status for good cause, provided that the teacher has received five school days written notice of the decision to terminate. The teacher with professional teacher status may seek review of a termination decision within five school days after receiving notice of his termination by filing a petition for expedited arbitration with the commissioner. An arbitrator shall be selected according to the procedures set forth in section forty-two of chapter seventy-one. In reviewing dismissal decisions, the arbitrator shall consider the chronic under-performance of the school to the degree that such under-performance is not due to factors beyond the control of the teacher, and the arbitrator shall consider any report from the fact-finding team that evaluates the teacher’s performance. The arbitrator’s decision shall be issued within ten school days from the completion of the hearing.
Chapter 69: Section 1K. Determination of district’s chronic under-performance; designation of receiver; failure of municipality to fulfill fiscal responsibilities; petition for modification or removal of receivership or extraordinary measures Section 1K. Upon a determination by the board pursuant to regulations adopted by the board that a school district has consistently failed to improve the performance of students attending school in the district, the commissioner shall appoint an independent fact-finding team to assess the reasons for the under-performance and the prospects for improvement. Upon review of the conclusions of the fact-finding team, the board may declare the district chronically under-performing. Following such a declaration, the board shall designate a receiver for the district with all the powers of the superintendent and school committee. The receiver shall report directly to the commissioner.
If a municipality has failed to fulfill its fiscal responsibilities to education under chapter seventy, the commissioner shall recommend to the board that the district be declared chronically under-performing. The municipality’s mayor or chairman of the board of selectmen shall have the opportunity to present evidence to the board. A vote by the board that a school district is chronically under-performing for fiscal reasons shall authorize the commissioner to petition the commissioner of revenue to require an increase in funds for the school district, alleging that the amount necessary in said community for the support of public schools has not been included in the annual budget appropriations. The commissioner of revenue shall determine the amount of any deficiency pursuant to the sums required under chapter seventy, if any, and issue an order compelling the community to provide a sum of money equal to such deficiency. If the community does not provide a sum of money equal to such deficiency, the commissioner of revenue, in accordance with his powers in section twenty-three of chapter fifty-nine, shall not approve the tax rate of the community for the fiscal year until the deficiency is alleviated. This section shall not be construed to create a cause of action for educational malpractice by students or their parents, guardians or persons acting as parents.
At any time after the imposition under this section or section one J of extraordinary measures at any school or of a receiver for any district, the school committee of the affected district, acting on the recommendation of the superintendent, may petition the commissioner for a determination whether such measures or receivership should be modified or eliminated and whether the school or school district is no longer chronically under-performing. A school district may seek review by the board of any adverse determination. The determination of the board shall be subject to judicial review in accordance with the provisions of section fourteen of chapter thirty A.
Chapter 69: Section 1L. Comprehensive interdisciplinary health education and human service discretionary grant program; proposals; rejection; funds Section 1L. Subject to appropriation, the board shall establish a comprehensive interdisciplinary health education and human service discretionary grant program. Funds for this program may be appropriated from the Health Protection Fund established by section two T of chapter twenty-nine. Comprehensive interdisciplinary health education and human service programs shall include, but not be limited to, planning and coordination activities, curriculum development, in-service training components for all school staff, in-service education, instruction, school counseling services, health service delivery, promotion of knowledge of child development and appropriate care, effective parenting skills for parents and adolescents, and parent education services which will promote improved home based learning, the prevention of substance abuse, tobacco use, family violence, child abuse and neglect, teenage pregnancy and eating disorders, AIDS and suicide, and promote sound health practices including nutritional health and emotional development, improved school counseling services, early intervention services for high risk students, peer counseling and education, incentives for participation by students of both sexes, and increased coordination between schools, parents and existing community services, especially for those students most in need. As the primary educators of their children, parents shall play a substantial role in the design, development and implementation of programs and curriculum.
Instruction in health education shall include, but shall not be limited to, consumer health, ecology, community health, body structure and function safety, nutrition, fitness and body dynamics, dental health, emotional and character development, promotion of self-esteem skills, AIDS/HIV prevention education in accordance with policies or regulations of the board, and training in the administration of first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The board shall solicit proposals for comprehensive interdisciplinary health education and human service programs for students in grades kindergarten through twelve, inclusive. Applications shall include evidence of a district-wide needs assessment and planning processes, program objectives and activities, anticipated results, and evaluation plan, and proposed linkages with community health and human service agencies and existing school programs. Proposals which describe linkages with other health and human service agencies and existing programs under chapter one hundred and eighty-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighty-five which provide matching funds from local, federal and private sources shall be given priority.
Each school committee shall appoint an advisory council consisting of parents, junior and senior high school students, teachers, school counseling professionals, health and home economic educators, health professionals, school administrators, and representatives of community or regional health or social service agencies and representatives of local religious organizations.
Funds may be granted to a school district to provide for program coordinators, in-service training and program materials. It shall not be the primary focus of programs to finance various school-based clinics.
If the board rejects a proposal of a school committee under this section, then the board shall provide the respective school committee with a written explanation for rejection. The written explanation for rejection shall state the reasons for the rejection and suggest recommendations for resubmission.
Programs and services provided by this program shall supplement, not supplant, programs and services provided under chapters seventy-one A, seventy-one B, and seventy-four. At least fifty percent of said funds shall be allocated to programs serving low-income sites, as determined by the board. No more than ten percent of said funds shall be allocated for state administration of the program.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any grant funds distributed under this program shall be deposited with the treasurer of the city, town or regional school district and held in a separate account and shall be expended by the school committee without further appropriation.
The board, through the department, shall administer the discretionary grant program, provide technical assistance to school districts, including information about model programs and agency services, provide for program review and evaluation, and, in consultation with the members of the state advisory council, develop program guidelines for coordinated service delivery and shall establish standards against which programs may be judged for efficiency and effectiveness.
Chapter 69: Section 1M. Discretionary grant program Section 1M. The board shall establish a discretionary grant program for the purpose of providing planning grants to assist in the development and establishment of charter schools pursuant to section 89 of chapter 71.
Chapter 69: Section 1N. Alternative education grant program Section 1N. (a) The department of education, hereinafter referred to as the department, shall establish a grant program, subject to appropriation, to be known as the alternative education grant program for the purpose of providing grants to assist school districts and Horace Mann and commonwealth charter schools with the development and establishment of alternative education programs and services to students suspended or expelled from school. The grants shall support the development of alternative education programs which would: (1) allow school districts to coordinate efforts to establish interdistrict regional alternative education collaboratives to provide educational services to suspended or expelled students; or (2) establish a district based alternative education program for those students. The grants may also be used to encourage the use of technology in alternative education programs. The grants shall also encourage voluntary expansion of existing alternative education programs in the commonwealth, and shall be used to provide alternative education programs for students who are at risk of educational failure due to truancy, or dropping out of school. Grants may also be used to assist in developing programs that provide a range of approaches to address behavior issues, such as behavior specialists, in-school suspension rooms and crisis centers, in addition to out-of-school alternative settings.
Programs designed under the grants shall be developed at the middle and high school levels and shall afford students the opportunity to earn a high school diploma in accordance with section 1D, and to be taught to the same academic standards and curriculum frameworks established for all students in accordance with sections 1D and 1E. The programs shall make use of existing resources in school districts, educational collaboratives, community colleges, and other agencies, service providers, and organizations. Programs shall be designed as placements that, at a minimum, educate students to the same academic standards and curriculum frameworks as taught to all students, address behavioral problems, utilize small class size, address individual needs and learning styles, provide engaging instruction and a supportive environment, and, where appropriate, utilize flexible scheduling. The programs shall also provide a comprehensive array of social services to support a student’s remediation of issues that cause school failure, excessive absenteeism, truancy and school dropout. Grant recipients shall develop remediation plans for students that address both academic and behavioral issues. Grants may also be made available for in-school regular education programs that include self-improvement, behavior management and life skills training to help provide students with tools to better manage their lives and attitudes, to support programs that use family-based approaches, and to assist students and teachers during the transition of students back into regular education classrooms.
A grant awarded pursuant to this subsection, shall require that recipients undertake ongoing program evaluations that document the effectiveness of the program in helping students to achieve academically to the same academic standards and curriculum frameworks required for all students, to develop self-management skills, and to reintegrate and remain in regular education classrooms. In awarding grants, priority shall be given to programs that employ interventions that have been empirically validated.
The department shall establish guidelines governing the alternative education grant program. The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, a requirement that when a student is transferred to an alternative education program a representative of the school district shall meet with the student and the student’s parents or legal guardian to develop an agreement that specifies the responsibilities of the school, the student and the student’s parents or legal guardian. The agreement shall, at a minimum, include:(1) a remediation plan to address both academic and behavioral issues;(2) a plan for frequent evaluations and assessments of the student’s adjustment, and academic achievement and progress;(3) a requirement that the parents or legal guardian of the student attend specified meetings or conferences with teachers, or utilize such other means of communication as determined necessary to facilitate communication, to review and assist in the student’s progress;(4) a timetable for reintegrating the student into a regular education classroom;(5) the student’s and the parents’ or legal guardian’s acknowledgement that they understand and accept the responsibilities imposed by the agreement.
(b) The department shall establish a grant program, subject to appropriation, to assist school districts with the development and establishment of in-school regular education programs and services to address within the regular education school program the educational and psycho-social needs of children whose behavior interferes with learning, particularly those who are suffering from the traumatic effects of exposure to violence. As used in this subsection, students suffering from the traumatic effects of exposure to violence shall include, but not be limited to, those exposed to abuse, family or community violence, war, homelessness or any combination thereof. The grants shall support the development of school based teams with community ties that: (1) collaborate with broadly recognized experts in the fields of trauma and family and community violence and with battered women shelters; (2) provide ongoing training to inform and train teachers, administrators, and other school personnel to understand and identify the symptoms and trauma; and (3) evaluate school policy and existing school and community programs and services to determine whether and to what extent students identified as suffering from exposure to trauma can receive effective supports and interventions that can help them to succeed in their public school programs, and where necessary be referred quickly and confidentially to appropriate services.
Grants may also be awarded to assist school districts in developing comprehensive programs to help prevent violence in schools, from whatever causes, and to promote school safety. The programs shall be designed to meet the following objectives: creating a school environment where students feel safe and that prevents problems from starting; helping students to take the lead in keeping the school safe; ensuring that school personnel have the skills and resources to identify and intervene with at-risk students; equipping students and teachers with the skills needed to avoid conflict and violence; and helping schools and individuals to reconnect with the community and share resources.
The department shall develop guidelines governing the implementation of the grant program authorized by this subsection. A grant awarded pursuant to this subsection shall require that recipients undertake ongoing evaluations of the effectiveness of the program. In awarding grants, priority shall be given to programs that are based on empirically validated interventions.
The department of education, in consultation with the department of public health and the department of mental health, shall establish an advisory committee to assist in implementing the grant program and in assisting public schools in addressing the learning and behavior problems of students who manifest trauma-related symptoms or classroom behavior that interferes with learning. Members of the advisory committee shall include but not be limited to: 3 educators, 1 of whom shall serve as the chair, appointed by the commissioner of the department of education; 2 leaders in the field of trauma and its relationship to school learning and behavior appointed by the commissioner of the department of public health; 2 leaders in mental health with expertise in family and/or community violence appointed by the commissioner of mental health; 1 leader in battered women’s services appointed by the commissioner of public health; 1 leader in the area of homelessness and its impact on children appointed by commissioner of mental health; and 3 parents, 1 each appointed by the commissioner of education, the commissioner of public health, the commissioner of mental health. The advisory committee, at its discretion, may select additional members with relevant experience including but not limited to child advocates, medical doctors and representatives of juvenile and probate court.
(c) The commissioner shall evaluate annually the effectiveness of programs established under this section including the potential for replicating such programs throughout the commonwealth. The annual evaluation shall also examine whether students in alternative education programs funded under this section are being taught to the same academic standards required for all students, how much time students are spending in the programs, the racial profile of expelled or suspended students and the percentages of the students who are in special education or bilingual education. The commissioner shall also provide technical assistance to school districts seeking to replicate programs funded under this section, and shall provide training for teachers in the development of effective remediation plans for students in alternative education, and in the development of skills, techniques, and innovative strategies to assist the students. In evaluating programs funded under subsection (b), the commissioner shall consult with the department of public health, the department of mental health, and the advisory committee established pursuant to said subsection (b).
Chapter 69: Section 2. Statement of amounts spent for vocational schools; annual report Section 2. On or before the first Wednesday of January of each year the commissioner shall present to the general court a statement of amounts expended previous to September first preceding by counties, cities and towns for maintenance of approved county, local or district independent vocational schools, or in payment of claims for tuition therein, for which such counties, cities and towns should be reimbursed under chapter seventy-four. He shall make an annual report containing a printed abstract of the returns of school committees under chapter seventy-two and of the schools in charge of the department, and a detailed report of the doings of the department, together with a detailed report of all receipts and expenditures, with observations upon the condition and efficiency of the system of public education and suggestions in regard to the most practicable means of improving and extending it. The records of the doings of the department shall be open to public inspection.
Chapter 69: Section 20 to 22. Repealed, 1951, 673, Sec. 6 Chapter 69: Section 23 to 25E. Repealed, 1966, 535, Sec. 5 Chapter 69: Section 26. Repealed, 1972, 766, Sec. 8 Chapter 69: Section 26A. Repealed, 1966, 535, Sec. 5 Chapter 69: Section 27 to 29. Repealed, 1972, 766, Sec. 8 Chapter 69: Section 29A to 29E. Repealed, 1972, 766, Sec. 8 Chapter 69: Section 3. Repealed, 1993, 71, Sec. 30 Chapter 69: Section 30. Approval of organization certificate or charter amendments; periodic inspections Section 30. The state secretary, before approving a certificate of organization in connection with the proposed incorporation of a college, junior college, university or other educational institution with power to grant degrees, or articles of amendment to the charter of an existing educational institution which will give it such power, or changing its name to a name which will include the term “college”, “junior college”, or “university”, shall refer such certificate or articles to the board of higher education. Said council shall immediately make an investigation as to the applicants for incorporation of such an institution and as to the purposes thereof and any other material facts relative thereto. Said council may approve such certificate or articles for a junior college the name of which does not include the word “junior” provided the charter of such educational institution requires that such name when used on its official documents and publications be accompanied by a descriptive phrase which in the judgment of said council will effectively distinguish such institution from a senior college. In the case of a proposed amendment to the charter of an existing educational institution which will give it power to grant degrees, or change its name as aforesaid, said council shall make an investigation of the institution, its faculty, equipment, courses of study, financial organization, leadership, and other material facts relative thereto. In acting upon any such certificate or articles referred to it hereunder, said council shall give a public hearing, notice of which shall, at the expense of the applicants, be published once a week for three successive weeks in two newspapers, one of which is published in the county where the institution has or is to have its principal office or place of business, the last publication to be at least three days before the date set for the hearing. Said council after making its investigation hereunder and subject to the provisions of section thirty-one, shall make a determination approving or disapproving the certificate of organization or articles of amendment referred to it hereunder and shall forthwith report its findings to the state secretary. If said council disapproves a certificate of organization or articles of amendment referred to it under this section, it shall submit with its report a written statement setting forth in detail the reasons for its disapproval of such certificate or articles. If it appears from the report so submitted to him that said council does not approve of such certificate or articles, he shall refuse to endorse his approval thereon, otherwise he shall endorse his approval thereon unless he finds that the provisions of law relative to the organization of the corporation or the amendment to its charter have not been complied with. If such certificate or articles are not approved hereunder, the applicant or applicants may appeal to the superior court, which shall hear the case and determine whether or not the certificate or articles shall be approved. For the purpose of determining evidence of improvement and growth, the board of higher education, through its agents, shall make periodic inspections of every such educational institution within the twelve years next following its approval of the certificate of organization of such institution or its approval of the articles of amendment referred to it under this section.
Chapter 69: Section 30A. Standards for educational institutions; establishment; revocation of powers to grant degrees Section 30A. The board of higher education shall establish standards relative to faculty, equipment, courses of study, financial organization, facilities, physical plant and leadership which shall apply to any educational institution for which said council has approved the certificate of organization or an article of amendment under the provisions of section thirty.
If said board has reason to believe that any such institution does not comply with such standards it may, after a hearing, suspend or revoke the power of such institution to grant degrees. Proceedings under this section shall be deemed to be adjudicatory proceedings as defined in section one of chapter thirty A and shall be subject to the provisions of said chapter thirty A, except that (1) pending a final decision by the court the institution shall continue to have the power to grant degrees, (2) no suspension or revocation under this section shall become effective until the time for filing a petition for review has expired and (3) the council shall forthwith notify the state secretary upon any suspension or revocation under this section becoming effective.
Chapter 69: Section 31. Prerequisites to approval of organization certificate or charter amendments Section 31. Said board of higher education, in acting upon the certificate of organization in connection with the proposed incorporation of a junior college, with power to grant degrees, or in acting upon articles of amendment to the charter of any existing educational institution which will give it power to grant junior college degrees or provide for a descriptive phrase under section thirty, or changing its name to a name which will include the term “junior college”, shall not approve such certificate or articles unless—First, The institution is offering instruction on a level and to a degree of thoroughness distinctly above that of the secondary school and below that of advanced senior college specialization, and offering either (a) a two-year course of study on a collegiate level, equivalent in content, scope and thoroughness to that offered in the standard four-year colleges and universities, or (b) a two-year terminal course of study of a vocational or semi-professional training, or both.
Second, The institution is organized under the laws of the commonwealth as an educational institution, and shall have operated as such an institution for a period of not less than one year immediately prior to the filing of the petition for such privilege. The general character of the institution, its professional outlook, and the character and quality of its leadership and personnel shall be determining factors in the approval of the institution.
Third, The faculty of the institution consists of teachers with adequate preparation and successful experience in their respective training fields, and in academic courses, a high percentage of the instructors have satisfactorily completed one year of advanced study after having attained the baccalaureate degree, and in terminal, semi-professional courses, instructors are able to provide evidence of a high degree of proficiency in their special fields.
Fourth, The basis for admission to the institution is the satisfactory completion of a secondary school program, or its equivalent.
Fifth, Requirements for graduation are based upon the satisfactory completion of a minimum of sixty semester hours of study, exclusive of physical training and exercise and institutions organized on other than the semester hour basis give evidence of the equivalence of the work provided. A semester hour, for the purposes of this clause, is hereby defined as a class, meeting for one hour weekly for at least fifteen weeks.
Sixth, The institution, if offering two-year courses of study on a collegiate level, undertakes to provide the equivalent of the general education of the first two years of the standard four-year college, and gives satisfactory evidence that its semi-professional curricula are designed to provide reasonably proper instruction to students taking courses of a vocational or semi-professional nature.
Seventh, The institution has an adequate library, adequately housed, properly catalogued, has an adequate supply of current periodicals, including scientific and research journals, if such journals are properly related to the courses of study offered, and has a satisfactory annual appropriation for its continued maintenance.
Eighth, Laboratories, when necessary in connection with the courses of study offered, are adequately equipped for instructional purposes with sufficient space and suitable apparatus and equipment to meet the educational objectives of the institution, whether they be cultural or semi-professional.
Ninth, The material equipment of the institution, including its lands, buildings, classrooms and dormitories, is sufficient to insure efficient operation, and its physical plant provides safe, sanitary and healthful conditions, as judged by modern standards.
Tenth, Teaching or classroom hours of teaching in the institution do not exceed eighteen hours weekly, and classes are ordinarily limited to thirty students and the ratio of students to instructors above the level of assistants is not unreasonably excessive.
Eleventh, The institution, if seeking to provide a program equivalent to the first two years of the standard college program, offers work in at least five separate departments: English, mathematics, foreign languages, natural sciences and social sciences.
Twelfth, If the institution intends to operate a junior college and a preparatory or secondary school under the same administration, provision is made for a separation between the two divisions of the institution, and, if the institution maintains housing quarters for its students, junior college students and secondary school students will be housed in separate quarters.
Thirteenth, The institution submits evidence of sound financial structure and operation over a period of at least two years.
Chapter 69: Section 31A. Awarding of degrees; necessity of authorization Section 31A. No educational institution chartered, located, offering courses, or otherwise doing business within the commonwealth, shall award degrees within the commonwealth unless authorized to do so by the commonwealth; nor shall any educational institution chartered, incorporated or organized in another state conduct within the commonwealth any courses available to residents of the commonwealth leading to the award of a degree, unless such educational institution has received the approval of the commonwealth for such courses. The board of higher education shall be responsible for the implementation of the provisions of this section.
Chapter 69: Section 31B. Transfer of student records by institutions ceasing to exist Section 31B. Any educational institution with power to grant degrees in the commonwealth which ceases to exist shall transfer all of its student records to the board of higher education.
Chapter 69: Section 31C. Notification of accreditation of institution to applicant for admission upon acceptance required Section 31C. Any college, university, community college, junior college and other school of higher education, whether public or private, shall, upon accepting any applicant for admission to such institution, notify said applicant in writing whether or not said institution has been accredited by a recognized regional or professional accrediting agency.
Chapter 69: Section 31D. Repealed, 1981, 689, Sec. 2 Chapter 69: Section 32 to 34. Repealed, 1972, 766, Sec. 8 Chapter 69: Section 35. Repealed, 1993, 71, Sec. 31 Chapter 69: Section 36. Use of cultural organizations by schools and community organizations; grants Section 36. As used in this section the following words and terms shall have the following meanings:—“Community organization”, a charitable or educational organization incorporated under the provisions of chapter one hundred and eighty to meet the special social or educational needs of adults or children, including, but not limited to, neighborhood houses, multi-service centers, senior citizen organizations, rehabilitation agencies, community schools, and other community service organizations, as further defined by the department.
“Cultural organization”, any public library, library corporation or library association organized under the provisions of chapter seventy-eight, and any nonprofit organization, public or private, such as a museum, historical society, zoo, aquarium, or performing or visual arts organization, as further defined by the department, which is primarily concerned with the advancement of the arts and humanities or the broad aspects of science, and which (a) owns or utilizes, maintains and regularly exhibits tangible objects to the public or provides a regular schedule of public performances or arts services; (b) is professionally staffed to conduct its educational programs; (c) has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the department the ability to provide effective educational programs; and (d) in the case of a nonprofit organization, is exempt from income taxation pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of Title 28 of the Internal Revenue Code.
The department shall promote the use of the educational services of museums and other cultural organizations located in the commonwealth by schools and community organizations as part of their regular programs. To assist in making such educational services available, the commissioner may seek, accept and administer specific grants from federal agencies and from private foundations and other private sources. Such grants may be expended by said commissioner with the approval of the board of education without further appropriation.
The department may, subject to appropriation and pursuant to regulations of the board of education, provide additional assistance from the commonwealth in the purchase of the educational services of museums and other cultural organizations as provided in this section in accordance with the following provisions:—By monetary grants to city, town, and regional school district committees, educational collaboratives organized under section four E of chapter forty, and to museums or other public or private nonprofit cultural organizations for expenditure in accordance with contracts approved by the department between said organizations and community organizations, as defined herein, for the provision of such educational services. Monetary grants under this section may be spent jointly with such federal grants, if any, or with any other funds available to the school committees, collaborative boards, or cultural organizations for like purposes; provided, however, that no monetary grant shall, when added to any federal or private funds, exceed in total seventy-five per cent of the costs of purchasing such services and of any incidental costs of administration and transportation. Such amounts shall be in addition to grants made pursuant to the last paragraph of section four E of chapter forty.
The department may contract with any appropriate public or private agency to assist schools and private organizations in the planning and development of educational services for the purposes of the two preceding sections.
Chapter 69: Section 4. Compilation of statistics as to certain institutions Section 4. The department, through its division of research and statistics, shall prepare, with due reference to the requirements of the federal office of education, and annually, on or before May tenth, send to every literary, scientific or professional institution of learning in the commonwealth, and every training school or infirmary, blank forms of inquiry for such statistics as it may prescribe, relative to the number of pupils and instructors, courses of study, cost of tuition and the general condition of the institution or school. The trustees, officers or persons in charge thereof shall annually, on or before June first, return the same with the information required.
Chapter 69: Section 5. Repealed, 1969, 254, Sec. 3 Chapter 69: Section 6. Teachers; applications for positions; qualifications Section 6. The department shall receive applications for the position of teacher from graduates of good moral character of any high school or state college in this commonwealth, or of any other school deemed by the department to be of equal grade, or of any reputable college. Such an application shall contain the applicant’s name and address, and, briefly, his experience and qualifications, and shall be accompanied by a fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven. For a period not exceeding one year after receipt of such application and fee, the department shall communicate with the various school committees and with the applicant himself, with a view to securing such position; provided, that this service may be continued for one or more additional years upon payment by the applicant of an additional fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for each such year.
Chapter 69: Section 7 to 7H. Repealed, 1990, 150, Sec. 273 Chapter 69: Section 8. Use of school buildings Section 8. For the purposes of such courses, the department may, with the consent of the school committee or other proper officials and subject to rules and regulations by them prescribed, use the school or other public buildings and grounds of a town, but without interference or inconsistency with their customary uses; also the state college buildings and grounds, and, with the consent of the officers in charge, other school buildings owned or controlled by the commonwealth. It may also arrange for the use of such other buildings, grounds and facilities, paying such rent therefor, as the conduct of such courses may require.
Chapter 69: Section 9. Classes for illiterates and foreigners Section 9. The department, with the cooperation of any town applying therefor, may provide for such instruction in the use of English for persons eighteen years of age or over unable to speak, read or write the same, and in the fundamental principles of government and other subjects adapted to fit for American citizenship, as shall jointly be approved by the local school committee and the department. Schools and classes established therefor may be held in public school buildings, in industrial establishments or in such other places as may be approved in like manner. Teachers and supervisors employed therein by a town shall be chosen and their compensation fixed by the school committee, subject to the approval of the department.
Chapter 69: Section 9A. Establishment of class Section 9A. Upon application of twenty or more residents of any city or town who are eighteen years of age or over certifying that they desire to attend a class for instruction of the type described in section nine, the school committee of such city or town shall establish and cause to be conducted such a class or classes for a period of not less than forty sessions; provided, that, in case the attendance of any such class falls below fifteen, such school committee may discontinue such class.
Section 1. It is the intention of the general court, subject to appropriation, to assure fair and adequate minimum per student funding for public schools in the commonwealth by defining a foundation budget and a standard of local funding effort applicable to every city and town in the commonwealth.
Section 10. Subject to appropriation, the amount of state aid to be paid to each municipality in each fiscal year under this chapter shall be the sum of the base aid, the overburden aid, minimum aid, foundation aid and equity aid to which the municipality may be entitled under the provisions of this chapter. The amount of aid paid to each district shall be identified separately for each municipality that is a member of the district.
Section 11. If in any fiscal year a district’s actual expenditure for public education is less than the amount required to be appropriated for public education pursuant to this chapter, the difference, up to 5 per cent of the amount required to be appropriated, shall be spent for public education in the following fiscal year; provided, however, that any unexpended funds, whether appropriated to the school committee account or to town accounts for expenditure to meet public education costs, shall be deemed reappropriated for public education in the following year without further action by the appropriating authority; provided, further, that the amount of state school aid for the following fiscal year shall be reduced by the amount said difference exceeds 5 per cent of the amount required to be appropriated; and provided, further, that in any year in which additional money is required to be spent due to a spending deficiency in the prior year, if a district fails to spend the carried forward amount or under-spends its current year budget by more than 5 per cent of the amount required to be appropriated for that year, state school aid in the following year shall be reduced by the entire difference between those amounts. The board shall promulgate regulations to enforce the provisions of this section.
Section 12. (a) Subject to appropriation, beginning in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four and for all subsequent fiscal years, the amounts appropriated for state school aid in any given year shall be equal to the sum of the adjusted prior year amount and the education improvement amount.
(b) The adjusted prior year amount for state school aid shall be the amount of state aid appropriated in the previous fiscal year, multiplied by an annual adjustment factor equal to the ratio of (i) the implicit price deflator for state government services as published by the United States department of commerce for the first quarter of the prior fiscal year to (ii) the same deflator one year earlier; provided, however, that the annual adjustment factor utilized in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four shall be equal to one. In no case shall the annual adjustment factor exceed one hundred and four percent.
(c) The education improvement amount shall be an amount of additional state school aid as hereinafter described for the fiscal years nineteen hundred and ninety-four to two thousand, inclusive: in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four, an additional one hundred and forty million dollars; in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-five, an additional one hundred and fifty million dollars; in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-six, an additional one hundred and fifty million dollars; in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, an additional one hundred and fifty million dollars; in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, an additional one hundred and fifty million dollars; in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, an additional one hundred and eighty million dollars; and in fiscal year two thousand, an additional one hundred and eighty million dollars. The dollar amounts in this subsection shall be adjusted for inflation by multiplying the amounts for fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-five and subsequent years by the ratio of the implicit price deflator for state and local government purchases for the first quarter of the prior fiscal year to the value of the same deflator in the first quarter of fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three. In no case shall this adjustment factor be greater than what would be derived by a four percent annual adjustment compounded on a yearly basis.
Section 13. (a) The funds appropriated for state school aid shall be allocated among municipalities as set forth in this chapter. If said amount appropriated is less than the total base aid amount, each municipality’s allotment of base aid shall be reduced by a constant amount per student that shall be determined by dividing the difference between the total base amount and said appropriation amount by the total foundation enrollment in the state.
(b) If the amount appropriated is more than the base amount, funds shall first be allocated to ensure that state school aid for each municipality equals the base aid amount.
(c) Any additional funds shall be allocated to cover minimum aid. If the amount appropriated for state school aid is insufficient to permit full funding of the base aid and minimum aid, funds in excess of the amount needed to fund base aid shall be allocated on a proportional basis reflecting the ratio of a particular municipality’s minimum aid to the sum of minimum aid amounts of all municipalities for that fiscal year.
(d) All remaining funds shall be allocated to cover foundation aid, equity aid, and overburden aid.
(e) The allocation to each municipality that received foundation aid of more than the minimum aid amount above the base amount shall be reduced by an amount that is the lesser of (1) the minimum aid amount and (2) the positive difference, if any, between its foundation aid and minimum aid. The funds available from this reduction shall be allocated to all municipalities such that each one receives the same proportion of this aid as was received in paragraph (d). These increments shall be considered part of foundation aid, equity aid, and overburden aid.
Section 14. For any district in which fewer than twenty percent of the students scored below the state average on the assessment tests required by chapter sixty-nine, the city or town, or all cities and towns comprising a regional school district, may exempt the district from the provisions of this chapter by accepting this section in the manner prescribed by section four of chapter four. Any district so exempted shall continue to receive fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three base aid, but shall not receive any additional state aid and shall not be required to meet the local obligation requirements of this chapter.
If, in any future year, a district so exempted fails to meet the assessment standards described above, or for any other reason is not exempt from this chapter, it shall, in that and future years, be subject to the same obligations and entitled to the same aid under this chapter in each year as districts that were never so exempted.
Section 15. This chapter shall apply to all cities, towns, and regional school districts, notwithstanding section twenty-seven C of chapter twenty-nine, and without regard to any acceptance or appropriation by a city, town or regional school district or to any appropriation by the general court.
Section 2. As used in this chapter and in chapters fifteen, sixty-nine and seventy-one, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—“Adjusted property valuation”, the equalized property valuation of the municipality multiplied by the most recent average annual per capita income for the municipality, divided by the average annual per capita income for the commonwealth for the same period, as reported by the United States bureau of census.
“Assumed tuitioned-out special education enrollment”, one percent of the total foundation enrollment in a district, not counting vocational or pre-school enrollment.
“Assumed in-school special education enrollment”, 3.
75 per cent of total foundation enrollment in a district not counting vocational or preschool enrollment, plus 4.
75 per cent of vocational enrollment.
“Base aid”, in any fiscal year, the total of base aid, minimum aid and foundation aid of the previous fiscal year. In fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four, base aid shall be state school aid in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three; provided, however, that the amount of aid deemed to have been distributed in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three pursuant to section sixteen D of chapter seventy-one shall be adjusted to equal the amount that would have been distributed in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four in accordance with paragraph (e) of section sixteen D of said chapter seventy-one but for the provisions of this chapter and paragraph (f) of said section sixteen D of chapter seventy-one; and provided, further, that, for any district in which net school spending is less than the foundation budget in determining base aid in the current fiscal year, the base aid amount of the previous fiscal year shall be adjusted by adding any amount that will be deducted in the current fiscal year pursuant to the provisions of section twelve B of chapter seventy-six for students that applied and were accepted at receiving districts during the prior fiscal year; provided, however, that the students identified in subsection (m) of said section twelve B, shall be deemed for the purposes of this calculation to have been accepted at receiving districts during fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three.
“Base year foundation budget”, the sum of foundation base year payroll, foundation non-salary base year expenses, the professional development allotment, expanded program allotment, extraordinary maintenance allotment, and book and equipment allotment. The base year foundation is the foundation budget for fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three.
“Board”, the board of education.
“Book and equipment allotment”, the amounts allotted within a district’s foundation budget for books and equipment in any fiscal year. The book and equipment allotment shall be the sum of:(a) one hundred and twenty-five dollars multiplied by the sum of the foundation kindergarten enrollment and the foundation pre-school enrollment; plus(b) two hundred and fifty dollars multiplied by the sum of the foundation elementary enrollment, the foundation bilingual enrollment and the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment; plus(c) four hundred dollars multiplied by the foundation high school enrollment; plus(d) seven hundred dollars multiplied by the foundation vocational enrollment; plus(e) two hundred dollars multiplied by the assumed in-school special education enrollment.
“Commissioner”, the commissioner of the department of education within the executive office of education.
“Department”, the department of education within the executive office of education.
“District” or “School district”, the school department of a city or town, and a regional school district.
“Enrollment categories”, each student, including students enrolled in special education programs, and students attending a school in another district, pursuant to the provisions of section twelve B of chapter seventy-six, who resides in the district and who attends either a public school in that district or a school for which the district of residence pays tuition, shall be placed in one and only one of the following enrollment categories depending on the grade and program to which the student is assigned:(A) “Bilingual enrollment”, the number of students enrolled in English language learners programs established under chapter 71A but, in the case of an innovative program, only the limited English proficient students enrolled in such program shall be considered in calculating bilingual enrollment in a district.
(B) “Elementary enrollment”, number of students enrolled in grades one through five and not enrolled in bilingual or vocational programs in a district.
(C) “High school enrollment”, the number of students enrolled in grades nine through twelve and not enrolled in bilingual or vocational programs in a district.
(D) “Junior high/middle school enrollment”, the number of students enrolled in grades six through eight and not enrolled in bilingual or vocational programs in a district.
(E) “Kindergarten enrollment”, the number of students enrolled in kindergarten and not enrolled in bilingual or vocational programs in a district; provided, however, that in any district in which kindergarten students attend school for a full day, the foundation kindergarten enrollment used to calculate the foundation budget amount described in this section shall be two times the kindergarten enrollment number that would otherwise be used for said calculations if said district and all towns responsible for appropriating for said district so request.
(F) “Pre-school enrollment”, the number of students enrolled in pre-school programs run in connection with the special education program in a district. The foundation pre-school enrollment may not exceed twice the number of pre-school students enrolled under approved individual education plans.
(G) “Vocational enrollment”, the number of students enrolled in vocational and occupational education programs or an agricultural school in a district.
“Equalized property valuation”, the annual equalized property valuation for a municipality as determined by the department of revenue pursuant to the provisions of sections nine, ten and ten C of chapter fifty-eight.
“Equity aid”, aid amounts payable to municipalities in any fiscal year equal to the equity gap multiplied by the foundation aid percent.
“Equity gap”, the positive difference, if any, between (1) the positive difference, if any between the preliminary local contribution and the gross standard of effort and (2) the positive difference, if any, between the sum of the preliminary local contribution, base aid, minimum aid and federal impact aid and the foundation budget amount. The equity gap shall be defined separately for each municipality’s share of each district of which it is a member.
“Excess debt service amount”, shall be the difference, if any, between (i) the municipality’s share of long-term debt service in support of school construction and (ii) the statewide average of local share of long-term debt service in support of school construction, on a per pupil basis, multiplied by the foundation number of pupils in the town. For regional school districts, the excess debt service amount shall be allocated amongst member municipalities according to the provisions of the regional school district agreement. The excess debt service amount for a municipality shall be the sum of the municipality’s share of excess debt service amounts for all of the regional districts of which it is a member.
“Expanded program allotment”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for providing expanded educational services for low-income students. The expanded program allotment shall be determined by multiplying the number of low-income elementary and middle school students in a district by the wage adjustment factor by three hundred and eighty dollars.
“Extraordinary maintenance allotment”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for extraordinary maintenance costs in any fiscal year. The extraordinary maintenance allotment shall be two thousand, two hundred dollars multiplied by the sum of the foundation teaching staff and the foundation support staff.
“Foundation aid”, aid amounts payable to municipalities in any fiscal year equal to the foundation gap multiplied by the statewide foundation aid percent.
“Foundation aid percent”, the result of dividing (1) the difference between the amount appropriated for the implementation of this chapter and the sum of the total base aid and total minimum aid by (2) the sum of the statewide foundation gap, the state overburden obligation, and the statewide equity gaps.
“Foundation assistants”, the number of school assistants or aides allotted within a district’s foundation budget in any fiscal year. The number of foundation assistants shall be the sum of:(a) six thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation kindergarten enrollment and the foundation pre-school enrollment; plus(b) twelve thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation elementary enrollment and the foundation bilingual enrollment; plus(c) two thousandths multiplied by the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment; plus(d) eight ten-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation high school enrollment and the foundation vocational enrollment; plus(e) one hundred and twenty-five thousandths multiplied by the assumed in-school special education enrollment.
“Foundation athletic expenses”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for athletic expenses in any fiscal year. The foundation athletic expenses shall be the sum of:(a) fifty dollars multiplied by the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment; plus(b) two hundred dollars multiplied by the sum of the foundation high school enrollment and the foundation vocational enrollment.
“Foundation benefits”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for the purchase of employee benefits and other insurance in any fiscal year. The foundation benefits shall be the sum of the following:(a) four thousand three hundred and twenty dollars multiplied by the wage adjustment factor multiplied by the sum of the foundation teaching staff, the foundation support staff, the foundation assistants, the foundation principals, the foundation clerical staff, the foundation health care staff, the foundation central office professional staff and the foundation custodial staff; plus(b) four hundred and sixty dollars multiplied by the sum of the foundation teaching staff, the foundation support staff, the foundation assistants, the foundation principals, the foundation clerical staff, the foundation health care staff, the foundation central office professional staff and the foundation custodial staff; plus(c) two hundred and thirty dollars multiplied by the foundation vocational staff.
“Foundation budget”, the sum of the foundation payroll, foundation non-salary expenses, professional development allotment, expanded program allotment, extraordinary maintenance allotment, and book and equipment allotment. The base year for calculating the foundation budget shall be fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three. The base year foundation budget shall be calculated according to the formulas in this section using foundation enrollment as described in this section. For fiscal years thereafter, the foundation budget shall be the base year foundation budget, as adjusted for enrollment and for inflation as set forth in section three of this chapter.
“Foundation central office professional staff”, the number of professional staff allotted within a district’s foundation budget in any fiscal year for central office duties. The foundation central office professional staff shall be the sum of:(a) two thousandths multiplied by the total foundation enrollment; plus(b) fifteen thousandths multiplied by the sum of assumed in-school special education enrollment and assumed tuitioned-out special education enrollment; plus(c) twenty-five hundred-thousandths multiplied by the foundation vocational enrollment.
“Foundation clerical staff”, the number of staff allotted within a district’s foundation budget in any fiscal year for clerical duties. The foundation clerical staff shall be the sum of:(a) two hundred and seventy-five hundred-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation kindergarten enrollment and the foundation pre-school enrollment; plus(b) fifty-five ten-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation elementary enrollment, the foundation bilingual enrollment, the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment, the foundation high school enrollment and the foundation vocational enrollment; plus(c) two hundredths multiplied by the sum of the assumed in-school special education enrollment and the assumed tuitioned-out special education enrollment.
“Foundation custodial staff”, the number of staff allotted within a district’s foundation budget in any fiscal year for custodial duties. The foundation custodial staff shall be one-tenth multiplied by the sum of the foundation teaching staff and the foundation support staff.
“Foundation enrollment”, the student enrollment of a district in any fiscal year. The foundation enrollment is defined as the sum of foundation elementary, junior high, senior high, bilingual, and vocational enrollment plus one-half the sum of foundation pre-school and kindergarten enrollment, including students enrolled in the program for the elimination of racial imbalance. By March first of each calendar year, the department shall certify the foundation enrollment for the next fiscal year as the actual enrollment as reported the previous October.
“Foundation extracurricular activity expenses”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for extracurricular activity expenses in any fiscal year. The foundation extracurricular activity expenses shall be the sum of:(a) twenty-five dollars multiplied by the sum of the foundation elementary enrollment and the foundation bilingual enrollment; plus(b) thirty-five dollars multiplied by the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment; plus(c) forty-five dollars multiplied by the sum of the foundation high school enrollment and the foundation vocational enrollment.
“Foundation gap”, the positive difference, if any, between (i) the foundation budget in any fiscal year and (ii) the sum of base aid, school choice reimbursement as defined in section twelve B of chapter seventy-six, federal impact aid, and the larger of (1) the prior year local contribution or (2) the standard of effort for that fiscal year. The foundation gap shall be calculated separately for each municipality’s share of each district to which it belongs.
“Foundation health care staff”, the number of staff allotted within a district’s foundation budget to perform health care related duties in any fiscal year. The foundation health care staff shall be the sum of:(a) one thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation kindergarten enrollment and the foundation pre-school enrollment; plus(b) two thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation elementary enrollment and the foundation bilingual enrollment; plus(c) fifteen ten-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment, the foundation high school enrollment and the foundation vocational enrollment.
“Foundation inflation index”, in fiscal year 2003, the foundation inflation index shall equal 1.
256286153. In fiscal year 2004 and in each fiscal year thereafter, the foundation inflation index shall equal the prior year’s foundation inflation index multiplied by the minimum of (a) the ratio of the value of the implicit price deflator for state and local government purchases in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year to its value in the first quarter of the year 2 years prior, and (b) 1.
045.
“Foundation miscellaneous expenses”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for miscellaneous activity expenses in any fiscal year. The foundation miscellaneous activity expenses shall be the sum of:(a) four hundred dollars multiplied by the assumed in-school special education enrollment; plus(b) seventy-five dollars multiplied by the total foundation enrollment; plus(c) eleven hundred dollars multiplied by the foundation clerical staff.
“Foundation non-salary expenses”, the sum of foundation athletic expenses, foundation extracurricular activity expenses, foundation utility and ordinary maintenance expenses, foundation benefits, foundation special education tuition, and foundation miscellaneous expenses.
“Foundation payroll”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for the teaching staff, support staff, assistants, principals, clerical staff, health care staff, central office professional staff, and custodial staff in any fiscal year. The foundation payroll shall be the wage adjustment factor multiplied by the sum of:(a) thirty-eight thousand dollars multiplied by the sum of the foundation teaching staff and the foundation support staff; plus(b) nine thousand dollars multiplied by the foundation assistants; plus(c) sixty-two thousand dollars multiplied by the sum of (i) foundation principals, and (ii) one and fifteen-hundredths multiplied by the foundation central office professional staff; plus(d) eighteen thousand five hundred dollars multiplied by the foundation clerical staff; plus(e) twenty-five thousand dollars multiplied by the foundation health care staff; plus(f) twenty-five thousand dollars multiplied by the foundation custodial staff.
“Foundation principals”, the number of principals allotted within a district’s foundation budget in any fiscal year. The foundation principals shall be the sum of:(a) fifteen ten-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation kindergarten enrollment and foundation pre-school enrollment; plus(b) three thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation elementary enrollment and the foundation bilingual enrollment; plus(c) thirty-five ten-thousandths multiplied by the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment; plus(d) thirty-five ten-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation high school enrollment and the foundation vocational enrollment.
“Foundation special education tuition”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for special education tuition in any fiscal year. The value shall be the product of thirteen thousand five hundred dollars and the assumed tuitioned-out special education enrollment.
“Foundation support staff”, the number of staff allotted within a district’s foundation budget for support duties in any fiscal year. The foundation support staff shall be the sum of:(a) seven hundred and twenty-five hundred-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation kindergarten enrollment and the foundation pre-school enrollment; plus(b) one hundred and forty-five ten-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation elementary enrollment and the foundation bilingual enrollment; plus(c) twenty-five thousandths multiplied by the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment; plus(d) forty-two ten-thousandths multiplied by the sum of the foundation high school enrollment and the foundation vocational enrollment; plus(e) seventy-six thousandths multiplied by the assumed in-school special education enrollment.
“Foundation teaching staff”, the number of staff allotted within a district’s foundation budget for teaching duties in any fiscal year. The foundation teaching staff, calculated using enrollments as defined in this section, shall be the sum of the following:(a) the sum of the foundation kindergarten enrollment and the foundation pre-school enrollment divided by forty-four; plus(b) the foundation elementary enrollment divided by twenty-two; plus(c) the foundation junior high/middle school enrollment divided by twenty-five; plus(d) the foundation high school enrollment divided by seventeen; plus(e) the foundation bilingual enrollment divided by fifteen; plus(f) the foundation vocational enrollment divided by ten; plus(g) the assumed in-school special education enrollment divided by eight; plus(h) three hundredths multiplied by the average number of low-income students attending schools in the district over the preceding two fiscal years.
“Foundation utility and ordinary maintenance expenses”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for utility and ordinary maintenance costs in any fiscal year. The foundation utility and ordinary maintenance expenses shall be three thousand three hundred dollars multiplied by the sum of:(a) the sum of the foundation teaching staff and the foundation support staff; plus(b) the foundation vocational enrollment divided by thirty.
“Foundation vocational staff”, the number of teachers, support staff principals, clerical staff, health care staff and custodial staff assigned to a vocational school or program or an agricultural school allotted within a district’s foundation budget in any fiscal year.
“General revenue sharing aid”, the amount of assistance from the commonwealth to be received by a city or town in a fiscal year from the following local aid programs: (1) payments in lieu of taxes for state-owned lands distributed pursuant to section seventeen of chapter fifty-eight, (2) equity aid as defined in this section, (3) the distribution to cities and towns of the balance of the State Lottery Fund in accordance with the provisions of clause (c) of section thirty-five of chapter ten, and (4) additional assistance, so-called, as distributed pursuant to section eighteen E of chapter fifty-eight.
“Gross overburden amounts”, are as follows: for municipalities with an adjusted property valuation per pupil of equal to or less than ninety-five percent of the statewide average, the gross overburden amount shall be one hundred percent of the standard of effort gap. For municipalities with an adjusted property valuation per pupil greater than ninety-five percent of the state average but less than one hundred and twenty percent of the state average, the gross overburden amount shall be the standard of effort gap multiplied by the positive difference between one and ninety-five one hundredths and the ratio of the municipality’s adjusted property valuation per pupil to the amount of the state average adjusted property valuation per pupil. For municipalities with an adjusted property valuation per pupil equal to or greater than one hundred and twenty percent of the state average, the gross overburden amount shall be zero; provided further, that for any municipality in which the average per capita income is below the state average per capita income, the gross overburden amount shall be one hundred percent of the standard of effort gap.
“Gross standard of effort”, for a municipality in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four shall be ninety-four ten-thousandths times the adjusted property valuation, calculated using the nineteen hundred and ninety-two equalized property valuations as published by the department of revenue. In subsequent fiscal years, the gross standard of effort shall be the gross standard of effort of the previous fiscal year, increased by a percentage equal to the municipal revenue growth factor.
“Local contribution”, the net school spending of a municipality in any fiscal year minus the sum of state school aid and federal impact aid, less equity aid, for that fiscal year as projected by the department of education; provided, however, in any city or town that deferred a portion of its teachers’ salaries in the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three or that had its regional school assessment reduced as a result of a deferral of teachers’ salaries in a regional school district in said fiscal year, the local contribution for said fiscal year shall be reduced by the amount of such teachers’ salary deferral and reduced regional school assessment, if any. The department shall publish tables allotting each municipality’s local contribution in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three amongst the districts to which the municipality belongs.
“Low-income enrollment”, the number of children attending school in a district regardless of residence or tuition-paying status, who are eligible for free or reduced cost lunches under eligibility guidelines promulgated by the federal government under 42 USC 1758. A low-income child or student is a child who meets these eligibility standards. In determining the total number of low-income students, the department shall use the preceding year’s actual number of low-income elementary, middle school, high school, bilingual, and vocational students, and one-half the preceding year’s actual number of low-income kindergarten and pre-school students.
“Minimum aid”, the amount of minimum state school aid available to a municipality in any fiscal year, which shall be fifty dollars multiplied by the district foundation enrollment in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and twenty-five dollars multiplied by the district foundation enrollment every year thereafter until fiscal year two thousand and one.
“Minimum required local contribution”, the sum of (1) the preliminary local contribution, and (2) the foundation aid percent multiplied by the standard of effort gap in any fiscal year. This sum shall be reduced by the overburden aid amount, if any, and the excess debt service amount, if any; provided, however, that in no case shall said reduction result in a reduction of net school spending to an amount less than the foundation budget amount. The minimum required local contribution shall be defined separately for each municipality’s share of each district to which it belongs.
“Municipal revenue growth factor”, the change in local general revenues calculated by subtracting one from the quotient calculated by dividing the sum of (1) the maximum levy for the fiscal year estimated by multiplying the levy limit of the prior fiscal year by a factor equal to one hundred two and one-half percent plus the average of the percentage increases in the levy limit due to new growth adjustments over the last three available years as certified by the department of revenue or as otherwise estimated by the division of local services of the department of revenue where it appears that a municipality may not be entitled to increase its minimum levy limit by two and one-half percent; provided, however, that if the highest percentage during such three years exceeds the average of the other two years’ percentages by more than two percentage points, then the lowest three of the last four years shall be used for such calculation; (2) the amount of general revenue sharing aid for the fiscal year; and (3) other budgeted recurring receipts not including user fees or other charges determined by said division of local services to be associated with the provision of specific municipal services for the prior fiscal year, by the sum of (1) the actual levy limit for the prior fiscal year; (2) the amount of general revenue sharing aid received for the prior fiscal year; and (3) other recurring receipts not including user fees or other charges determined by such division of municipal services to be associated with the provision of specific municipal services budgeted by the municipality for the fiscal year preceding the prior fiscal year, if any; provided, however, that for the purposes of this calculation, the levy limit shall exclude any amounts generated by overrides applicable to any year after the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three; provided, further, that in the absence of an actual levy limit for the prior fiscal year, the actual levy limit for the prior fiscal year shall be estimated by multiplying the actual levy limit of the fiscal year preceding the prior fiscal year by a factor equal to one hundred two and one-half percent plus the average of the percentage increases in the levy limit due to new growth as specified above; provided, further, that such factor shall not be greater than the factor determined by subtracting one from the quotient calculated by dividing total state school aid for the current fiscal year by total state school aid for the prior fiscal year; and, provided, further, that in making any of the calculations required by this definition, said division of local services may substitute more current information or such other information as would produce a more accurate estimate of the change in a municipality’s general local revenues and the department shall use such growth factor to calculate preliminary contribution, minimum contribution and any other factor that directly or indirectly uses the municipal growth factor.
“Net school spending”, the total amount spent for the support of public education, including teacher salary deferrals and tuition payments for children residing in the district who attend a school in another district or other approved facility, determined without regard to whether such amounts are regularly charged to school or non-school accounts by the municipality for accounting purposes; provided, however, that net school spending shall not include any spending for long term debt service, and shall not include spending for school lunches, or student transportation. Net school spending shall also not include tuition revenue or revenue from activity, admission, other charges or any other revenue attributable to public education. Such revenue will be made available to the school district which generated such revenue in addition to any financial resources made available by municipalities or state assistance. The department of education, in consultation with the department of revenue shall promulgate regulations to ensure a uniform method of determining which municipal expenditures are appropriated for the support of public education and which revenues are attributable to public education in accordance with this section. The regulations shall include provisions for resolving disputes which may arise between municipal and school officials.
“Overburden aid”, for each municipality is the gross overburden amount for that municipality multiplied by the foundation aid percent.
“Preliminary local contribution”, the product of (a) the minimum required local contribution of the prior fiscal year, and (b) one plus the municipal revenue growth factor, which product shall be increased by the excess debt service amount of the prior fiscal year if said amount was used to reduce the minimum required local contribution in the prior fiscal year; provided, that said preliminary local contribution shall not be greater than the gross standard of effort amount; provided, further, that for any district in which net school spending is less than the foundation budget amount and the prior year local contribution is greater than the gross standard of effort amount, the preliminary local contribution shall not be less than the fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three local contribution, except that said contribution may be reduced proportionately to any decrease in the total municipal budget; and provided further, that for any municipality in which net school spending is greater than the foundation budget, in no case shall the sum of the preliminary local contribution and the base aid and the minimum aid result in a reduction of net school spending to an amount less than the foundation budget amount. The preliminary local contribution shall be defined separately for each municipality’s share of each district to which it belongs.
“Professional development allotment”, the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for professional development in any fiscal year. The professional development allotment in any year shall be three percent multiplied by the amount allotted in that year in a district’s foundation budget for foundation teaching staff payroll and the foundation support staff payroll.
“Standard of effort”, for any year, shall be the lesser of (1) the gross standard of effort for that year and (2) the foundation budget for the year minus the sum of base aid and federal impact aid for that year. The standard of effort for any municipality shall be allotted among the districts to which that municipality belongs.
“Standard of effort gap”, the positive difference in any fiscal year between the standard of effort in the fiscal year and the preliminary local contribution in that fiscal year. The standard of effort gap for a municipality shall be allotted among the districts to which that municipality belongs.
“State overburden obligation”, the sum of the gross overburden amounts for all municipalities.
“State school aid”, all amounts appropriated by the commonwealth under this chapter, chapter seventy-one, and chapter seventy-four, all equal educational opportunity grants, and all per pupil grants included as part of state aid for fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three except as provided in this chapter. It shall not include any state funding for transportation, for school building construction, for the METCO program or for other categorical grants such as school-to-work transitional grants. The department shall publish tables allotting each municipality’s state school aid in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three amongst the school districts to which the municipality belongs. For municipalities where all students attend regional districts all state school aid shall be allocated amongst the regional districts. The aid received on behalf of students tuitioned out to other districts shall be allotted to the municipality or district paying tuition.
“Total foundation staff”, the sum of the foundation teaching staff, foundation support staff, foundation assistants, foundation principals, foundation clerical staff, foundation healthcare staff, foundation central office professional staff, and foundation custodial staff provided that no employee shall be counted as more than one full time equivalent.
“Wage adjustment factor”, an adjusted difference between the average annual wage for all jobs in the labor market area in which a municipality is located and the average annual wage in the commonwealth. Average annual wage figures shall be published annually by the division of employment and training. The wage adjustment factor shall be the sum of one plus a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the product of one-third and the difference resulting from subtracting the average annual wage in the commonwealth from the average annual wage of the community; and the denominator of which shall be the average annual wage in the commonwealth.
For the purposes of this section, the average annual wage of the community shall be the sum of:(a) eight-tenths multiplied by the average annual wage for all jobs in the labor market area in which the municipality is located; plus(b) two-tenths multiplied by the average annual wage of the municipality; provided, however, that in any community in which the percent of total foundation enrollment represented by the low-income enrollment is greater than the total percent of low-income students in the state, the wage adjustment factor shall not be less than one.
budget Section 3. For the school district in each municipality, for each regional school district, and for each independent vocational school in the commonwealth, there is hereby established a foundation budget.
The board of education is authorized to adopt regulations furnishing interpretive guidelines for the determination of foundation budgets. Said regulations shall be filed with the house and senate committees on ways and means not less than thirty days before said regulations become effective.
The foundation budget shall be calculated using foundation enrollments for the respective fiscal years as estimated by the department according to the procedures outlined in section 2. The monetary factors used in calculating the foundation budget for such years shall be adjusted for inflation by multiplying each such factor by the foundation inflation index. The factors to be inflated shall be the monetary values for the foundation payroll, foundation nonsalary expenses, professional development allotment, expanded program allotment, extraordinary maintenance allotment and book and equipment allotment.
contribution and state aid components; house and senate committees on ways and means; bi-monthly updates Section 3A. The secretary of administration and finance in cooperation with the commissioner of revenue and the commissioner of education shall make available to the house and senate committees on ways and means, in an electronically compatible format the criteria, components, equations, and underlying data necessary to generate the required minimum local contribution and each component of state aid authorized for distribution to municipalities and school districts pursuant to this chapter. The department of education shall update said underlying data on a bi-monthly basis, and shall revise said criteria, components and equations upon the occurrence of changes thereto.
recommendations Section 4. There is hereby established a foundation budget review commission to review the way in which foundation budgets are calculated and to make recommendations to the general court regarding such changes in the formula as may be appropriate. In conducting such review, the commission shall seek to determine the educational programs and services needed to prepare students to achieve passing scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. The commission shall examine the assumed percentage for special education costs included in such formula and shall make recommendations regarding changes in such percentage or other mechanisms to finance special education costs including, but not limited to, reimbursement programs or phased-in, standards-based funding programs that increase the state contribution to such costs over a fixed period of years. The commission shall include the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on education, arts and humanities, who shall serve as co-chairs, the commissioner of education, the chair of the education reform review commission, the speaker of the house of representatives or his designee, the president of the senate or his designee, the minority leader of the house of representatives or his designee, the minority leader of the senate or his designee, the governor or his designee, the chair of the house committee on ways and means or his designee, the chair of the senate committee on ways and means or his designee and one member to be appointed by each of the following organizations: the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, the Massachusetts Superintendents Association, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association for Vocational Administrators and the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools. Members shall receive no compensation for their services but may receive reimbursement for the reasonable expenses incurred in carrying out their responsibilities as members of the commission. The department shall furnish reasonable staff and other support for the work of the commission.
The commission shall conduct not fewer than four hearings to receive testimony from members of the public. The hearings shall be held in locations that provide opportunities for residents from all geographic regions of the commonwealth to testify.
It shall not constitute a violation of chapter 268A for a person employed by a school district to serve on the commission or to participate in commission deliberations that may have a financial impact on the district employing such person or on the rate at which such person may be compensated. The commission may establish procedures to ensure that no such person participates in commission deliberations that may directly affect the school districts employing such persons or that may directly affect the rate at which such persons are compensated.
The commission’s recommendations, together with any proposed legislation, shall be filed not later than September 30 of each even-numbered year with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives who shall refer such recommendations to the appropriate committee of the general court. Within 30 days after such filing, the committee shall hold a public hearing on the recommendations.
Section 5. Beginning in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four and for every fiscal year thereafter, the following shall apply to any municipality receiving overburden aid: the overburden aid amount for said municipality shall be reduced by an amount equal to seventy-five percent of any increase over the prior year in its lottery and additional assistance local aid.
local schools and school district Section 6. In addition to amounts appropriated for long-term debt service, school lunches, adult education, student transportation, and tuition revenue, each municipality in the commonwealth shall annually appropriate for the support of public schools in the municipality and in any regional school district to which the municipality belongs an amount equal to not less than the sum of the minimum required local contribution, federal impact aid, and all state school aid and grants for education but not including equity aid, for the fiscal year. Based on the amounts specified in section twelve, the allotments described in section thirteen, and the definitions and other provisions in this chapter, the commissioner shall estimate and report such amounts to each municipality and regional school district as early as possible, but no later than March first for the following fiscal year. The commissioner shall file with the house and senate committees on ways and means, not less than thirty days before said reports are transmitted to each municipality and regional school district, copies or a document reporting all of the information contained in said reports. Notwithstanding the terms of any regional school district agreements to the contrary, no new regional school district shall be required to submit a budget to its member municipalities before receiving the estimate by the commissioner concerning the amount of state school aid payable through the member municipalities to the regional school district for the following fiscal year. Notwithstanding the provisions of any regional school district agreement, each member municipality shall increase its contribution to the regional district each fiscal year by the amount indicated in that district’s share of the municipality’s minimum regional contribution in that fiscal year. The district shall appropriate the sum of the minimum regional contributions of its member districts as well as all state school aid received on behalf of member municipalities. The district may choose to spend additional amounts; such decisions shall be made and such amounts charged to members according to the district’s required agreement.
Beginning after June 30, 1998, no regional vocational school district shall have a required net school spending amount that exceeds 150 per cent of its foundation budget. If the required net school spending exceeds 150 per cent of foundation, then the minimum contribution, or contributions in the case of a regional school district, shall be reduced so that the required net school spending is not more than 150 per cent of foundation. In a regional school district, such reduction shall be done in proportion to the members’ enrollment share. If a community that receives a reduced minimum contribution to one of its school districts pursuant to this section belongs to any other district that is below foundation, such community’s minimum contribution to the below foundation district shall be increased up to the amount of the decrease authorized by this section or the foundation budget, whichever is less.
Section 7. If there is appropriated in any fiscal year a sum smaller than the amount of state school aid specified in section twelve, any school appropriations based on the commissioner’s estimate shall be reduced without further action by the school committee, town meeting, or city council by an amount equal to the value that state school aid and minimum required local contribution for the district are below the amount estimated by the commissioner unless the district or the member municipalities take specific actions to the contrary. For the purposes of this section the amount of state school aid appropriated to a city or town shall be the amount appropriated by the annual appropriation act without regard to any deductions pursuant to subsection (f) of section twelve B of chapter seventy-six.
appropriated funds; under-performing districts; restrictions Section 8. Except as required by General Law, each school district may determine how to allocate any funds appropriated for the support of public schools without regard to the categories employed in calculating the foundation budget; provided, however, that effective July 1, 1997, school or school districts which are determined to be under-performing or chronically under-performing within the meaning of sections 1J and 1K of chapter 69 may not allocate any such funds to cover legal expenses incurred in challenging such determination or in challenging actions taken by the board, the department or the commissioner in connection with such determination.
Section 9. School districts shall report each fiscal year to the commissioner of education on the amounts spent for extraordinary maintenance, extended programming, professional development, and books and instructional equipment. To the extent that the amounts spent for these purposes fall short of the allotments defined in this chapter, the superintendent shall explain the reasons for the shortfall.
School districts shall report each fiscal year to the commissioner of education on the amounts spent for administrative expenses. To the extent that the amounts spent for these purposes exceed the allotments defined in this chapter, the superintendent shall explain the reasons for the additional costs.
Section 1. Whereas the school building assistance program is the largest capital grant program operated by the commonwealth and is necessary for the establishment of public school buildings in the commonwealth; and whereas the costs of the school building assistance program are increasing at an unsustainable rate and local governments need flexibility in school building assistance to ensure that local needs for school facility space, downtown development, open space and community space are met; and to promote the thoughtful planning and construction of school facility space in order to insure safe and adequate plant facilities for the public schools, and to assist towns in meeting the cost thereof, there is hereby established a school building assistance program. It is in the best interests of the commonwealth and its citizens to create an authority to achieve the objectives of effective management and planning of the commonwealth’s investments in school building assets, promoting positive educational outcomes, ensuring the health, safety, security and well-being of students, easing and preventing overcrowding, maintaining good repair, efficient and economical construction and maintenance, financial sustainability of the school building assistance program, thoughtful community development, smart growth and accessibility.
[First paragraph effective until August 1, 2005. For text effective August 1, 2005, see below.
] Section 10. The grant percentage for approved school projects shall be calculated based on the following formula, but no grant percentage shall be less than 50 per cent nor greater than 90 per cent.
[First paragraph as amended by 2004, 208, Sec. 30 effective August 1, 2005. See 2004, 208, Sec. 57. For text effective until August 1, 2005, see above.
] The grant percentage for approved school projects shall be calculated based on the following formula, but no grant percentage shall be less than 40 per cent nor greater than 80 per cent.
(a) The percentage the commonwealth shall pay towards an approved school facilities project shall be determined by the following formula: Base Percentage (A) + Community Income Factor (B1) + Community Property Wealth Factor (B2) + Community Poverty Factor (B3) + Incentive Percentage (C).
[Paragraph (A) of subsection (a) effective until August 1, 2005. For text effective August 1, 2005, see below.
] (A) Base Percentage = 39 percentage points.
[Paragraph (A) of subsection (a) as amended by 2004, 208, Sec. 31 effective August 1, 2005. See 2004, 208, Sec. 57. For text effective until August 1, 2005, see above.
] (A) Base Percentage = 31 percentage points.
(B) Ability to pay percentage points (income/wealth factor) is determined as follows:(1) Community Income Factor = per capita income, as determined by the department of revenue, for a municipality as a per cent of the statewide average per capita income.
The Community Income Factor is then determined by using the chart below.
Income(2) Community Property Wealth Factor = Equalized property valuation per capita as determined by the department of revenue, for the municipality as a per cent of the statewide average equalized property valuation per capita.
The Community Property Wealth Factor is then determined by using the chart below.
Equalized Property Valuation(3) Community Poverty Factor = Proportion of low income students, as determined by federal eligibility for free or reduced price lunch, for the district as a per cent of the statewide average proportion of low income students.
The Community Poverty Factor is then determined by using the chart below.
Poverty [Paragraph (C) of subsection (a) effective until August 1, 2005. For text effective August 1, 2005, see below.
] (C) Incentive percentage points are determined as follows. Each time an eligible participant submits a project application the authority shall assess the school buildings in the school district and the prospective project to determine incentive percentage points for the applicant. The incentive percentage points shall have the following weight.
Incentive Percentage Points[Paragraph (C) of subsection (a) as amended by 2004, 208, Sec. 32 effective August 1, 2005. See 2004, 208, Sec. 57. For text effective until August 1, 2005, see above.
] (C) Incentive percentage points are determined as follows. Each time an eligible participant submits a project application the authority shall assess the school buildings in the school district and the prospective project to determine incentive percentage points for the applicant. The incentive percentage points shall have the following weight.
Incentive Percentage Points(b) In the case of regional school districts, B1 and B2 shall be determined by calculating the relationship to the statewide average for each municipality of the regional district as stated in this section. For purposes of this computation, each member city’s and town’s share of the total cost shall be determined by multiplying the total approved cost by the percentage of district or county capital costs that would be apportioned to such city or town in accordance with the applicable regional school district agreement or law for capital costs incurred in the fiscal year in which the grant is approved. The amount of the total capital costs apportioned to a member city or town in any fiscal year on account of an approved school project of a regional school or county, determined in accordance with the applicable regional school district agreement or law, shall be reduced by an amount equal to the amount of the grant payable on account of such project in such fiscal year multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is the city’s or town’s reimbursement percentage, determined as aforesaid, multiplied by the percentage of capital costs apportioned to the city or town for such fiscal year in accordance with the applicable regional school district agreement or law, and the denominator of which is the sum of the percentages so derived as the numerators for all of the member cities and towns.
In the case of independent agricultural and technical schools, B1 and B2 shall be determined by calculating the relationship to the statewide average for each municipality of the school as stated in this section. A weighted average will then be determined for these municipalities, weighted as compared to the number of students attending the school from each member municipality, which will be used to determine the final B1 and B2 factors.
(c) For approved school projects in districts which have a racial desegregation plan approved by the board of education not later than June 30, 2000, the reimbursement percentage shall be the sum of: (a) the percentage calculated pursuant to subsections (a) and (b); and (b) for projects designated as approved school projects on or before June 30, 2006, 10 percentage points, or, for projects designated as approved school projects on or before June 30, 2012, 5 percentage points. Only new project applications which present clear and convincing evidence that the proposed school building project will promote the objectives of achieving racial balance expressed in sections 37C and 37D of chapter 71 for the students attending the new, renovated, or repaired school will be eligible for the added percentage points. The total reimbursement percentage shall in no circumstances exceed the maximum grant percentage under the first paragraph of this section.
Section 11. Grants for approved school projects shall be paid in accordance with a disbursement schedule approved by the authority.
Section 14. For approved projects that are an alternative to construction or renovation, the authority shall establish eligible cost criteria, and on a case by case basis, shall determine the allowable cost of the project. Eligible costs may include but shall not be limited to furnishings and equipment, lease costs, rental fees, tuition costs and transportation costs. In no event shall an alternative project be reimbursed if it is determined by the authority to be more costly than construction necessary to achieve the same end.
school facilities project applicant receives grant payments Section 15. (a) In the event that an eligible applicant sells or leases an assisted structure or facility on account of which it is receiving grant payments for an approved school project or, in the case of an approved school project approved on or after July 1, 2004, on account of which it has received at least 1 grant payment in the preceding 20 years, pursuant to this chapter or pursuant to chapter 645 of the acts of 1948, the net proceeds from the sale or lease shall be divided between the commonwealth and the general funds of the applicable eligible applicant in proportion to the commonwealth’s prior investment in the assisted structure or facility under this chapter or said chapter 645, as applicable. In the case of an approved school project approved prior to July 1, 2004, the commonwealth’s share of the net proceeds shall reduce the balance of outstanding grant payments that would otherwise be payable except for this section and shall not exceed that amount. Any eligible applicant which sells, leases or otherwise removes from use by the eligible applicant as a schoolhouse any approved school project on account of which it is receiving grant payments or, in the case of an approved school project approved on or after July 1, 2004, on account of which it has received at least 1 grant payment in the preceding 20 years, pursuant to this chapter or pursuant to said chapter 645, shall report the sale, lease or removal to the authority in the form and manner and within the time prescribed by the authority. The authority may issue regulations to recapture commonwealth assistance for capital construction for any approved school facilities projects for school buildings that are removed from service.
(b) In the event an eligible applicant sells or leases an assisted structure or if the assisted structure was not used as a schoolhouse for at least half of the preceding fiscal year, the amount of outstanding grant payments remaining after reductions under the provisions of subsection (a), shall be deducted from each city, town or regional school district’s cherry sheets, so-called, as an assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 21 of chapter 59, according to a schedule agreed to between the city or town and the authority; provided, however, that at the discretion of the authority, deductions authorized from said cherry sheets under the provisions of this subsection may be waived for an assisted structure or facility which has been removed from use as a schoolhouse by a city, town or regional school district, pursuant to a plan approved by said city, town or regional school district and the authority, which provides for the reuse of the assisted structure or facility as a schoolhouse within two years of the adoption of the plan or prior to the expiration of the term of any bonds or notes issued to finance the project for which the grant was approved, whichever is the earliest.
(c) Any eligible applicant which applies for a grant pursuant to this chapter and which has, prior to such application, sold, leased or otherwise removed from service any schoolhouse operated by said eligible applicant shall be eligible for such grant only if the board determines either that the grant is not for the purpose of replacing a schoolhouse sold, leased or otherwise removed from service in the past ten years or that the need for the project covered by the grant could not have reasonably been anticipated at the time that such schoolhouse was sold, leased or otherwise removed from service.
(d) The provisions of this section, at the discretion of the authority, shall not apply to sales or leases of such assisted structures or facilities for nonprofit public purposes.
buildings Section 16. The authority shall create a maintenance assessment program for school buildings. Such assessment program shall include a review of all major building components, maintenance records, existing staff and vendor contracts. The authority shall use such assessment program to issue ratings of the building conditions for each school district; survey current conditions, develop a model plan for the proper maintenance of school buildings, and provide technical assistance and information to municipalities and school districts.
facilities projects Section 17. (a) On or before June 30 of each year, the authority shall submit a report to the governor, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on education, arts and humanities, the joint committee on natural resources, the house and senate committees on long-term debt and capital expenditures and the joint committee on local affairs which analyzes the anticipated financial needs for school facilities projects of the kind that qualify for assistance under this chapter. The report shall include a listing of each school building within the commonwealth, together with a description of its size, capacity, age and state of maintenance and whether it is likely to require construction, enlargement, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement due to such factors as deterioration, lack of adequate facilities to meet educational standards and anticipated increases in school-age population.
(b) The authority shall also conduct periodic surveys of the cities, towns and regional school districts to determine the need for new school facility construction to meet demand.
(c) The authority shall develop a long-term capital plan in accordance with needs and funding projected to be available in the trust under this chapter for purposes of planning and guiding the policies of the authority.
(d) The capital plans, needs surveys and reports of the authority shall not give rise to any claim, legal or moral, or enforceable right in any party to benefits or funds from the trust or from other sources.
issuance Section 19. Municipalities and school districts shall notify the authority within 30 days of refinancing any bond for which the municipality or district will receive state reimbursement under chapter 645 of the acts of 1948 or other law. The authority shall reimburse municipalities or districts at the actual interest rate obtained. The authority shall encourage municipalities and school districts to refinance any bond for which the municipality or district will receive state reimbursement where the refinancing would result in savings for the commonwealth or the municipality or school district and where the refinancing is otherwise in accordance with the law.
Section 1A. (a) There is hereby created a body politic and corporate and a public instrumentality to be known as the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which shall be an independent public authority not subject to the supervision and control of any other executive office, department, commission, board, bureau, agency or political subdivision of the commonwealth except as specifically provided in any general or special law. The exercise by the authority of the powers conferred by this chapter shall be considered to be the performance of an essential public function.
(b) The authority shall consist of the state treasurer, who shall serve as chairperson, the secretary of administration and finance, the commissioner of education, and 4 additional members appointed by the state treasurer, 2 of whom shall have practical experience in educational facilities planning, school building construction, or architecture and school design, and 2 of whom shall be persons in the field of education with demonstrated knowledge of Massachusetts curriculum frameworks and other relevant federal and state educational standards, each of whom shall serve a term of 2 years; but, a person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term. An appointed member of the authority shall be eligible for reappointment. The authority shall annually elect 1 of its members to serve as vice-chairperson. Each member of the authority serving ex officio may appoint a designee pursuant to section 6A of chapter 30.
(c) Four members of the authority shall constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote of 4 members of the authority shall be necessary and sufficient for any action taken by the authority. No vacancy in the membership of the authority shall impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the rights and duties of the authority. Members shall serve without pay but shall be reimbursed for actual expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties. The chairperson of the authority shall report to the governor and to the general court no less than annually, to assist the executive and legislative branches in coordinating educational, community development and fiscal policies of the commonwealth.
(d) Any action of the authority may take effect immediately and need not be published or posted unless otherwise provided by law. Meetings of the authority shall be subject to section 11A 1/2 of chapter 30A; but, said section 11A 1/2 shall not apply to any meeting of members of the authority serving ex officio in the exercise of their duties as officers of the commonwealth so long as no matters relating to the official business of the authority are discussed and decided at the meeting. The authority shall be subject to all other provisions of said chapter 30A, and records pertaining to the administration of the authority shall be subject to section 42 of chapter 30 and section 10 of chapter 66. All moneys of the authority shall be considered to be public funds for purposes of chapter 12A. The operations of the authority shall be subject to chapter 268A and chapter 268B and all other operational or administrative standards or requirements to the same extent as the office of the state treasurer.
Section 2. For the purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:-“Advisory board”, the school building advisory board.
“Alternatives to construction”, approved school facilities projects that do not include capital construction, major reconstruction or building renovation, but no alternative project shall be reimbursed if it is determined by the authority to be more costly than construction necessary to achieve the same end.
“Approved school project”, a school project approved by the authority.
“Assisted facility”, a school facility that has received a total facilities grant pursuant to this chapter.
“Authority”, the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
“Capital construction project”, any capital project, other than a major reconstruction project, for the construction, the enlargement or original equipping of any public schoolhouse in any city or town, or a project for the renovation or partial renovation of an existing structure for use as a schoolhouse; or the renovation or partial renovation of an existing schoolhouse.
“Construction manager”, construction manager as defined by section 38A 1/2 of chapter 7.
“Eligible applicant”, a city, town, regional school district or independent agricultural and technical school.
“Energy efficient construction rating”, rating given to eligible applicants by the authority based upon a determination that the construction techniques of an approved school project meet or exceed energy efficiency standards established by the board of building regulations and the National Institute of Standards and Technology and which meet the purposes of subsection (c) of section 4E of chapter 40J.
“Innovative community use”, approved school facilities projects that combine community resources to streamline the costs of and utilize other funding sources for the facilities project.
“Maintenance rating”, rating given to schools and school districts by the authority, based on a maintenance assessment conducted by the authority.
“Major reconstruction project”, any capital school facilities or extraordinary maintenance project including, but not limited to, the retrofitting of a school for the purpose of providing wireless or other learning technologies, the replacement of a roof or heating plant if it is determined by the board that such project has not been necessitated, in whole or in part, by the failure of an eligible applicant to make adequate and prudent provisions for the care and maintenance of said school.
“Nonstate fundraising”, third party monies made available to the eligible applicant for approved school facilities projects including, but not limited to, private donations and federal grants.
“Project manager”, a person designated or assigned by an eligible applicant, and approved by the authority, to manage and coordinate daily administration of a school facility or building project to completion including, but not limited to, school district or municipal staff person or a volunteer with appropriate experience and expertise.
“Prototypical school plans”, school building project architectural designs and plans collected and maintained by the authority for consultation by eligible applicants.
“Regional school”, any public school established under law by the action of two or more cities or towns. For the purposes of this chapter, the agricultural schools maintained by the counties of Bristol and Norfolk shall be deemed to be regional schools.
“Regional school district”, any instrumentality of the commonwealth, established by two or more cities and towns for the purpose of operating a regional school.
“School project”, any capital construction or major reconstruction projects; the lease of buildings or modular facilities; arrangements with higher education facilities or other nonprofit or municipal entities; use of swing space between school buildings in the district; tuition arrangements with other school districts to prevent overcrowding; and other school facilities projects. The cost of tuition arrangements in existence prior to project application shall not be eligible for reimbursement as an approved school project.
“Total facilities grant”, the grant representing the commonwealth’s total contribution to an approved school project and which is calculated as follows: In the case of a grant for an approved project of a city or town, the total facilities grant shall be the product of multiplying the final approved costs of such project, including costs referred to in section 4, by the reimbursement percentage determined pursuant to section 10 for the year in which the project is approved.
(1) In the case of a grant for an approved project of a regional school district or a county, the total facilities grant shall be the sum of the grants computed separately for each city and town which is a member of said regional school district or located in said county as hereinafter provided. For purposes of this computation, each member city’s and town’s share of the combined grant shall be equal to the total approved project cost, including costs referred to in section 4, multiplied by the product of the reimbursement percentage listed in subsection (a) of section 10, multiplied by the percentage of district or county capital costs that would be apportioned to such city or town in accordance with the applicable regional school district agreement or law for capital costs incurred in the fiscal year in which the grant is approved. The amount of the total capital costs apportioned to a member city or town in any fiscal year on account of an approved school project of a regional school or county, determined in accordance with the applicable regional school district agreement or law, shall be reduced by an amount equal to the amount of the grant payable on account of such project in such fiscal year multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is the city’s or town’s reimbursement percentage, determined as aforesaid, multiplied by the percentage of capital costs apportioned to the city or town for such fiscal year in accordance with the applicable regional school district agreement or law and the denominator of which is the sum of the percentages so derived as the numerators for all of the member cities and towns.
(2) In the case of a grant for an approved project of an independent agricultural and technical school, the total facilities grant shall be the sum of the grants computed separately for each city and town in which students of said school reside averaged by means of a weighted average multiplied by the final approved costs.
“Trust”, the Massachusetts School Modernization and Reconstruction Trust, established by section 35BB of chapter 10.
policy and review standards; specific powers of board Section 3. There is hereby established a school building assistance program. The purpose of said program is generally to encourage and foster the thoughtful establishment and maintenance of school facility space in and among the cities and towns of the commonwealth; to conduct surveys and studies relative thereto; and to administer the provisions of this chapter relative to grants to cities and towns for the planning and construction of school building and school facility projects.
The purposes of the program shall be the provision of financial assistance to cities, towns and regional school districts as beneficiaries of the trust to finance and refinance the costs of approved school projects as provided in, and as necessary to implement this chapter, including without limitation providing for the payment of grants approved pursuant to this chapter and the payment of all costs of the authority, including professional and financial services incident to the conduct of its operations.
The authority shall establish general policy and review standards regarding school building construction, renovation, maintenance and facility space and administer the school building assistance program in accordance with this chapter. In carrying out its duties, the authority shall be guided by the following principles: preservation of open space and minimization of loss of such open space, emphasis on thoughtful community development, and project flexibility that addresses the needs of individual communities and municipalities. In accordance with the terms of any bond resolution, trust or security agreement or credit enhancement agreement, surety bond or insurance policy related to indebtedness incurred by the authority secured by amounts provided to the trust in accordance with section 35BB of chapter 10, the holders of indebtedness and the providers of any credit enhancement, surety bond or insurance policy shall also be beneficiaries of the trust. The authority shall apply and disburse moneys and revenues of the trust without further appropriation or allotment.
The authority, shall establish general policy and review standards regarding school building construction, renovation, maintenance and facility space, administer the school building assistance program in accordance with this chapter and coordinate the distribution of school facilities grants in accordance with this chapter. The board shall be responsible for the oversight and management of the school building assistance program as established herein and referred to hereafter as the “program”. In carrying out its duties, the authority shall be guided by the following principles: preservation of open space and minimization of loss of such open space; emphasis on thoughtful community development; and project flexibility that addresses the needs of individual communities and municipalities.
Specific powers of the authority shall include, but not be limited to, the following:(a) review, approve or deny grant applications, waivers and other requests submitted to the program; review, approve and recommend changes to grant payment schedules or suspend said schedules for program projects such as refinancings, audit findings and such other circumstances that may warrant such action;(b) provide architectural or other technical advice and assistance, training and education, to cities and towns or to joint committees thereof and to general contractors, subcontractors, construction or project managers, designers and others in the planning, maintenance and establishment of school facility space;(c) recommend to the general court such legislation as it may deem desirable or necessary to further the purposes of this chapter;(d) develop a formal enrollment projection model or consider using projection models already available;(e) to apply for, receive, administer and comply with the conditions and requirements respecting any grant, gift or appropriation of property, services or moneys;(f) to enter into contracts, arrangements and agreements with other persons and execute and deliver all trust agreements, grant agreements and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers of the trust;(g) to borrow and repay money by issuing bonds or notes of the trust, to apply the proceeds thereof as provided in this chapter and to pledge or assign or create security interests in any revenues, receipts or other assets or funds of the trust to secure bonds or notes;(h) develop a project priority system;(i) collect and maintain a clearinghouse of prototypical school plans which may be consulted by eligible applicants;(j) determine eligibility of cost components of projects for reimbursement, including partial or full eligibility for project components for which the benefit is shared between the school and other municipal entities;(k) establish appropriate rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter;(l) prepare an annual budget for the administration of the program;(m) collect and maintain data on all the public school facilities in the commonwealth, including information on size, usage, enrollment, available facility space and maintenance;(n) perform or commission a needs survey to ascertain the capital construction, reconstruction, maintenance and other capital needs for schools in the commonwealth;(o) develop a long term capital plan in accordance with needs and projected funding;(p) adopt and amend bylaws and such rules, regulations and procedures for the conduct of the business of the trust as the board shall deem necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter;(q) establish and maintain reserves;(r) disburse amounts due to cities, towns and regional school districts pursuant to grants approved by the board to finance or refinance costs of approved school projects and to provide for the payment of all costs of the trust, including professional and financial services incident to the conduct of its operations;(s) invest the funds of the trust in such investments as may be legal investments for funds of the commonwealth or any fiduciary in the commonwealth;(t) obtain insurance and enter into agreements of indemnification necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers of the trust;(u) sue and be sued and to prosecute and defend actions relating to the affairs of the trust; but the trust shall not be authorized to become a debtor under the United States Bankruptcy Code;(v) engage accounting, management, legal, financial, consulting and other professional services necessary to the operations of the trust; and(w) do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
The chairperson of the authority shall appoint an executive director, who shall supervise the administrative affairs and general management and operations of the authority and who shall also serve as secretary of the authority, ex officio. The executive director shall receive a salary commensurate with the duties of the office, and may be removed by the board for cause. The executive director may appoint other officers of the authority necessary to the functioning of the authority. The executive director shall designate no fewer than 1 employee to be a municipal liaison to assist cities and towns with concerns regarding the construction of schools. Sections 9A, 45, 46, and 46C of chapter 30, chapter 31 and chapter 150E shall not apply to the executive director or any other employees of the authority. The executive director shall, with the approval of the authority: (i) plan, direct, coordinate and execute administrative functions in conformity with the policies and directives of the authority; (ii) employ professional and clerical staff as necessary; (iii) report to the authority on all operations under his control and supervision; (iv) prepare an annual budget and manage the administrative expenses of the authority; and (v) undertake any other activities necessary to implement the powers and duties set forth in this chapter.
members Section 3A. (a) There shall be a school building advisory board comprised of the state auditor or his designee, the inspector general or his designee, and the executive director of the authority, who shall serve as the secretary to the advisory board and shall be a nonvoting member of the board, and 15 members to represent the following nongovernmental organizations, to be appointed by those organizations: the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, the Massachusetts Mayors Association, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools, the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, the Massachusetts chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Massachusetts Alliance of Small Contractors, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts, the Associated Subcontractors of Massachusetts, the American Institute of Architects–Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts and acting jointly, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and Massachusetts Federation of Teachers. The advisory board shall assist the authority in the development of general policy regarding school building construction, renovation, reconstruction, maintenance and facility space, preservation of open space and minimization of loss of open space, thoughtful community development, cost management and shall provide technical advice and input to the authority. The advisory board shall meet at least quarterly.
[There is no subsection (b).
] Section 3B. (a) The authority may provide by resolution for the issuance from time to time of bonds for any purpose of the trust, which bonds may be issued as general obligations of the authority or as special obligations payable solely from particular revenues or moneys of the authority. Bonds of the authority shall not be considered to be a debt of the commonwealth or of any of its political subdivisions. The bonds of each issue may be dated, may bear interest at such rate or rates, including rates variable from time to time, and may mature or otherwise be payable or redeemable at such times as the authority may determine. The authority shall determine the denominations of bonds, the details of their execution and authentication and their places of payment within or without the commonwealth. Before initial issuance of each series of bonds the authority shall advise the finance advisory board of the terms of the bonds and the timing of their issuance. In case any member or officer of the authority whose signature appears on any bonds shall cease to be such officer before their delivery, the signature shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient as if the officer had remained in office until delivery. Bonds may be issued in certificated or uncertificated form, payable to bearer or registered owners, and, if notes, may be made payable to bearer or to order. The authority may sell the bonds of the authority at public or private sale, at par or for such premium or discount price as it may determine. The authority may by resolution delegate to any member or officer of the authority the power to determine any of the matters set forth in this section. The aggregate principal amount of all bonds issued under this chapter shall not exceed $10,000,000,000 outstanding at any time. The principal amount of bonds for the payment or redemption of which, either at or before maturity, refunding bonds shall have been issued, shall be excluded from the aggregate principal amount of bonds issued under this chapter for purposes of computing the limit on outstanding bonds under this section.
(b) Bonds of the authority may be secured by a trust agreement between the authority and the bond owners or a corporate trustee, which may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company within or without the commonwealth. A trust agreement may pledge or assign, in whole or in part, any receipts, fees, revenues or other payments received or to be received by the authority, including without limitation amounts provided to the trust in accordance with section 35BB of chapter 10, grants, appropriations or other assistance from the commonwealth or the United States or any political subdivision or instrumentality of either, investment earnings on its funds and accounts and any other fees, charges or other income received or receivable by the authority and any contract or other rights to receive the same, whether then existing or thereafter coming into existence, and whether then held or thereafter acquired by the trust, and the proceeds thereof. A trust agreement may contain, without limitation, provisions for protecting and enforcing the rights, security and remedies of the bondholders, provisions defining defaults and establishing remedies, which may include acceleration and may also contain restrictions on remedies by individual bondholders. A trust agreement may also contain covenants of the trust concerning the custody, investment and application of moneys, the issuance of additional or refunding bonds, the use of any surplus bond proceeds, the establishment of reserves and the regulation of other matters customarily treated in trust agreements. At the request of the authority, the state treasurer shall join in any trust agreement or to otherwise agree with the authority, any lender or any trustee for bondholders to hold the School Modernization and Reconstruction Trust Fund, established pursuant to said section 35BB of said chapter 10, in compliance with any covenants and provisions relating thereto in any trust agreement.
(c) Bonds may be issued by the authority in the form of lines of credit or other banking arrangements under terms and conditions determined by the authority. In addition to other lawful security, bonds may be secured, in whole or in part, by financial guaranties, by insurance, by letters or lines of credit or by other credit enhancement issued to the authority or to a trustee or other person, by any bank, trust company, insurance or surety company or other financial institution, within or without the commonwealth. The authority may pledge or assign, in whole or in part, revenues, funds or other assets or property held or to be received by the authority, and any contract or other rights to receive the same, whether then existing or thereafter coming into existence and whether then held or thereafter acquired by the authority, and the proceeds thereof, as security for any such guaranties or insurance or for the reimbursement to any issuer of a line or letter of credit.
(d) The authority may by resolution provide for the issuance by the authority of interim receipts or temporary bonds, exchangeable for definitive bonds when the bonds are executed and are available for delivery. The authority may also provide for replacement of mutilated, destroyed or lost bonds. The authority may purchase and invite offers to tender for purchase any outstanding bonds; provided, however, that no purchase by the authority shall be made at a price, exclusive of accrued interest, if any, exceeding the principal amount of the bond or, if greater, the redemption price of the bond when next redeemable at the option of the authority. The authority may resell any bonds it purchases in such manner and for such price as it may determine.
(e) The authority may also provide for issuance by the authority of temporary notes in anticipation of bonds, grants, revenues or appropriations. The issuance of the notes shall be governed by this chapter relating to the issuance of bonds. The authority may also issue refunding bonds of the authority for the purpose of paying any bonds at or before maturity. Refunding bonds may be issued at any time at or before the maturity or redemption or purchase of the refunded bonds. Refunding bonds may be issued in sufficient amounts to pay or provide for payment of the principal of the bonds being refunded, together with any redemption premium thereon, any interest or discount accrued or to accrue to the date of payment, costs of issuance and other expenses and reserves reasonably necessary to achieve the refunding.
(f) Bonds of the authority are securities in which public officers and agencies, insurance companies, financial institutions, investment companies, executors, administrators, trustees and others may properly invest funds including capital within their control and securities which may be deposited with any public officer or any agency for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds is authorized by law.
(g) Bonds of the authority shall be considered to be investment securities under chapter 106. Bonds, their transfer and the income therefrom, including any profit made on the sale thereof, shall at all times be exempt from taxation by and within the commonwealth. The authority shall not be required to pay any taxes, assessments or excises upon its income, existence, operation, assets, moneys or revenues.
(h) It shall be lawful for any bank or trust company to act as a depository or trustee under a trust agreement, provided it furnishes such indemnification and reasonable security as the authority may require. Any assignment or pledge of revenues, funds or other assets or property made by the authority shall be valid and binding and shall be deemed continuously perfected for the purposes of chapter 106 and other laws when made. The revenues, funds and other assets and property, rights therein and thereto and proceeds so pledged and then held or thereafter acquired or received by the authority shall immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery or segregation or further act, and the lien of the pledge shall be valid and binding against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise against the authority, whether or not the parties have notice thereof. The trust agreement by which a pledge is created need not be filed or recorded to perfect the pledge except in the records of the trustees and no filing need be made pursuant to said chapter 106. Any pledge or assignment made by the authority is an exercise of its political and governmental powers, and revenues, funds, assets, property and contract or other rights to receive the same and the proceeds thereof which are subject to the lien of a pledge or assignment created under this chapter shall not be applied to any purposes not permitted by the pledge or assignment. Any holder of a bond and any trustee under a trust agreement, except to the extent its rights may be restricted by the trust agreement, may bring suit upon the bonds and may pursue any other legal action to protect and enforce its rights and compel performance of all duties required to be performed by the trust and the authority.
Section 3D. The authority, in cooperation with the state treasurer, shall at all times keep accounts of all receipts, expenditures and disbursements and all assets and liabilities of the authority, which shall be open to inspection by any officer or duly appointed agent of the commonwealth. The authority shall submit an annual report, in writing, to the governor and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, who shall forward the same to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairpersons of the house and senate committees on ways and means and the house and senate chairpersons of the joint committee on education, arts and humanities. The report shall include financial statements relating to the operations, assets and expenditures of the authority maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles so far as applicable and audited by an independent certified public accountant firm.
engineering and architectural services; application and documentation Section 4. Any eligible applicant may apply to the board for reimbursement, in whole or in part, of any expenses incurred for educational, engineering and architectural services incidental to the planning of a regional school or any expenses incurred for surveys made of school building needs and conditions, the contract for which has been approved by the authority. Such application shall be accompanied by information and documentation that the authority may require.
Section 5. Any eligible applicant may apply to the authority for a school facilities grant to meet in part the cost of a school project. The costs shall include all costs and legal fees to enforce rights on any contracts for the construction of a school project. The application shall be in the form prescribed by the authority and shall be accompanied or supplemented by drawings, plans, estimates of cost and proposals for defraying the costs or any additional information the authority may require, before construction is undertaken. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, in the event that an eligible applicant undertakes construction before approval is obtained, said eligible applicant shall remain subject to the authority’s approval process as if the construction were not undertaken. Any eligible applicant who is eligible for aid under this chapter and establishes extended courses of instruction in a vocational school, as provided in section 37A of chapter 74, and wishes to enlarge or construct a school for the purpose of maintaining extended courses of instruction on a technical institute level shall be eligible for financial assistance in the construction or enlargement of such school in the manner and to the extent provided by this chapter. If a project application is not approved, and the sole reason for such disapproval is the limit on total facilities grants established by section 7, at the request of the eligible applicant, the application shall be retained by the authority and reviewed in the following fiscal year; provided, that in said review, the project shall be ranked and evaluated using the priorities established by section 8 of this chapter; provided, further, that the authority shall require a new application from any applicant seeking to make a substantial change in scope of the project which is the subject of the application subsequent to disapproval by the authority.
notice of approval or rejection Section 6. (a) Upon receipt of an application under section 5, from time to time, the authority may designate approved school projects. The authority shall examine forthwith the applications and any facts, estimates, or other information relative thereto, and shall make the following findings in order to designate a school project as an approved school project:(1) The school project is in the best interests of the commonwealth and the eligible applicant, with respect to its site, type of construction, sufficiency of accommodations, open space preservation, urban development, urban sprawl, energy efficiency, and otherwise.
(2) The school project is necessary to meet educational standards of the curriculum frameworks established by the board of education pursuant to section 1E of chapter 69 for anticipated enrollment levels.
(3) The school project has a value over its useful life commensurate with the lifecycle cost of building, operating, and maintaining the project.
(4) The school project is not at a school that has been the site of an approved school project pursuant to this chapter or to chapter 645 of the acts of 1948 within the 10 years prior to the project application date, or the approved school project is unrelated to such previously approved project in the same school.
(5) The school project is within the capacity of the authority to finance within revenues projected to be available to the trust, established pursuant to section 35BB of chapter 10.
(6) The commissioner of education has certified that adequate provisions have been made in the school project for children with disabilities, as defined in section 1 of chapter 71B, and, in the case of elementary facilities, that adequate provisions consistent with local policy have been made for all-day kindergarten, pre-kindergarten classes and for extended day programs; provided, however, that no district shall be required to adopt the classes or programs.
The authority shall also consider the availability of funds projected in the trust and other financial obligations of the authority, the authority’s long term capital plan, the results of needs surveys, the order of priorities under section 8 and construction procedures and standards under section 9 and otherwise as prescribed by law and regulation. With respect to a regional school district, the authority shall also consider whether the school project represents an economy of scale that benefits the commonwealth and the municipalities of the region.
(b) Within a reasonable time after receipt of the application the authority shall notify the applicant of its approval or rejection thereof, and, in the event of its rejection, of the reasons therefor. Notice of approval hereunder shall be accompanied by a statement of the estimated approved cost as determined by the authority, and an estimate of the amount of total facilities grant to which the eligible applicant may be entitled under section 10.
(c) If the authority designates a school project to be an approved school project, the authority shall compute the estimated approved cost of the project, which cost may be equal to the estimated cost furnished by the eligible applicant or a lesser amount, and compute the amount estimated of facilities grant to which the applicant would be entitled under section 10, such computation being based on said approved cost. The final approved cost shall be determined by the authority within a reasonable time after the acceptance of the completed project by the local school committee. Final audits shall be conducted promptly by the authority. Final payments shall be determined based on the final approved cost.
(d) Any city or town which has received, in accordance with subsection (b) and (c), notice of approval and an estimate of the amount of a school facilities grant to which such city or town may be entitled may borrow from time to time to finance that portion of the cost of the approved school project not being paid by such grant, in such amount approved by the board of selectmen or mayor or city manager of the city or town, and may issue bonds or notes therefor which shall bear on their face the words (name of city or town) School Project Loan, chapter 70B. Each authorized issue shall constitute a separate loan, and the loans shall be paid in not more than 25 years from their dates. Any city, town or regional school district which has received, in accordance with subsections (b) and (c), notice of approval and an estimate of the amount of a school facilities grant to which such city, town or regional school district may be entitled may issue and renew temporary notes. The authority shall issue regulations relative to issuance of temporary notes for school construction. Indebtedness incurred under this chapter shall be outside the statutory debt limit but shall, except as herein provided, be subject to chapter 44.
Section 7. There shall be a limit on the aggregate estimated amount of total facilities grants approved by the authority during a fiscal year. For the 2008 fiscal year the limit shall be $500,000,000. For each fiscal year thereafter the limit shall be the limit for the previous fiscal year plus 4.
5 per cent.
projects and reimbursements; deferral of approval or disapproval of project applications Section 8. The authority shall approve school projects and reimbursements under this chapter in accordance with the following order of priorities:(1) priority shall be given to school projects needed in the judgment of said board to replace or renovate a building which is structurally unsound or otherwise in a condition seriously jeopardizing the health and safety of school children, where no alternative exists;(2) priority shall be given to school projects to eliminate existing severe overcrowding;(3) priority shall be given to school projects needed in the judgment of said authority to prevent loss of accreditation;(4) priority shall be given to school projects needed in the judgment of said authority to prevent severe overcrowding expected to result from increased enrollments which must be substantiated;(5) priority shall be given to projects needed in the judgment of said authority for the replacement, renovation or modernization of the heating system in any schoolhouse to increase energy conservation and decrease energy related costs in said schoolhouse;(6) priority shall be given to any school project needed in the judgment of said authority for short term enrollment growth;(7) priority shall be given to school projects needed in the judgment of said authority to replace or add to obsolete buildings in order to provide for a full range of programs consistent with state and approved local requirements; and(8) priority shall be given to projects needed in the judgment of said authority to transition from court-ordered and authority approved racial balance school districts to walk-to, so-called, or other school districts.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 6, the authority may defer its approval or disapproval of any project application if such deferral is necessary for the effective implementation of the provisions of this section. The authority may issue regulations to define the procedures pursuant to which the priorities established by this section will be implemented. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the authority shall not approve any project for any school district which fails to spend in the year preceding the year of application at least 50 per cent of the sum of said school district’s calculated foundation budget amounts for the purposes of foundation utility and ordinary maintenance expenses, and extraordinary maintenance allotment as defined in chapter 70, for said purposes. From fiscal year 1999 forward, no school district shall be approved for a project nor receive school facilities funds unless said district has spent at least 50 per cent of the sum of said district’s calculated foundation budget amounts in each of the fiscal years including and succeeding fiscal year 1999. All projects which received first school building assistance payments prior to July 1, 2000 shall be exempted from the provisions of this paragraph. Upon a request of a school district, the authority may grant a waiver from said requirement for unanticipated or extraordinary changes in maintenance spending as determined by said departments including, but not limited to, the impact on said spending due to the opening of a new school building, the closing of an existing school building or the completion of a major renovation project.
creative school projects; standards and procedures; regulations Section 9. (a) In order to maximize the cost effective production of efficient and creative school projects, the authority shall require that every school project conform to standards and procedures as the authority considers appropriate including, not but limited to, the following: (1) that the applicant fully consider all available options for satisfying the described need, including tuition agreements with adjacent school districts, rental or acquisition and any necessary rehabilitation or usage modification of any existing building which could be made available for school use; (2) that the applicant’s site selection is based on the cost and environmental factors, including an awareness of soil conditions and their probable effect on foundation and site development costs, transportation effects, dislocation of site occupants and relationship to other community facilities; (3) that the applicant enter into contracts, using forms satisfactory to the authority for such competent architectural, engineering and other services as may be required; and (4) that procedures satisfactory to the board are followed by the applicant throughout the planning and construction of the project such as will assure maximum attention to the operating and capital cost effects of program and design decisions, materials and systems selections.
(b) The authority shall issue annually, as hereinafter provided, maximum eligible cost standards and size standards for school projects. These standards may take into account the type and location of a proposed school project and may also take into account the difficulty of siting school facilities in dense urban areas in which there exists a shortage of available municipally-owned sites and the increased cost of construction and major renovation in such urban areas. The program standards shall define prototype school design and space recommendations for each specified program activity eligible for state financial assistance. The program standards shall, in the judgment of the authority, be in conformity with the minimum requirements of state law and shall also reflect consideration of cost effects, prevailing educational standards in the commonwealth and the needs of efficient and creative school projects. The cost standards shall be based on the price experience of recently completed and recently bid school projects, taking into account the cost effectiveness of design, construction and programming techniques utilized in such school projects. For the purpose of calculating the total construction grant under section 10, the estimated approved cost and the final approved cost for a school project shall not exceed the cost that would result if the project conformed to prototype school standards. The provisions of this section shall not be deemed to preclude an eligible applicant from exceeding prototype school standard; provided, however, the cost of such additional facilities and design shall not be included in the estimated cost and final approved cost on the basis of which the state construction grant is calculated.
(c) On or before March 1 in each year, the authority shall adopt interim regulations, including minimum program standards and maximum cost standards, for the implementation of this section. Upon the adoption of such regulations, the authority shall forthwith file copies thereof with the clerk of the house of representatives who shall refer such regulations to an appropriate committee of the general court. Within 30 days after such filing, said committee may hold a public hearing on the regulations, shall issue a report, and file a copy thereof with the board. Said board shall adopt final regulations making such revisions in the interim regulations as it deems appropriate in view of such report and shall forthwith file a copy of the regulations with the chairperson of the committee of the general court to which the interim regulations were referred. Not earlier than 30 days after the date of such filing, the board shall file the final regulations with the state secretary and the said regulations shall thereupon take effect.
twelve-month school year Section 1. Every town shall maintain, for at least the number of days required by the board of education in each school year unless specifically exempted as to any one year by said board, a sufficient number of schools for the instruction of all children who may legally attend a public school therein. No town shall hold double sessions in any public school, if in any other public school of comparable grade levels in such town there are vacant spaces for more than thirty-five children, the number of such vacant spaces to be computed without exceeding a maximum of thirty-five children to a classroom. The board of education may suspend the application of the preceding sentence in a particular town for a limited period. Such schools shall be taught by teachers of competent ability and good morals, and shall give instruction and training in orthography, reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, drawing, music, the history and constitution of the United States, the duties of citizenship, health education, physical education and good behavior. Instruction in health education shall include, but shall not be limited to: consumer health, ecology, community health, body structure and function, safety, nutrition, fitness and body dynamics, dental health, emotional development, and training in the administration of first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The department of education shall pay for the cost of any such instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation; provided, however, that a school committee may by majority vote decide that such instruction shall not be offered. In connection with physiology and hygiene, instruction as to the effects of alcoholic drinks and of stimulants, including tobacco, and narcotics on the human system, as to tuberculosis and its prevention, as to detection and prevention of breast and uterine cancer, and as to fire safety, including instruction in the flammable qualities of certain fabrics, and as to the prevention and treatment of burn injuries, shall be given to all pupils in all schools under public control, except schools maintained solely for instruction in particular subject areas. The department of education is hereby directed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Center for Global Education, to establish a task force for the purpose of developing a model curriculum for grades kindergarten through twelve in global education and international studies. A copy of said curriculum shall be sent to the superintendent of schools for each school district in the commonwealth. The department shall encourage each school district to implement said curriculum, or a variation thereof. No pupil shall be required to take or participate in instruction on disease, its symptoms, development and treatment, whose parent or guardian shall object thereto in writing on the grounds such instruction conflicts with his sincerely held religious beliefs, and no pupil so exempt shall be penalized by reason of such exemption. Such other subjects as the school committee considers expedient may be taught in the public schools. The board of education shall adopt rules and regulations for the establishment of a twelve-month school year. Any city, town or school district by vote of its school committee may maintain and operate on a continuous twelve-month basis a sufficient number of schools for the instruction of all children who may legally attend a public school therein in accordance with such rules and regulations. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as to authorize said board to require the establishment of a twelve-month school year in any city, town or school district the school committee of which has not voted to establish, maintain and operate such a twelve-month school year.
The advisory council on violence prevention established by section 1G of chapter 15 shall recommend for approval by the board of education a model curriculum for grades kindergarten through 12 in education programs on violence prevention for the purpose of informing students of the harmful effects of teenage violence, weapons and illegal drug use and of promoting community and social responsibility. The department of education shall send a copy of said curriculum to the superintendent of schools for each school district in the commonwealth. The department shall encourage school districts to implement said curriculum or a variation thereof.
Section 10. If the school committee of a town of less than five hundred families or householders not maintaining a public high school offering four years of instruction, pays, with the approval of the department, for the instruction of a pupil who by reason of physical disability is unable to attend a high school in another town, the commonwealth shall reimburse the town therefor under the same conditions and to the same amount as for tuition in such a high school, and for transportation thereto, but not exceeding one hundred dollars a year in lieu of tuition plus one dollar and fifty cents per week of actual instruction in lieu of transportation.
Section 11. For the purposes of the six preceding sections, a “high school” is defined as that part of the school system which furnishes instruction in addition to that offered in the first eight grades and other than vocational instruction directly aided by the commonwealth.
Section 13. In every public school having not less than one hundred and fifty pupils, any course not included in the regular curriculum shall be taught if the parents or guardians of not less than thirty pupils or of a number of pupils equivalent to five per cent of the pupil enrollment in the high school, whichever is less, request in writing the teaching thereof; provided that said request is made and said enrollment is completed before the preceding August first; provided, further, a qualified teacher is available to teach the course; and provided, further, that the approval and implementation of said course is voted by two-thirds or more of the full membership of the school committee. The teaching of any course as provided by this section may be discontinued if the enrollment of pupils falls below fifteen. Such courses as may be taught under this section shall be given the same academic credit necessary for a high school diploma as is given to similar courses taught in said public high school, provided that the school committee shall make a determination as to the credit equivalency of such course prior to its being offered.
Section 13D. Motor vehicle driving education may be incorporated as a phase of the safety education program in high schools of the commonwealth. The content of driver education courses shall be established by the commissioner of education in collaboration with the registrar of motor vehicles. Courses in motor vehicle driver education may be given as evening courses in the schools of any town for the training of persons under twenty-five years of age. No person shall be precluded from taking any such course because he is licensed to operate motor vehicles. School committees may fix reasonable fees for tuition in such evening courses or may provide that no fee shall be charged. If a motor vehicle driver education course is required pursuant to the provisions of section thirteen such courses shall consist of classroom and behind-the-wheel training; provided, however, that no school committee shall be required to include behind-the-wheel training during the regular school day as part of such course.
The front seats of motor vehicles used for driver education under this section shall be equipped with safety belts for the instructor and the pupil.
A driver education course shall include a motorcycle awareness program module, as approved by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, to ensure that new operators of motor vehicles have some knowledge and awareness of motorcycles on roadways for the safety of motorcyclists. Two dollars from each motorcycle registration fee paid under section 34 of chapter 90 shall be used to fund the cost of the required materials for the motorcycle awareness program module required by this section.
program; executive committee for educational television Section 13F. The course of study in elementary and high schools may include instruction by means of educational programs broadcast through the facilities of television stations. The cost of such programs may be shared by cities and towns within viewing range of such television stations and the school committee of each such city or town may include within its budget such funds not to exceed one dollar per pupil enrolled in public elementary and high schools in such city or town, for the payment thereof as it may deem advisable. The state treasurer shall annually, on or before November twentieth, reimburse each city or town which has shared the cost of such programs, as evidenced by the written agreement of each such city or town with the executive committee for educational television, a sum equal to fifty per cent of the total share paid by such city or town for the then current fiscal year. Said reimbursement shall be subject to appropriation and shall not exceed a total reimbursement to the several such cities or towns of more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Other educational agencies may participate in this program by a financial contribution. The board of education, with the advice of the commissioner, shall appoint a committee to co-ordinate and administer such programs. Said committee shall be known as the executive committee for educational television, in this section and sections thirteen G to thirteen I, inclusive, called the committee. The committee shall consist of twelve members, of whom at least seven shall be representatives of contributing school systems. As the term of office of a member expires his successor shall be appointed in like manner for a term of four years. The members of the committee shall serve without compensation, except that they may be reimbursed for their necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties.
rules and regulations; personnel Section 13G. Subject to the approval of the board of education, the executive committee for educational television shall act in matters pertaining to educational television. Said committee may adopt rules for the conduct of its business. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Said committee shall recommend to said board of education the appointment of such professional personnel as is necessary to carry on the work of the committee, and may recommend the appointment of such clerical, engineering, legal, or other assistants as it deems necessary, provided, however, that no obligation shall be incurred for the payment of salaries or other compensation to any such employee, except from available funds appropriated to the board of education by the general court or from such other funds as may be held in trust by the said committee.
and reports Section 13H. The committee may establish and manage under such regulations as it may from time to time prescribe, a trust fund to be known as the Educational Television Program Fund. All funds received from school committees, organizations, or individuals for the purposes of sections thirteen F to thirteen I, inclusive, shall be credited to said Fund and shall be deposited in the state treasury and may be expended by the committee for such purposes without appropriation; provided, that no obligation shall be incurred for any expenditure in excess of sums available therefor.
The committee shall cause accurate accounts to be kept at all times of all receipts and expenditures of funds received by it, and shall make a report of the same annually in December to the board of education.
powers and duties Section 13I. In order to carry out its duties, said committee, from time to time and within the limits of appropriation therefor and of available trust funds, may—(a) Acquire, construct, hold, lease and dispose of real and personal property;(b) Prepare programs, enter into agreements providing for the furnishing of programs, and the disposition thereof within and without the commonwealth, equipment, assistance and personnel; purchase broadcast time; and enter into other contracts;(c) Obtain assistance from, and co-operate with others, including, without restriction, institutions of learning and groups interested in television broadcasting;(d) Hold and administer real and personal property, and money given, whether outright or in trust; and(e) Do all acts and things necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes for which the committee is created.
Said committee shall not provide or sponsor any program which advertises a commercial product or service, or any program wherein any denominational religious doctrine is inculcated, or any programs founding, maintaining or aiding any church, religious denomination or society, providing that nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the furtherance of belief in a Supreme Being, nor shall any programs designed to aid any political party or candidate for public office be permitted.
Chapter 71: Section 14. Committee; creation; membership Section 14. Any town, by vote in town meeting duly called therefor, may create a special unpaid committee to be known as a regional school district planning committee, to consist of three members, including one member of the school committee, to be appointed by the moderator; and may at the same meeting or at a subsequent meeting appropriate for the expense of said committee such sum or sums, not exceeding one tenth of one per cent of the assessed valuation of such town in the preceding year, as it may deem necessary. Regional school district planning committees from any two or more towns may join together to form a regional school district planning board or boards. Such regional school district planning board shall organize forthwith upon its formation by the election of a chairman and secretary-treasurer.
Chapter 71: Section 14A. Duties of planning board Section 14A. It shall be the duty of the regional school district planning board to study the fiscal and educational advisability of establishing a regional school district, its organization, operation and control, and of constructing, maintaining and operating a school or schools to serve the needs of such district; to estimate the construction and operating costs thereof; to assess the educational soundness of establishing such school or schools, to investigate the methods of financing such school or schools, and any other matters pertaining to the organization and operation of a regional school district; and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the selectmen of the several towns.
Chapter 71: Section 14B. Regional school districts; formation; procedure Section 14B. The said regional district planning board may recommend that there shall be established a regional school district which may include all the towns represented by its membership, or alternatively, any specified combination of such towns. If the said regional district planning board so recommends, it shall submit a proposed agreement or agreements setting forth as to each alternative recommendation, if such be made, the following:—(a) The number, composition, method of selection, and terms of office of the members of the regional district school committee.
(b) The town or towns in which, or the general area within the regional school district where, the regional district school or schools are to be located.
(c) The type of regional district school or schools. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the type of regional school may, if it is so stated in the agreement, consist of a vocational school or schools offering such kinds of education as may be provided by towns under the provisions of chapter seventy-four; and any other type of regional school may, if it is so stated in the agreement, offer said kinds of education. A town may simultaneously be a member of a vocational regional school district and any other type of regional school district provided, however, that when a vocational school district is in operation, no member town of such district, and no other type of regional school district of which such a town is a member shall, without the approval of the commissioner of education, offer the same kinds of education as offered by said vocational school district.
(d) The method of apportioning the expenses of the regional school district, and the method of apportioning the costs of school construction, including any interest and retirement of principal of any bonds or other obligations issued by the district among the several towns comprising the district, and the time and manner of payment of the shares of the several towns of any such expense.
(e) The method by which school transportation shall be provided, and if such transportation is to be furnished by the district, the manner in which the expenses shall be borne by the several towns.
(f) the terms by which any city or town may be admitted to or separated from the regional school district; provided, however, that in the case of admission such terms shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of section sixteen of chapter six hundred and forty-five of the acts of nineteen hundred and forty-eight.
(g) The method by which the agreement may be amended.
(h) The detailed procedure for the preparation and adoption of an annual budget.
(i) Any other matters, not incompatible with law, which the said board may deem advisable.
Copies of such agreement shall be submitted to the department of education, and subject to its approval, to the several towns for their acceptance.
Chapter 71: Section 14C. Lease or sale of property to regional school districts Section 14C. The agreement made under section fourteen B, or any amendment to such an agreement, may contain provisions authorizing any member town to sell, lease or grant a license to use any school building and any land appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith to the regional school district, and any such town may authorize such sale, lease or license accordingly, notwithstanding the provisions of section three of chapter forty or any other provisions of law to the contrary. In case of a sale, the price and time or times of payment and the method by which the towns other than the selling town shall be assessed for such payment shall be set forth in the agreement or amendment; but in no case shall payments be made which shall extend over a period in excess of twenty years. In the case of a lease or license to use, the rental or license fee and terms of payment and assessment shall be set forth in the agreement or amendment. The lease or license to use may be for a term or period not in excess of twenty years, and may contain provisions for the extension of the lease or license to use for an additional term or period not in excess of twenty years, at the option of the regional district school committee.
Chapter 71: Section 14D. Agreement; approval of indebtedness Section 14D. The agreement made under section fourteen B, or any amendment to such an agreement, may provide that the incurring of indebtedness by the district shall be approved by the registered voters in the member towns pursuant to the provisions of clause (n) of section sixteen. In any district for which the agreement does not so provide, the incurring of indebtedness shall be subject to disapproval by any member town pursuant to the provisions of clause (d) of said section sixteen. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the regional district school may, by vote of two-thirds of all its members, require that the approval of any particular authorized issue of indebtedness shall be by the registered voters of the member towns of the district pursuant to the provisions of clause (n) of section sixteen rather than pursuant to the provisions of clause (d) of said section sixteen.
Chapter 71: Section 14E. Regional school district committee membership options Section 14E. A regional school district may, by amendment to its regional school district agreement, provide for one of the following options concerning the members of its regional district school committee: (1) electing committee members by voters in member communities with each community’s representation apportioned according to population; (2) electing members in district-wide elections to be held at the biennial state elections; (3) electing members with residency requirements in district-wide elections to be held at the biennial state elections; (4) weighing the votes of committee members according to the population they represent; and (5) appointing committee members by locally elected officials such as school board members. Each regional school district shall designate an individual to serve as district clerk.
If a regional school district decides to elect members in district-wide elections to be held at the biennial state elections or if any vacancy is to be so filled, the district clerk shall notify the state secretary by April fifteenth of the year of the biennial state election of that fact and also of his name and mailing address.
Chapter 71: Section 15. Acceptance of organization provisions by electorate Section 15. The selectmen or council of each of the several towns shall, upon receipt of the recommendation that a regional school district should be formed and of a proposed agreement therefor submitted in accordance with the provisions of sections fourteen to fourteen B, inclusive, or otherwise in the form and with the approval required by said sections, cause to be presented the question of accepting the provisions of sections sixteen to sixteen I, inclusive, and the proposed agreement or agreements. Said question shall be determined, in a town having an open town meeting, by vote with printed ballots at an annual or special town meeting to be held in either case within thirty days after receipt of such recommendation by the selectmen and, in a town having a representative town meeting or council, at an annual or special town election to be held in either case not less than thirty-five nor more than fifty days after receipt of such recommendation. The article in the warrant for such annual or special town meeting or election and the question on the printed ballots to be used at such meeting or election shall be in substantially the following form: Shall the town accept the provisions of sections sixteen to sixteen I, inclusive, of chapter seventy-one of the General Laws providing for the establishment of a regional school district, together with the towns of , and , etc.
, and for construction, maintenance and operation of a regional school by said district in accordance with the provisions of a proposed agreement filed with the selectmen. If a majority of the voters present and voting on said question in each of the several towns shall vote in the affirmative, said sections sixteen to sixteen I, inclusive, shall become effective, and the proposed regional school district shall be deemed to be established forthwith in accordance with the terms of the agreement so adopted notwithstanding any defect or omission in the creation or organization of any regional school district planning committee or regional school district planning board.
Chapter 71: Section 16. Status; powers and duties Section 16. A regional school district established under the provisions of the preceding section shall be a body politic and corporate with all the powers and duties conferred by law upon school committees, and with the following additional powers and duties:(a) To adopt a name and a corporate seal, and the engraved or printed facsimile of such seal on a bond or note of the district shall have the same validity and effect as though such seal were impressed thereon.
(b) To sue and be sued, but only to the same extent and upon the same conditions that a town may sue or be sued.
(c) To acquire property within the towns comprising the district under the provisions of chapter seventy-nine and section fourteen of chapter forty for the purposes of the district and to construct, reconstruct, add to, remodel, make extraordinary repairs to, equip, organize and operate a school or schools for the benefit of the towns comprising the district, and to make any necessary contracts in relation thereto; provided, however, that no property shall be acquired unless the town in which such property is located approves such acquisition by a two-thirds vote at a town meeting which shall be called within sixty days after the district committee authorizes the incurring of debt for such purpose.
(d) To incur debt for the purpose of acquiring land and constructing, reconstructing, adding to, and equipping a school building or buildings for a term not exceeding twenty years or for the purpose of remodeling and making extraordinary repairs to a school building or buildings and for the construction of sewerage systems and sewerage treatment and disposal facilities, or for the purchase or use of such systems with municipalities, for a term not exceeding ten years and for the purpose of purchasing departmental equipment for a term not exceeding five years; or for the purpose of constructing, reconstructing or making improvements to outdoor playground, athletic or recreational facilities for a term not exceeding ten years; or for the purpose of constructing, reconstructing or resurfacing roadways and parking lots for a term not exceeding ten years; provided, however that written notice of the amount of the debt and of the general purposes for which it was authorized shall be given to the board of selectmen in each of the towns comprising the district not later than seven days after the date on which said debt was authorized by the district committee; and no debt may be incurred until the expiration of sixty days from the date on which said debt was so authorized; and prior to the expiration of said period any member town of the regional school district may hold a town meeting for the purpose of expressing disapproval of the amount of debt authorized by the district committee, and if at such meeting a majority of the voters present and voting thereon express disapproval of the amount authorized by the district committee, the said debt shall not be incurred and the district school committee shall prepare another proposal which may be the same as any prior proposal and an authorization to incur debt therefor.
In the case of a vocational regional school district, if the district agreement so provides or is amended to so provide, such debt may also be incurred if two thirds of the member towns do not vote disapproval within said sixty day period provided that said towns which have not voted disapproval agree, within ninety days of the date on which said debt was authorized, to pay the total bond indebtedness authorized by the district committee without contribution by the member towns which voted disapproval of the amount of said debt. The member towns of such vocational regional school district which have voted disapproval of the new indebtedness shall have the right to retain their membership in the school district as provided in their district agreement except that they shall not be allowed any added enrollment that might result solely from the expansion of facilities that occurs on account of said new indebtedness.
(e) To issue bonds and notes in the name and upon the full faith and credit of said district; said bonds or notes shall be signed by the chairman and treasurer of the district committee, except that said chairman by a writing bearing his written signature and filed in the office of said treasurer, which writing shall be open to public inspection, may authorize said treasurer to cause to be engraved or printed on said bonds or notes a facsimile of said chairman’s signature, and such facsimile so engraved or printed shall have the same validity and effect as said chairman’s written signature, and each issue of bonds or notes shall be a separate loan.
(f) To receive and disburse funds for any district purpose.
(g) To incur temporary debt in anticipation of revenue to be received from any source. This clause shall also apply to all regional school districts established under the provisions of special laws.
(h) To assess member towns for any expenses of the district.
(i) To receive any grants or gifts for the purposes of the regional district school or schools.
(j) To engage legal counsel.
(k) To submit an annual report to each of the member towns, containing a detailed financial statement, and a statement showing the method by which the annual charges assessed against each town were computed, together with such additional information relating to the operation and maintenance of such school or schools as may be deemed necessary by the district school committee or by the selectmen of any member town.
(l) To employ a superintendent of schools who may also be a superintendent of one or more of the towns comprising said district and to establish an employment contract for a period of time to provide for the salary, fringe benefits, and other conditions of employment, including but not limited to, severance pay, relocation expenses, reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of duties of office, liability insurance, and leave for said superintendent, and said superintendent shall have all the powers and duties imposed upon school superintendents by law.
(m) To adopt an annual operating and maintenance budget for the next fiscal year not later than forty-five days prior to the earliest date on which the business session of the annual town meeting of any member town is to be held, but not later than March thirty-first, provided that said budget need not be adopted prior to February first; provided, further, that a superintendent may, with the approval of a majority of the member communities, submit said budget for approval following the notification of the annual local aid distribution, so-called.
(n) To incur debt for the purposes and terms specified in clause (d); provided that the vote of the district committee authorizing such debt is approved by a majority of the registered voters in the member towns voting on the question at an election called and held pursuant to the following provisions. The election shall be called by a warrant addressed to the registered voters in the member towns and signed by a majority of the members of the district committee which shall set forth the date of the election, the polling place or places in each town, the hours during which the polls are to be open and the question which is to appear upon the ballot. Notice of the election shall be given by posting a copy of the warrant attested by the secretary of the committee in at least one public place in each town and by publishing a copy thereof at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the district, said posting and publishing to occur at least ten days before said election. A certificate of the secretary shall be conclusive evidence that the warrant was duly posted and published. The number and location of the polling place, or places, in each town shall be determined by the district committee after consultation with the selectmen thereof; and the hours during which all the polls in the district are open shall be uniform throughout the district and shall be not less than four nor more than eight consecutive hours. The district committee shall be responsible for preparing the ballots used at the election. The town clerk of each town shall certify the results of the election to the district committee. Except as provided herein the election shall be conducted in each town in the same manner as town meetings for the election of town officers. The expenses of the election shall be paid by the regional school district as an operating expense of the district; and if provision for their payment is not included in the budget for the year in which they are incurred, the district committee may use any available funds of the district or may transfer the sums required from appropriations included in the budget. The defeat of a proposal for incurring debt shall not prevent the resubmission of the same proposal as a new authorization.
(o) To refinance any debt incurred under paragraphs (d), (e), or (n), in accordance with the provisions of section 2lA of chapter 44.
(p) To lease, or lease with an option to purchase, equipment for educational purposes. Such leases may be made for periods not exceeding five years.
(q) To lease land and buildings for educational purposes. Such leases may be made for periods not exceeding five years.
(r) To rent or lease with the approval of the commissioner of education surplus space in a school building of the district to house public or private profit-making businesses or nonprofit organizations; provided, however, that if said school building is in actual use such joint occupancy shall not interfere with education programs being conducted therein; and provided, further, that if said school building is not in actual use, such lease must be approved by the city or town in which the said building is located. Such leases may be made for periods not exceeding ten years. The monies received from such rental or lease shall be kept separate and apart from other funds in the district treasury by the district treasurer, and the principal and interest thereon may be expended without further appropriation by the regional school district committee for the upkeep of the facility in which such surplus space is located; provided, however, that any balance remaining in such account at the close of a fiscal year shall be paid into the excess and deficiency fund, so called, of the regional school district as unencumbered funds and expended as provided in section sixteen B1/2.
Chapter 71: Section 16A. Regional district school committee; selection, powers and duties of officers; subcommittees Section 16A. The powers, duties and liabilities of a regional school district shall be vested in and exercised by a regional district school committee organized in accordance with the agreement. The committee shall choose a chairman and vice chairman by ballot from its membership. The vice chairman shall, in the absence of the chairman, exercise the powers and perform the duties of said chairman. It shall appoint a secretary and a treasurer who may be the same person, but who need not be members of said committee. The treasurer shall receive and take charge of all money belonging to the district, and shall pay any bill of the district which shall have been approved by the committee. The committee may appoint an assistant treasurer who need not be a member of the committee, and who shall, in the absence of the treasurer, perform his duties and shall have the powers and be subject to the requirements and penalties applicable to him. The treasurer and assistant treasurer shall be persons of ability and experience and may, by vote of the committee, be compensated for their services. A treasurer of a member municipality of the district shall be eligible for appointment as treasurer or assistant treasurer. The treasurer and assistant treasurer of the district shall be subject to sections 35 and 109A of chapter 41, to the extent applicable. A business manager, assistant superintendent for business or employee with title of similar import with responsibilities similar to those of a town accountant shall be subject to section 52 of said chapter 41 and shall not hold the office of treasurer or assistant treasurer or hold any responsibilities for the receipt or disbursement of money. If the office of secretary is vacant or if the secretary is absent or is unable to perform his duties because of disability, the committee may appoint a temporary secretary to hold such office and exercise the powers and perform the duties thereof until a secretary is duly appointed or the secretary who was disabled or absent resumes his duties. The committee may appoint a school building committee which shall have such powers and duties relative to the construction, reconstruction, remodeling, repair, expansion or equipping of school buildings or facilities as the committee determines.
The committee may establish a subcommittee of no less than three members for the purpose of signing payroll warrants and accounts payable warrants to allow for the release of checks; provided, however, that such subcommittee shall make available to the committee at the next meeting, a record of such actions of such subcommittee.
The committee shall solicit proposals and contract with an independent certified public accountant to perform an annual financial audit and make management recommendations, and shall receive the audit report in public session. Copies of the audit shall be provided within 10 days to the director of accounts and to the board of selectmen, town manager, mayor or city manager, as the case may be, in each member municipality.
Chapter 71: Section 16B1/2. Excess and deficiency fund; surplus funds used to reduce assessments Section 16B1/2. If the unencumbered amount in the excess and deficiency fund, so called, of a regional school district at the end of a fiscal year exceeds five per cent of its operating budget and its budgeted capital costs for the succeeding fiscal year, the amount in excess of the said five per cent shall be applied by the regional school district committee to reduce the amount to be raised by assessment on the member cities and towns in accordance with the terms of the agreement for apportionment of costs. The commissioner of revenue shall certify the unencumbered amount in the excess and deficiency fund, so called, of a regional school district, and the amount, if any, by which it exceeds five per cent of the district’s operating budget and its budgeted capital costs for the succeeding fiscal year, at the end of each fiscal year and shall report such amount to the regional district school committee, the board of selectmen in each member town and the city council in each member city by December first of each year. The regional district school committee shall submit all information necessary to perform said certification to the commissioner of revenue at the close of each fiscal year but no later than October thirty-first. The regional school district treasurer shall recertify the amounts reapportioned to the treasurers of the several towns within thirty days from the date on which the district school committee votes to reduce the amounts to be raised by assessment. If the recertification is made after the annual town meeting referred to in the first paragraph of section sixteen B, the amount recertified shall be considered an amendment to the amount required to have been appropriated at that meeting without the necessity for further action by the town, and, if the annual assessment of taxes has not been made, the town assessors shall include only the amount so recertified in making the annual assessment of taxes under the provisions of section twenty-three of chapter fifty-nine.
This section shall be subject to the provisions of section thirty-four of chapter seventy-one and shall place no additional limitations on the budgetary authority of the school committee.
Chapter 71: Section 16B. Budgets; apportionment of expenses Section 16B. The regional district school committee, by a two-thirds vote of all its members, shall annually determine the amounts necessary to be raised, after deducting the amount of aid such district is to receive pursuant to section sixteen D, to maintain and operate the district school or schools during the next fiscal year, and amounts required for payment of debt and interest incurred by the district which will be due in the said year, and shall apportion the amount so determined among the several municipalities in accordance with the terms of the regional school district agreement. The amounts so apportioned for each municipality shall be certified by the regional school district treasurer to the treasurers of the several municipalities within thirty days from the date on which the annual budget is adopted by a two-thirds vote of the regional district school committee, but not later than April thirtieth. The regional school district treasurer shall include in the certification to each municipality a statement setting forth the amount which the district is to receive under said section sixteen D for the ensuing fiscal year and the proportionate share of such aid for such municipality, the amount, if any, by which the unencumbered amount in the excess and deficiency fund, so called, of the regional school district at the end of the preceding fiscal year, as certified by the commissioner of revenue pursuant to section sixteen B1/2, exceeded five per cent of the regional school district’s operating budget and its budgeted capital costs for the current fiscal year, and the proportionate share of any such excess in said fund by which such municipality’s assessment for the current fiscal year was reduced.
The regional school district treasurer shall provide a copy of the adopted budget to the chairmen of the boards of selectmen, chairmen of the finance committees, mayors, presidents of the city councils and the treasurers of the several municipalities.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the superintendent of schools of a regional school district may, on matters relating to the regional school budget, address the membership at a city council meeting, a town meeting or a meeting of the town council in a municipality having a town council form of government in cities and towns within the regional school district when the regional school budget is being considered.
The members of a regional school district, including a vocational regional school district, may elect to reallocate the sum of their required local contributions to the district in accordance with the regional agreement; provided, however, that the total sum of their required contributions shall not be decreased. Election shall be by approval of all members of the district. Approval of each member shall be given by majority vote at an annual or special town meeting, in the case of towns, or by majority vote of the council, in the case of cities. The commissioner of education shall be notified upon the adoption of this section by this district. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the calculation of the members’ required local contributions for any succeeding year as provided by chapter seventy of the General Laws.
The annual regional school district budget as adopted by a two-thirds vote of the regional school district committee shall require the approval of two-thirds of the local appropriating authorities of the member municipalities. The regional school district budget so approved shall be apportioned between or among the member municipalities and paid in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
In the event that the regional school district budget in a regional school district is not approved by at least two-thirds of the member municipalities as required by this section, the regional school district committee shall have thirty days to reconsider, amend and resubmit a budget on the basis of the issues raised. The amounts required to be raised on account of the regional school district budget shall be reapportioned between or among the member municipalities by the regional school district committee and a copy of the amended budget shall be provided, not later than seven days from the date the amended regional school district budget was adopted by the regional school district committee, to the chairmen of the boards of selectmen, chairmen of the finance committees, mayors, presidents of the city councils and treasurers of the member municipalities. With the approval of the commissioner of education, a regional school district committee may have an additional fifteen days within which to reconsider, amend and reapportion said budget. The respective amounts reapportioned between or among the member municipalities by the regional school district committee shall be recertified by the district treasurer to the treasurers of the member municipalities not later than seven days from the date the amended regional school district budget was adopted by the regional school district committee. Prior to the expiration of forty-five days from the date on which such budget was adopted by the regional school district committee, each member municipality shall hold a meeting of the local appropriating authority to act upon the appropriation of the budget so reapportioned and recertified to it. If the appropriating authorities of at least two-thirds of the member municipalities vote to appropriate the amounts so reapportioned and recertified to them, such budget shall be considered approved and shall be apportioned between or among the member municipalities and paid by them in accordance with the terms of the regional school district agreement. In the case of a regional school district having three or more members, if the appropriating authorities of more than one-third of the member municipalities vote not to appropriate the amounts so reapportioned and recertified to them, then the budget shall again be recommitted to the regional school district committee for action pursuant to this paragraph. In the case of a two-member regional school district, if the appropriating authority of either member municipality votes not to appropriate the amount so reapportioned and recertified to it, the provisions of the following paragraph shall apply.
The regional school district committee shall convene a special district-wide meeting open to all registered voters in both municipalities at which the amended regional school district budget, proposed by the regional school district committee, shall be considered. Such meeting shall be called pursuant to a warrant, under the hands of at least a majority of the regional school district committee, notice of which shall be given at least fourteen days prior to the date of such meeting. The warrant shall state the time, place and purpose of the meeting and shall be directed to the district secretary, who shall give notice by posting a copy in the city or town clerk’s office and at least two other public places in each member municipality and who shall further provide notice by publishing a copy of said warrant in at least one newspaper in general circulation within the member municipalities. The boards of selectmen of the member municipalities in a joint meeting shall, by a majority vote of those present, appoint a town moderator or any other person acceptable to the boards of selectmen to act as moderator and the district secretary shall keep the record of such meeting. Approval of the regional school district budget shall require the affirmative vote of at least a majority of those present and voting thereon, by a counted vote. The regional school district budget so approved shall be apportioned between the member municipalities and paid by them in accordance with the terms of the regional school district agreement. If, after submission of the budget, no agreement is reached as to a budget for the regional school district, the district shall notify the Department of Education of a lack of a budget and the commissioner, or his designee, shall certify an amount sufficient for the operation of the district and order the appropriation thereof in an amount not less than 1/12 of the total budget approved by the region in the most recent fiscal year. Similar sums shall be certified and appropriated for each successive month to insure the continued provision of services by the district until such time as a budget is adopted and approved by the regional committee and member towns in the manner otherwise provided herein. In the event a budget is not adopted by December first in any year, the department shall assume operation of the district and funds for same shall be deducted from local aid distributed to member towns.
A member municipality of a regional school district having three or more members need not hold a meeting of its local appropriating authority to act upon the appropriation of amounts reapportioned and recertified to it if it has previously voted to appropriate for the regional school district an amount equal to or greater than the amount so recertified to it, notwithstanding the provisions of the fifth paragraph of this section. A municipality that does not hold such a meeting prior to expiration of forty-five days from the date on which an amended budget was adopted by the regional school district committee shall be deemed to have voted to appropriate the amounts reapportioned and recertified to it.
At any time after the adoption of the annual budget, the regional district school committee may reduce the amount to be raised by assessment to the several municipalities and reapportion the reduced amount in accordance with the terms of the regional school district agreement for apportionment of costs. The regional school district treasurer shall recertify the amounts reapportioned to the treasurers of the several municipalities within thirty days from the date on which the regional district school committee votes to reduce the annual budget or assessments. If the recertification is made after the annual town meeting of a member town, the amount recertified shall be considered an amendment to the amount required to have been appropriated at that meeting without the necessity for further action by the town, and, if the annual assessment of taxes has not been made, the municipal assessors shall include only the amount so recertified in making the annual assessment of taxes under the provisions of section twenty-three of chapter fifty-nine.
For the purposes of this section, a vote or votes by a local appropriating authority to appropriate the municipality’s apportioned share of the regional school district budget shall constitute approval of the annual regional school district budget; provided, however, that any municipality’s apportioned share may not be increased in the same fiscal year without approval of the local appropriating authority.
The clerk of each member municipality shall, within seven days following a vote concerning a regional school district budget or apportionment, certify in writing to the treasurer of the regional school district the results of such vote by the municipality.
This section shall apply to all regional school districts established under the provisions of a special law, notwithstanding any contrary provisions in any such special law.
Chapter 71: Section 16C. School transportation Section 16C. The regional school district shall be subject to all laws pertaining to school transportation; and when the agreement provides for the furnishing of transportation by the regional school district, the regional school district shall be obliged to provide transportation for all school children in grades kindergarten through twelve and the commonwealth shall reimburse such district to the full extent of the amounts expended for such transportation; provided, however, that no reimbursement for transportation between school and home shall be made on account of any pupil who resides less than one and one-half miles from the school of attendance, measured by a commonly traveled route. The commonwealth shall further reimburse such district to the full extent of the amounts expended for the transportation of pupils between school and a day care facility licensed or registered by the office for children or a day care facility which is part of a public school system or a private, organized educational system, in accordance with standards approved by the school committee; provided, however, that no reimbursement shall be made if the distance between the school and said facility is less than one and one-half miles, measured by a commonly traveled route, nor shall reimbursement be provided for transportation to a day care facility located outside the boundaries of the regional school district. The state treasurer shall annually, on or before November twentieth, pay to the regional school districts, subject to appropriation, the sums required for such reimbursement and approved by the commissioner of education.
Chapter 71: Section 16D1/2. Monies received as nonresident tuition or reimbursements from commonwealth for foster care children Section 16D1/2. All monies received by a regional district school committee as tuition payments for nonresident students and as reimbursements from the commonwealth for students who are foster care children shall be deposited with the district treasurer and held in a separate account in the district treasury. The receipts held in such a separate account may be expended by said regional district school committee without further appropriation for expenses incurred in providing education for such nonresident students or for such students who are foster care children.
Chapter 71: Section 16D. Aid from state Section 16D. (a) A regional school district shall be entitled to receive state aid for construction of regional schools. Each city or town in a regional school district whether established under special or general law shall continue to receive such state aid for educational purposes as it would be entitled to receive if such district had not been formed. In addition, the state treasurer shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (c), upon certification by the commissioner of education annually pay on or before November twentieth to each regional school district an amount computed as follows:(i) seventy per cent multiplied by the product of the regional school aid percentage multiplied by the regional reimbursable expenditures of the regional school district, for such districts which include grades kindergarten through twelve; or(ii) fifty per cent multiplied by the product of the regional school aid percentage multiplied by the regional reimbursable expenditures of the regional school district, for all other regional school districts.
(b) The definitions in section two of chapter seventy shall apply to this section and the following words and phrases as used in this section shall have the following meanings:—“Regional reimbursable expenditures”, the total amount expended by a regional school district during a fiscal year for the support of public schools during said year exclusive of expenditures for transportation, for food for school food service programs and for capital outlays, after deducting therefrom any receipts for tuition, receipts from the federal government, the proceeds of any invested funds, and grants, gifts and receipts from any other source, to the extent that such receipts are applicable to such expenditures; provided, however, that in the first year that a regional school district is formed or the year in which a regional school district expands “regional reimbursable expenditures” shall mean the total amount expended by a regional school district in the fiscal year during which time the regional school district becomes operative or during which time the regional school district expands for the support of the public schools during said year exclusive of expenditures for transportation, for food for school food service programs, and for capital outlays, after deducting therefrom any receipts for tuition, receipts from the federal government, the proceeds of any invested funds and grants, gifts and receipts from any other source, to the extent that such receipts are applicable to such expenditures; provided however that amounts received by a regional school district under this section as school aid shall not be so deducted. The commissioner of education may, by regulation, further define the expenditures and receipts that may be included hereunder.
“Regional school aid percentage,” the amount by which one hundred per cent exceeds the product, to the nearest tenth of one per cent, of sixty-five per cent multiplied by the regional valuation percentage; provided, however, that in no instance shall the regional school aid percentage be less than fifteen per cent.
“Regional valuation percentage,” the proportion, to the nearest tenth of one per cent, which the total equalized valuation of all cities and towns in the regional school district divided by the total school attending children in all cities and towns in the district bears to the average equalized valuation per school attending child in the cities and towns in regional school districts in the entire state.
(c) The receipt of the regional school aid as set forth in clauses (i) and (ii) of subsection (a) shall be subject to the following conditions:(i) the formation of new regional school districts and the expansion of currently existing regional school districts shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner of education;(ii) except as provided in clause (iii) of this subsection, no regional school aid shall be paid prior to the date of award of a contract for the construction of a regional school by the regional district school committee or prior to the date the regional district school committee enters into a lease of land and buildings or portions of buildings in lieu of such construction; and(iii) in the case of regional school districts formed for administrative purposes only, no regional school aid shall be paid prior to the date on which the regional school district has assumed jurisdiction over the pupils in the district and the commissioner of education has made a determination that member cities and towns have provided sufficient and adequate school facilities for each grade level included in the regional school district.
(d) In the event that the member communities of a proposed regional school district should vote on or before July first of any year to establish a regional school district on or before September fifteenth of that same calendar year, then such regional school district shall be entitled to receive, subject to appropriation, on or before November twentieth of that same calendar year, twenty-five per cent of an amount of regional school aid computed in accordance with the provisions of this section. For purposes of this paragraph, regional reimbursable expenditures shall mean the total amount expended by the member communities for the support of public school students who will be served by the newly established regional school district, during the fiscal year in which the member communities voted to establish the regional school district, minus the exclusions currently provided for in this section.
In the event that all of the member communities of a partial regional school district should vote on or before July first of any year to amend their regional school district agreement to allow for expansion into a full kindergarten through twelve regional school district on or before September fifteenth of that same calendar year, then such expanded regional school district shall be entitled to receive, subject to appropriation, on or before November twentieth of that same calendar year, twenty-five per cent of an amount of regional school aid calculated upon the basis of an existing kindergarten through twelve regional school district. The regional school aid shall be computed in accordance with the provisions of this section. For purposes of this paragraph, regional reimbursable expenditures shall mean the total amount expended by the partial regional school district and the member communities for the support of their public schools during the fiscal year in which expansion is voted, minus the exclusions currently provided for in this section.
(e) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, for the fiscal year ending on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-four, regional schools shall receive the same amount of state aid that they received in the fiscal year ending on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three; provided, however, that any regional school that received in the fiscal year ending on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three less than seventy-six percent of the amount of state aid that it would have been entitled to pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section if the full amount had been appropriated for such state aid in said fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three shall receive an additional state aid payment in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four such that the total state aid for each regional school pursuant to this section shall be no less than seventy-six percent of the amount of state aid that it would have been entitled to pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section if the full amount had been appropriated for such state aid in said fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three; provided, further, that any regional school district that is newly reorganized pursuant to section fifteen subsequent to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-two but prior to January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four shall receive seventy-six percent of the amount it would otherwise have been entitled to receive for expenses incurred in the first year of operation as a reorganized school district pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section; provided, further, that any regional school district whose member communities hold meetings on regionalization prior to January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four and becomes newly organized prior to April first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four shall receive seventy-six percent of the amount it would otherwise have been entitled to receive for expenses incurred in the first year of operation as an organized school district pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section.
(f) For fiscal years nineteen hundred and ninety-four and subsequent fiscal years, the amount of state aid distributed as base aid pursuant to chapter seventy shall be deemed to be in full satisfaction of the provisions of subsection (e).
(g) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, regional bonus aid, but no other aid pursuant to this section, shall be paid to any regional school district formed after fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three for the immediate five fiscal years following the establishment of said regional school district. Regional bonus aid shall be payable in an amount equal to fifty dollars per foundation enrollment, in the first fiscal year following the establishment of said regional school district; forty dollars per foundation enrollment in the second fiscal year following the establishment of said regional school district; thirty dollars per foundation enrollment in the third fiscal year following the establishment of said regional school district; twenty dollars per foundation enrollment in the fourth fiscal year following the establishment of said regional school district; and, ten dollars per foundation enrollment in the fifth fiscal year following the establishment of said regional school district.
Chapter 71: Section 16E. Audits; payment of costs Section 16E. The director of accounts in the department of corporations and taxation shall annually cause an audit to be made of the accounts of the regional district school committee, and for this purpose he, and his duly accredited agents, shall have access to all necessary papers, books and records. Upon the completion of each audit, a report thereon shall be made to the chairman of the district committee, and a copy thereof shall be sent to the chairman of the selectmen and of the school committee of each town which is a member of the district. The director shall apportion the cost among the several towns which are members of the district on the basis provided by section fourteen B, and submit the amounts of each apportionment to the state treasurer, who shall issue his warrant requiring the assessors of the towns which are members of the district to assess a tax to the amount of the expense, and such amounts shall be collected and paid to the state treasurer as provided by section twenty of chapter fifty-nine.
Chapter 71: Section 16F. Retirement system Section 16F. The regional school district shall maintain a contributory retirement system for non-teaching employees of the district, subject in all respects to the applicable provisions of chapter thirty-two.
Chapter 71: Section 16G1/2. Stabilization fund Section 16G1/2. A regional school district may, upon a majority vote of all the members of the regional district school committee and, with the approval of a majority of the local appropriating authorities of the member municipalities, establish a stabilization fund and may, in any year, include in its annual budget for deposit in the stabilization fund an amount not exceeding five per cent of the aggregate amount apportioned to the member municipalities for the preceding fiscal year or such larger amount as may be approved by the director of accounts. The aggregate amount in the fund at any time shall not exceed five per cent of the combined equalized valuations of the member municipalities. Any interest shall be added to and become a part of the fund. The annual report submitted to the member municipalities pursuant to clause (k) of section sixteen shall include a statement of the balance in the stabilization fund and all additions to and withdrawals from the fund during the period covered by such report.
The treasurer of the regional school district shall be the custodian of such fund and may deposit or invest the fund in such deposits or investments as are legal for the deposit or investment of revenue funds of the district or in such securities as are legal for the investment of funds of savings banks under the laws of the commonwealth.
The stabilization fund may be appropriated by vote of two-thirds of all the members of the regional district school committee for any purpose for which regional school districts may borrow money or for such other district purpose as the emergency finance board may approve. No expenditure may be made from such appropriation unless the procedures set forth in clause (d) or clause (n) of section sixteen, or in any other provision requiring approval of a debt issue by the member municipalities of the regional school district, have been complied with.
This section shall also apply to any regional school district established under the provisions of a special law.
Chapter 71: Section 16G. Liability of towns for expenses of district Section 16G. No town in a regional school district shall be liable for any obligation imposed on any other town in said district by authority of sections fourteen to sixteen I, inclusive, or of any agreement thereunder, any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding.
Chapter 71: Section 16H. Repealed, 2003, 46, Sec. 80 Chapter 71: Section 16I. Severability of sections relating to regional school districts Section 16I. If any provision of said sections, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, the remainder of said sections and the application of such provisions to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby.
Chapter 71: Section 17. Repealed, 1991, 138, Sec. 336 Chapter 71: Section 17A. Culinary arts program; special fund Section 17A. In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section and in any regional school district upon its acceptance by the school committee of said district and a majority of the cities and towns in said district by vote of the city council or board of selectmen of said cities and towns, any income received in a fiscal year not exceeding, in the aggregate, fifteen thousand dollars derived from the sale of products produced in a culinary arts program conducted in any public high school shall be deposited in a special fund by the school committee in any banking institution in the commonwealth. Expenditures may be made from said special fund by the school committee for the culinary arts program without further appropriation, notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-three of chapter forty-four; provided, however, that said special fund shall not be used to pay the salary of any employee, and in any fiscal year no more than five thousand dollars from said fund shall be used for the purchase of equipment. The treasurer of a city or town shall annually audit the account of said special fund and shall submit copies thereof to the mayor, city council, city or town manager, board of selectmen and school committee of such city or town, and to the director of the bureau of accounts. In regional school districts, the school committee shall select the city or town treasurer from among member cities and towns to complete said audit and make such report.
Chapter 71: Section 18. Evening schools Section 18. Any town may, and every town in which there are issued during any year certificates authorizing the employment of twenty or more persons who do not possess the educational qualifications enumerated in section one of chapter seventy-six, shall maintain for not less than forty evenings during the following school year an evening school or schools for the instruction of persons over fourteen years of age in orthography, reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, industrial drawing, both free hand and mechanical, the history of the United States, physiology and hygiene and good behavior. Such other subjects may be taught as the school committee considers expedient.
Chapter 71: Section 19. Evening classes in high schools Section 19. Every city of fifty thousand inhabitants shall maintain annually an evening high school, in which shall be taught such subjects as the school committee considers expedient, if fifty or more residents, sixteen years or over, competent in the opinion of the committee to pursue high school studies, shall petition in writing for an evening high school and certify that they desire to attend.
Section 1A. At the commencement of the first class of each day in all grades in all public schools the teacher in charge of the room in which each such class is held shall announce that a period of silence not to exceed one minute in duration shall be observed for personal thoughts, and during any such period, silence shall be maintained and no activities engaged in.
Section 1B. The school committee of any city or town may permit any child attending its public schools to participate in voluntary prayer with the approval of such child’s parents before the commencement of each daily school session. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no city or town which permits such prayer shall be denied any funds for school purposes to which it may be entitled from the commonwealth.
under special education laws of the commonwealth and the federal government Section 1C. Each school district shall conduct, in cooperation with the local parent advisory council, at least one workshop annually within the school district on the rights of students and their parents and guardians under the special education laws of the commonwealth and the federal government and shall make written materials explaining such rights available upon request.
Section 2. In all public elementary and high schools American history and civics, including the constitution of the United States, the declaration of independence and the bill of rights, and in all public high schools the constitution of the commonwealth and local history and government, shall be taught as required subjects for the purpose of promoting civic service and a greater knowledge thereof, and of fitting the pupils, morally and intellectually, for the duties of citizenship.
Chapter 71: Section 20. Notice of evening schools; publication; fees for instruction Section 20. The school committee shall, two weeks next before the opening of each term of the evening schools, post in three or more public places in the town notice of the situation of said schools, the date of the beginning of the term, the evenings of the week on which they will be in session, such regulations as to attendance as it deems proper, and the provisions of section ninety-five of chapter one hundred and forty-nine. Except in the city of Boston, the school committee may require from each student, not bound by law to attend, an advance payment not exceeding twenty-five dollars for each course offered for which the student registers and for which the town receives no reimbursement from the commonwealth or any of its agents, and not exceeding twenty dollars for each course offered for which the student registers and for which the town is reimbursed in whole or in part by the commonwealth or any of its agents, which fee may, at its discretion, be paid into the town treasury to be credited to the school appropriation, or be returned in whole or in part at such time and under such conditions as the committee determines. In the city of Boston, the school committee may require from each student, not bound by law to attend, an advance payment not exceeding five dollars, which may, at its discretion, be paid into the city treasury to be credited to the school appropriation, or be returned in whole or in part at such time and under such conditions as the committee determines.
Chapter 71: Section 20A. Instructional Materials Trust Fund Section 20A. Any city, town or regional school district, located within such city or town, which accepts the provisions of this section may establish a fund to be known as the Instructional Materials Trust Fund, hereinafter in this section called the fund, and may appropriate money for said fund, which will be kept separate from all other monies by the city or town treasurer or, in the case of a regional school district, the treasurer of such regional school district. Said fund shall be managed by a board of trustees, hereinafter referred to as the board. The superintendent of schools of the city or town, or in the case of a regional school district, the superintendent of the regional school shall be chairperson of said board. In addition to the chairperson, the board shall consist of: two school committee members appointed by the school committee; two teachers from the elementary grade levels kindergarten through grade six, inclusive, and two teachers from the secondary grade levels, grades seven through twelve, inclusive, appointed by the local teachers organizations; one elementary school administrator and one secondary school administrator appointed by the superintendent of schools; and two parents of students in the elementary schools and two parents from the secondary schools appointed by the mayor of a city or the selectmen of a town, as the case may be, and in the case of a regional school district, appointed by the chairman of the regional school district committee. The terms of office of the board members shall be three years, except for the chairperson, who shall serve ex-officio. A vacancy on said board occurring by reason of the expiration of a term or other cause shall be filled by the designated appointing powers. A member of said board may be reappointed.
Said fund may accept a gift or donation. The principal of said fund shall not be expended. Said board is hereby authorized to expend annually ninety percent of the interest earned from the principal of said fund for the purchase of instructional materials; provided, however, that one-half of such expenditure shall be for the benefit of grade levels from kindergarten through grade six, inclusive, the remaining half for the benefit of grade levels seven through twelve, inclusive.
This section shall take effect upon its acceptance by a city, town, or regional school district.
Chapter 71: Section 21. Establishment; conditions Section 21. Every town which has accepted chapter three hundred and eleven of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and nineteen, and in which, in any year, two hundred or more minors under sixteen are employed not less than six hours per day by authority of employment permits described in section one of chapter one hundred and forty-nine or home permits described in section one of chapter seventy-six, exclusive of minors employed only during vacations, shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, and any other town which has accepted said chapter three hundred and eleven, may, through its school committee, local board of trustees for vocational education, or both, establish at the beginning of the next school year and maintain continuation schools or courses of instruction for the education of such minors, and for such others as may be required to attend under section twenty-five. The said schools or courses shall be in session the same number of weeks in each year as the local high schools, and the sessions shall be between the hours of eight in the morning and five in the afternoon of any working days except Saturday. If in a town required to establish continuation schools or courses under this section, after examination of the records required to be kept under sections eighty-six and eighty-nine of chapter one hundred and forty-nine, it appears that in each of two consecutive years the number of employed minors described above falls below two hundred, the school committee of said town may apply to the department for exemption from the provisions of this section, and, if specifically exempted by the department under conditions defined by it, said town shall be deemed to have come under the permissive provisions of this section and shall so remain until two hundred or more such minors in any year are employed therein.
Chapter 71: Section 22. Attendance Section 22. Every minor described in the preceding section shall, subject to the laws relating to the public schools, attend said schools or courses in the town of his employment for not less than four hours per week; but the attendance of minors who have been required to attend continuation schools, and are temporarily out of employment or business, shall be for not less than twenty hours per week, if said schools or courses are so long in session. Instruction in the regular schools may and upon application of the parent or guardian shall be accepted as equivalent to that required by this section and section twenty-five.
Chapter 71: Section 23. Use of existing educational facilities Section 23. In the establishment and conduct of said schools or courses, a town may take advantage of established educational agencies, and may utilize any suitable quarters approved by the department; but, when established, the said schools or courses shall be a part of the public school system of the town.
Chapter 71: Section 24. Cost of maintenance; source of funds Section 24. The town of residence of a person who is required by section twenty-two to attend a continuation school of another town shall pay to such other town a tuition fee to be fixed by the commissioner of education, and not to exceed the average annual maintenance cost per pupil of continuation schools throughout the commonwealth, as last ascertained. In default of payment, such fee may be recovered in an action of contract.
Chapter 71: Section 25. Unemployed minors; attendance requirements Section 25. Any minor under sixteen who has been regularly employed in a town other than that of his residence, and who is temporarily unemployed, may be required, under conditions approved by the department, to attend a continuation school or course in the town of his residence.
Chapter 71: Section 26. Penalty for failure to establish or maintain school Section 26. A town required by section twenty-one to establish and to maintain continuation schools or courses which refuses or neglects to appropriate money necessary therefor, shall forfeit from funds due it from the commonwealth a sum equal to twice that estimated by the department as necessary properly to provide for the same. A sum equal to three fifths of such forfeiture shall be paid by the state treasurer to the school committee of the delinquent town, and the committee shall expend the same for such establishment and maintenance to the same extent as if it had been regularly appropriated by the town therefor.
Chapter 71: Section 26A. Establishment; conditions Section 26A. If the school committee of a town determines that sufficient need exists therein for extended school services for children, between three and fourteen years of age, of parents who are employed, and whose employment is determined by said committee to be necessary for the welfare of their families, said school committee, subject to section twenty-six B, and with the approval of the city council or selectmen may establish and maintain such services.
Chapter 71: Section 26B. Organization and operation of plan Section 26B. If said school committee, upon determination by it of sufficient need, votes that said services should be established by it in such town upon approval of the city council or selectmen, it shall submit in writing a plan of said services to the commissioner of education for his written approval; provided, that said extended school services proposed in said plan shall consist of such care as shall be determined by standards established by said commissioner in consultation with the state department of public health and shall be operated by said school committee under the general supervision of said commissioner; and provided further, that said school committee shall establish as one of the rules of admission of any such child to the benefits of said extended school services that the parents of such child shall pay toward the cost of said services such sum as said school committee shall determine. For the purposes of clause (2) of section five of chapter forty, the establishment and maintenance of said extended school services shall be deemed to be included within the term “support of public schools”.
Chapter 71: Section 26C. Contributions and federal funds; use Section 26C. The commonwealth and the school committee of any town may accept funds from the federal government for the purposes of sections twenty-six A to twenty-six F, inclusive. The school committee of any town may receive contributions in the form of money, material, quarters or services for the purposes of said sections from organizations, employers and other individuals. Such contributions received in the form of money, together with fees from parents and any allotments received from the federal government for said purposes, shall be deposited with the treasurer of such town and held as a separate account and expended by said school committee without appropriation, notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-three of chapter forty-four.
Chapter 71: Section 26D. Borrowing in anticipation of federal funds Section 26D. If a town shall have a written contract with the federal government whereby said government grants or offers such town a sum of money to be used with funds which may be provided in said town for the purposes of sections twenty-six A to twenty-six F, inclusive, and said town shall be required primarily to pay that portion of the expenses for which reimbursement is to be received from the grant, the treasurer of such town, with the approval of the mayor, or of the city manager, if any, or of the selectmen, as the case may be, in anticipation of the receipt of the proceeds of such grant, may incur debt, outside the debt limit, to an amount not exceeding the amount of the grant as shown by the agreement, and may issue notes therefor, payable in not exceeding one year from their dates. Any loan so issued for a shorter period than one year may be refunded by the issue of other notes maturing within the required period; provided, that the period from the date of issue of the original loan to the date of maturity of the refunding loan shall not be more than one year. The proceeds of the grant, so far as necessary, shall be applied to the discharge of the loan.
Chapter 71: Section 26E. Repealed, 1978, 367, Sec. 70E Chapter 71: Section 26F. Repealed, 1966, 14, Sec. 52 Chapter 71: Section 27. Lectures Section 27. The school committee may employ competent persons to deliver lectures on the natural sciences, history, and kindred subjects, and may provide cards or pamphlets giving the titles and authors of books of reference on the subject matter of said lectures contained in the local public libraries.
Chapter 71: Section 28. Summer schools Section 28. The school committee may establish and maintain schools to be kept open for the whole or any part of the summer vacation; but attendance thereon shall not be compulsory or be considered as a part of the school attendance required by law.
Chapter 71: Section 29. Repealed, 1979, 717, Sec. 3 Section 2A. It shall be unlawful for any student, enrolled in either primary or secondary public schools in the commonwealth, to use tobacco products of any type on school grounds during normal school hours.
Each school committee shall establish a policy dealing with students who violate this law. This policy may include, but not be limited to, mandatory education classes on the hazards of tobacco use.
Section 2B. In all public elementary and secondary schools, American Sign Language shall be recognized as a standard, independent language with its own grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and cultural heritage. Courses in American Sign Language may be taught for the purpose of contributing to a greater understanding of the social and cultural dimensions of the language, and to encourage and enable increased interaction between hearing persons and deaf and hard-of-hearing persons in society. School committees may credit such courses toward satisfaction of foreign language requirements.
Section 3. Physical education shall be taught as a required subject in all grades for all students in the public schools for the purpose of promoting the physical well-being of such students. Instruction in physical education may include calisthenics, gymnastics and military drill; but no pupil shall be required to take part in any military exercise if his parent or guardian is of any religious denomination conscientiously opposed to bearing arms, or is himself so opposed, and the school committee is so notified in writing; and no pupil shall be required to take part in physical education exercises if a licensed physician certifies in writing that in his opinion such physical education exercises would be injurious to the pupil.
Chapter 71: Section 30. Moral education Section 30. The president, professors and tutors of the university at Cambridge and of the several colleges, all preceptors and teachers of academies and all other instructors of youth shall exert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and youth committed to their care and instruction the principles of piety and justice and a sacred regard for truth, love of their country, humanity and universal benevolence, sobriety, industry and frugality, chastity, moderation and temperance, and those other virtues which are the ornament of human society and the basis upon which a republican constitution is founded; and they shall endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear understanding of the tendency of the above mentioned virtues to preserve and perfect a republican constitution and secure the blessings of liberty as well as to promote their future happiness, and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices.
Chapter 71: Section 30A. Repealed, 1986, 195 Chapter 71: Section 31. Bible reading Section 31. A portion of the Bible shall be read daily in the public schools, without written note or oral comment; but a pupil whose parent or guardian informs the teacher in writing that he has conscientious scruples against it, shall not be required to read from any particular version, or to take any personal part in the reading. The school committee shall not purchase or use in the public schools school books favoring the tenets of any particular religious sect.
Chapter 71: Section 31A. Guidelines for celebration of holidays authorized Section 31A. The school committee may set appropriate guidelines for the celebration of Christmas and other festivals observed as holidays for the purpose of furthering the educational, cultural and social experiences and development of children.
Chapter 71: Section 32. Observance of Memorial Day Section 32. In all the public schools the last regular session, or a portion thereof, prior to the last Monday in May, known as Memorial Day, shall be devoted to patriotic exercises.
Chapter 71: Section 32A. Sex education; policy regarding notice to parents, exception Section 32A. Every city, town, regional school district or vocational school district implementing or maintaining curriculum which primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality issues shall adopt a policy ensuring parental/guardian notification. Such policy shall afford parents or guardians the flexibility to exempt their children from any portion of said curriculum through written notification to the school principal. No child so exempted shall be penalized by reason of such exemption.
Said policy shall be in writing, formally adopted by the school committee as a school district policy and distributed by September first, nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and each year thereafter to each principal in the district. A copy of each school district’s policy must be sent to the department of education after adoption.
To the extent practicable, program instruction materials for said curricula shall be made reasonably accessible to parents, guardians, educators, school administrators, and others for inspection and review.
The department of education shall promulgate regulations for adjudicatory proceedings to resolve any and all disputes arising under this section.
Chapter 71: Section 33. Repealed, 1979, 439, Sec. 1 Chapter 71: Section 34. Support of schools; appropriations; recommendations Section 34. Every city and town shall annually provide an amount of money sufficient for the support of the public schools as required by this chapter, provided however, that no city or town shall be required to provide more money for the support of the public schools than is appropriated by vote of the legislative body of the city or town. In acting on appropriations for educational costs, the city or town appropriating body shall vote on the total amount of the appropriations requested and shall not allocate appropriations among accounts or place any restriction on such appropriations. The superintendent of schools in any city or town may address the local appropriating authority prior to any action on the school budget as recommended by the school committee notwithstanding his place of residence. The city or town appropriating body may make nonbinding monetary recommendations to increase or decrease certain items allocating such appropriations.
The vote of the legislative body of a city or town shall establish the total appropriation for the support of the public schools, but may not limit the authority of the school committee to determine expenditures within the total appropriation.
Chapter 71: Section 34A. Transcript of student’s record; availability Section 34A. Any person operating or maintaining an educational institution within the commonwealth shall, upon request of any student or former student thereof, furnish to him a written transcript of his record as a student. There shall be no charge for any transcript originally furnished by any such person hereunder, but for any duplicate or additional transcript furnished hereunder a charge of not exceeding one dollar for each page, but not exceeding five dollars for an entire transcript, may be made by such person.
Chapter 71: Section 34B. Remedy for failure to furnish transcript of student’s record Section 34B. In case any person subject to section thirty-four A shall refuse or neglect for thirty days after such request to furnish such a written transcript, the student or former student requesting the same or, if a minor, his guardian or next friend, may present to the superior court for the county within which such person so subject resides or such institution is located, or for the county of Suffolk, a petition addressed to said court and praying for such relief as it may deem proper in the circumstances; and thereupon such court shall have jurisdiction of such petition and may issue such orders relative thereto as it may deem proper, and any failure or refusal to obey any such order may be treated by the court as a contempt thereof. Upon any such petition the court may award costs and reasonable attorney’s fees to the petitioner.
Chapter 71: Section 34C. Repealed, 1965, 43 Chapter 71: Section 34D. Student records; maintenance, storage, destruction, etc.
; inspection by parent or guardian Section 34D. The board of education shall adopt regulations relative to the maintenance, retention, duplication, storage and periodic destruction of student records by the public elementary and secondary schools of the commonwealth. Such rules and regulations shall provide that a parent or guardian of any pupil shall be allowed to inspect academic, scholastic, or any other records concerning such pupil which are kept or are required to be kept.
Chapter 71: Section 34E. Inspection of student records; persons authorized Section 34E. Each school committee shall, at the request of a parent or guardian of a student, allow such parent or guardian to inspect academic, scholastic, or any other records concerning such student that are kept or are required to be kept, regardless of the age of such student. Each school committee shall, at the request of a student eighteen years of age or older, allow such student complete access to all school records relative to him or her.
Chapter 71: Section 34F. Repealed, 1976, 50, Sec. 2 Chapter 71: Section 34G. Private schools; transfer of transcripts upon ceasing operation Section 34G. In the event that any private educational institution providing a course of study through the twelfth grade level ceases operation, the owner or administrators shall transfer transcripts of all students or former students to the department of education; provided, however, that in the case of a student who is transferring to another private or public educational institution, such student’s records shall be transferred to the school the student will be attending, rather than to the department. The department may, upon request of a former student of an educational institution which has transferred transcripts pursuant to this provision, provide such student with a copy of his transcript. For the purposes of this section a transcript shall mean the documentary record or records which contain the name, address and phone number of the student, the student’s birthdate, name, address and phone number of parent or guardian, course titles, grades, or equivalent thereof when grades are not applicable, course credit, grade level completed and the year completed. Said educational institution shall limit the student record information transmitted to the department to that required to be contained in the transcript.
Chapter 71: Section 34H. Noncustodial parents; receipt of information for child enrolled in public elementary or secondary schools; notice to custodial parent Section 34H. (a) Each public elementary and secondary school shall provide the following information in a timely and appropriate manner to the parent of a child enrolled in the school if the parent is eligible for information pursuant to this section and requests the information in the manner set forth in this section: report cards and progress reports; the results of intelligence and achievement tests; notification of a referral for a special needs assessment; notification of enrollment in a English language learners program established under chapter 71A; notification of absences; notification of illnesses; notification of any detentions; suspensions or expulsion; and notification of permanent withdrawal from school. Each school shall also make reasonable efforts to ensure that other written information that is provided to the custodial parent but not specified in the preceding sentence be provided to the requesting parent if that parent is eligible for information pursuant to this section and requests the information in the manner set forth herein. All address and telephone number information shall be removed from information provided pursuant to this section. Receipt of this information shall not mandate participation in any proceeding to which notification pertains nor shall it authorize participation in proceedings and decisions regarding the child’s welfare which are not granted through the award of custody. For purposes of this section, any parent who does not have physical custody of a child shall be eligible for the receipt of information pursuant to the procedures of this section unless said parent has been denied legal custody of the child based on a threat to the safety of the child or to the custodial parent, or who has been denied visitation, or who has been ordered to supervised visitation, or whose access to their child or to the custodial parent has been restricted by a temporary or permanent protective order unless said protective order, or any subsequent order which modifies said protective order, specifically allows access to the information described in this section.
(b) A parent eligible for information pursuant to this section who wishes to have this information shall submit a written request to the school principal annually. The initial request shall include: a certified copy of the probate court’s order or judgment relative to the custody of the child indicating that the requesting parent has not sought and been denied shared legal custody as defined in section 31 of chapter 208 based on a threat to the safety of the child or the custodial parent and is entitled to unsupervised visitation with his child, or a certified copy of an order by a probate and family court judge specifically ordering that this information be made available to the requesting parent which certifies on its face that it is being made after a review of the records, if any, of the judgment of custody and the criminal history of the petitioner, that provision of the requested information has not been determined to pose a safety risk for the custodial parent or to any child in the custodial parent’s custody and that it is in the best interest of the child that such information be provided to the petitioner; and an affidavit from the requesting parent certifying that the judgment or order remains in effect and that no temporary or permanent protective order restricting access to the custodial parent or to any child in the custodial parent’s custody is in effect.
(c) Upon receipt of a request for information pursuant to this section the school shall immediately notify the custodial parent of the receipt of the request. Notification must be made by registered mail and by first class mail in both the primary language of the custodial parent and in English. The school may seek reimbursement for the cost of postage from the requesting parent. The notification shall also inform the custodial parent that information requested pursuant to this section shall be provided to the requesting parent after 21 days unless the custodial parent provides to the principal of the school documentation of any court order which prohibits contact with the child, or prohibits the distribution of the information referred to in this section or which is a temporary or permanent order issued to provide protection to the custodial parent or any child in the custodial parent’s custody from abuse by the requesting parent unless said protective order or any subsequent order which modifies said protective order, specifically allows access to the information described in this section.
(d) In each subsequent year, the parent eligible for information pursuant to this section shall indicate in the annual request that he continues to be entitled to unsupervised visitation with his child and to be eligible for the receipt of the information pursuant to this section. Upon receipt of a request for information pursuant to this section the school shall immediately notify the custodial parent of the receipt of the request. Notification shall be made by registered mail and by first class mail in both the primary language of the custodial parent and in English. The school may seek reimbursement for the cost of postage from the requesting parent. The notification shall also inform the custodial parent that information requested pursuant to this section shall be provided to the requesting parent after 21 days unless the custodial parent provides to the principal of the school documentation of any court order which prohibits contact with the child, or prohibits the distribution of the information referred to in this section or which is a temporary or permanent order issued to provide protection to the custodial parent or any child in the custodial parent’s custody from abuse by the requesting parent.
(e) At any time the principal of a school is presented with an order of a probate and family court judge which prohibits the distribution of information pursuant to this section the school shall immediately cease to provide said information and shall notify the requesting parent that the distribution of information shall cease.
(f) The principal of each public elementary and secondary school shall designate a staff member whose duties shall include the proper implementation of this section.
(g) Requests for information made pursuant to this section which are made while a permanent protective order restricting access to the custodial parent or to any child in the custodial parent’s custody is in effect shall constitute a violation of said protective order and be subject to the applicable penalties.
(h) The department of education shall promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section. Said regulations shall include provisions which assure that the information referred to in this section is properly marked to indicate that said information may not be used to support admission of the child to another school.
Chapter 71: Section 35. Beginning of term Section 35. In cities where no other provision is made in the charter thereof, the term of office of members of the school committee shall begin at the same time with that of the members of the city council.
Chapter 71: Section 36. Secretary; appointment; duties Section 36. The school committee shall appoint a secretary who shall keep a permanent record book, in which all its votes, orders and proceedings shall be recorded.
Chapter 71: Section 36A. Orientation for school committee members Section 36A. School committee members, within 1 year after their initial election or appointment, shall complete at least 8 hours of orientation concerning the responsibilities of their office at no cost to individual school committee members. The orientation shall include but not be limited to a review of school finance, the open meeting law, public records law, conflict of interest law, special education law, collective bargaining, school leadership standards and evaluations and the roles and responsibilities of school committee members. The orientation shall be provided by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Inc. or any other entity approved by the commissioner of education after consulting the association. The Association and any other entity providing such orientation shall offer every year at least 2 orientation sessions at no required cost to eligible school committees. A certificate shall be awarded to each participant upon completion of the orientation and notice thereof shall be filed with the clerk of the city or town where the school committee member resides.
Chapter 71: Section 37. Powers and duties Section 37. The school committee in each city and town and each regional school district shall have the power to select and to terminate the superintendent, shall review and approve budgets for public education in the district, and shall establish educational goals and policies for the schools in the district consistent with the requirements of law and statewide goals and standards established by the board of education.
Chapter 71: Section 37A. Grants; acceptance and disbursement Section 37A. School committees of cities and towns and regional district school committees may accept grants or gifts for educational purposes from federal, state, county and municipal governments or agencies thereof, charitable foundations and private corporations and disburse the same for such purposes. Any amounts so received by a school committee of a city or town shall be deposited with the treasurer of such city or town and held as a separate account, and expended by said school committee without further appropriation, notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-three of chapter forty-four. Any amounts so received by a regional district school committee shall be deposited with the treasurer of such regional school district and held as a separate account and expended by said committee.
Chapter 71: Section 37B. Purchase of or making payments to annuities or investments Section 37B. A school committee or a board of trustees of a vocational school may, on a day appointed, which shall be within ninety days of the opening of a school year, enter into a written agreement with any of its employees to purchase or make payments to an individual or group annuity contract, custodial account, or any other investment authorized under section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code for such employee; provided, however, that in no event shall the total of the premiums paid for the purchase of any such annuity, custodial account, or other investment and the employee’s includible compensation for any year exceed the total annual salary or compensation under the existing salary schedule or classification plan applicable to such employee in such year. As used in this section, the words “includible compensation” shall have the same meaning as in said section 403(b) and the word “premiums” shall include contributions paid to any such custodial account or other investment. Such employee’s rights under such annuity contract, custodial account or other investment shall be nonforfeitable. Any such contract shall be purchased only from an insurer authorized to issue life insurance or annuity contracts in the commonwealth; any such custodial account or other investment shall be purchased only from a company or corporation authorized to sell the same in the commonwealth; provided, however, that any such committee may agree with any employee or prospective employee who has any such annuity contract, custodial account or such other investment in force for at least ninety days prior to the effective date of such agreement to continue to make premium payments under such contract, account or investment subsequent to the effective date of such agreement, without regard to whether or not such contract, account or investment has been issued or sold by an entity authorized to issue or sell such contracts, accounts or other investments in the commonwealth, but in such case any subsequent contract shall be purchased only from an insurer authorized to issue life insurance or annuity contracts in the commonwealth, and any such custodial account or other investment shall be purchased only from a company or corporation authorized to sell such accounts or other investments in the commonwealth. Upon execution of such an agreement, the committee shall forthwith give written notice thereof to the treasurer or other payroll officer of the city, town or district, and shall certify the amount and dates of premiums payable under the terms of such contract, account or investment, the name of the issuing insurer or selling company or corporation and the office to which such premium payments shall be made. Said treasurer or other payroll officer shall transmit the premium payments so deducted to the issuing insurer or selling company or corporation within fourteen days of the deduction. Said treasurer or other payroll officer shall thereafter make such premium payments while such contract, account or investment is in force and such employee is actively employed by the committee and, upon written notice duly given by the committee, shall make any changes in the manner or amount of premium payments required under the terms of any subsequent contract, account or investment entered into by such employee and the committee, and shall stop such premium payments when so notified by the committee. A school committee shall not offer to a teacher any such annuity plan, custodial account or other investment to the exclusion of any other plan, custodial account or other investments, whether group or individual.
Chapter 71: Section 37C. Promotion of racial balance Section 37C. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the commonwealth to encourage all school committees to adopt as educational objectives the promotion of racial balance and the correction of existing racial imbalance in the public schools. The prevention or elimination of racial imbalance shall be an objective in all decisions involving the drawing or altering of school attendance lines, establishing of grade levels, and the selection of new school sites.
Chapter 71: Section 37D. Racial imbalance; definitions; statistics; transfers; priorities; plans for elimination; public hearings; regulations; jurisdiction; costs; attorney’s fees Section 37D. As used in this section, sections thirty-seven C, I, and J, sections one I through one K of chapter fifteen, and section twelve A of chapter seventy-six, the following terms shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:“Racial imbalance”, the condition of a public school in which more than fifty percent of the pupils attending such school are non-white.
“Racial balance”, the condition of a public school in which more than thirty percent but not more than fifty percent of the pupils attending such school are non-white.
“Racial isolation”, the condition of a public school in which not more than thirty percent of the pupils attending such school are non-white.
“Exempt school”, a public school to which, prior to January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-four, the passing of a competitive examination was a condition of entrance; provided, however, that the school committee or regional district school committee having jurisdiction over such school shall, under the supervision of the board of education, establish and maintain an affirmative action program to recruit and assist non-white students to enter and to remain in attendance at such school.
The school committee of each city, town, and regional school district shall annually, at such time and in such form as the commissioner shall determine, submit to the commissioner statistics sufficient to enable a determination to be made of the percent of white and non-white pupils attending all public schools and attending each public school under the jurisdiction of each such committee. Whenever the board of education, in this section called the board, finds that racial imbalance exists in a public school, it shall in writing notify the school committee or regional district school committee having jurisdiction over such school that such finding has been made.
Any non-white pupil attending any public school in which racial imbalance exists shall have the right to be transferred to and to attend any other school, except an exempt school, of his parents’ or guardian’s choice for his grade level and under the jurisdiction of the same school committee or regional district school committee if racial isolation exists in such other school; and any white pupil attending any public school in which racial isolation exists shall have the right to be transferred to and to attend any other school, except an exempt school, of his parents’ or guardian’s choice for his grade level and under the jurisdiction of the same school committee or regional district school committee if racial imbalance exists in such other school. If a place is available for such pupil at such other school, such school committee or regional district school committee shall, forthwith upon receipt of written notice by his parents or guardian that they intend such pupil to exercise his right to be transferred to and to attend such other school, transfer such pupil to such other school. If no place is available for such pupil at such other school, such school committee or regional district school committee shall, upon receipt of such notice, formulate and, within the time limit established by regulations of the board, file with the board a plan to provide, within the same school year for which such notice is given, a place for such pupil at such other school and shall, within such time as may be prescribed by the board, implement either such plan as approved by the board or the mandatory plan of the board to provide such place and, when such place becomes available, transfer such pupil to such other school; provided, however, that the board may temporarily or permanently excuse such school committee or regional district school committee from implementing such plan or mandatory plan if an alternative place, satisfactory to the parents or guardian of such pupil, is available at another school to which such pupil may, as provided by this section, exercise his right to be transferred and attend, or if the board finds that there is other good cause to do so. Whenever a school committee or regional district school committee determines, in accordance with regulations of the board, that the number of places available at such other school is exceeded by the number of pupils exercising their rights to be transferred to and to attend such other school, the selection of particular pupils to be transferred to such places as are available shall be in accordance with regulations of the board, which regulations shall reasonably provide for priority for non-white pupils attending schools in which more than seventy percent of the pupils are non-white, without affecting the rights of such pupils not so selected to be transferred to and to attend such other school as provided by this section.
Any such plan so filed shall set forth in detail the proposed changes in existing school attendance districts, additions to existing school buildings, use of leased or portable facilities, changes in use of school buildings, and other measures to provide a place for such pupil at such other school. Any such plan shall take into consideration on an equal basis with reduction or elimination of racial imbalance the safety of pupils in their travelling between school and home. Any such plan may provide for voluntary cooperation by other cities, towns, or regional school districts in making facilities available or otherwise rendering assistance in implementing such plan. No change in any existing school attendance district shall be made pursuant to any such plan prior to a public hearing. Notice of the time and place of such hearing and of its subject matter shall be given by mail, postage prepaid, to the parents and guardian of each pupil affected by the proposed change and either by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, town, or regional school district within which such attendance district lies once in each of two successive weeks, the first such publication to be not less than fourteen days prior to the day of such hearing, or, if there is no such newspaper, by posting such notice in a conspicuous place in the city or town hall of such city, town, or member towns of such regional school district for a period of not less than fourteen days prior to the day of such hearing. At such hearing any person, whether entitled to notice thereof or not, may appear in person or be represented by an agent who need not be an attorney.
The board shall adopt regulations for the administration of the provisions of this section relating to, but not necessarily limited to, determination of places available in schools, priorities for transfer and attendance, notification to parents and guardians of pupils of such pupils’ rights to transfer and attendance, reporting and publication of places available in schools, time limits for filing of plans to provide places for pupils in schools, consolidation of such plans for filing, time limits and schedules for implementation of approved or mandatory plans to provide such places, progress reports on such implementation, and affirmative action programs.
The supreme judicial and superior courts shall have jurisdiction in equity over actions commenced by the board or by or on behalf of any pupil to enforce the provisions of this section; provided, however, that in any such action commenced by or on behalf of any pupil to enforce his right, as provided by this section, to be transferred to and to attend any school, which action is concluded in favor of such pupil, the school committee or regional district school committee having jurisdiction over such school shall be liable to such pupil or the person commencing such action on his behalf for his costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
Chapter 71: Section 37E. Legal counsel for collective bargaining Section 37E. The school committee of a city or town may employ legal counsel in connection with collective bargaining with employee organizations for school employees, and may expend money therefor from the funds appropriated by said city or town for school purposes provided, however, that no such money shall be expended in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars without the prior approval of the mayor, the city manager in a city having Plan D or Plan E form of government, or the board of selectmen. Said legal counsel shall not be subject to the provisions of section nine A of chapter thirty or the provisions of chapter thirty-one.
Chapter 71: Section 37F. Legal counsel for general purposes Section 37F. The school committee of a city or town may employ legal counsel for the general purposes of the committee and may expend money therefor from the funds appropriated by said city or town for school purposes. Said legal counsel shall not be subject to the provisions of section nine A of chapter thirty or the provisions of chapter thirty-one.
Chapter 71: Section 37G. Corporal punishment of pupils prohibited; use of physical restraint; regulations Section 37G. (a) The power of the school committee or of any teacher or any other employee or agent of the school committee to maintain discipline upon school property shall not include the right to inflict corporal punishment upon any pupil.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not preclude any member of the school committee or any teacher or any employee or agent of the school committee from using such reasonable force as is necessary to protect pupils, other persons, and themselves from an assault by a pupil. When such an assault has occurred, the principal shall file a detailed report of such with the school committee.
(c) The board of education shall promulgate regulations regarding the use of physical restraint for students. Such regulations shall not preclude any teacher or employee or agent of the school from using reasonable force to protect pupils, other persons and themselves from an assault by a pupil as set forth above in section (b). Such regulations shall require training of all personnel authorized to administer any forms of restraint. Such regulations shall provide for procedures for notification to the department and to the parents.
Chapter 71: Section 37H1/2. Felony complaint or conviction of student; suspension; expulsion; right to appeal Section 37H1/2. Notwithstanding the provisions of section eighty-four and sections sixteen and seventeen of chapter seventy-six:(1) Upon the issuance of a criminal complaint charging a student with a felony or upon the issuance of a felony delinquency complaint against a student, the principal or headmaster of a school in which the student is enrolled may suspend such student for a period of time determined appropriate by said principal or headmaster if said principal or headmaster determines that the student’s continued presence in school would have a substantial detrimental effect on the general welfare of the school. The student shall receive written notification of the charges and the reasons for such suspension prior to such suspension taking effect. The student shall also receive written notification of his right to appeal and the process for appealing such suspension; provided, however, that such suspension shall remain in effect prior to any appeal hearing conducted by the superintendent.
The student shall have the right to appeal the suspension to the superintendent. The student shall notify the superintendent in writing of his request for an appeal no later than five calendar days following the effective date of the suspension. The superintendent shall hold a hearing with the student and the student’s parent or guardian within three calendar days of the student’s request for an appeal. At the hearing, the student shall have the right to present oral and written testimony on his behalf, and shall have the right to counsel. The superintendent shall have the authority to overturn or alter the decision of the principal or headmaster, including recommending an alternate educational program for the student. The superintendent shall render a decision on the appeal within five calendar days of the hearing. Such decision shall be the final decision of the city, town or regional school district with regard to the suspension.
(2) Upon a student being convicted of a felony or upon an adjudication or admission in court of guilt with respect to such a felony or felony delinquency, the principal or headmaster of a school in which the student is enrolled may expel said student if such principal or headmaster determines that the student’s continued presence in school would have a substantial detrimental effect on the general welfare of the school. The student shall receive written notification of the charges and reasons for such expulsion prior to such expulsion taking effect. The student shall also receive written notification of his right to appeal and the process for appealing such expulsion; provided, however, that the expulsion shall remain in effect prior to any appeal hearing conducted by the superintendent.
The student shall have the right to appeal the expulsion to the superintendent. The student shall notify the superintendent, in writing, of his request for an appeal no later than five calendar days following the effective date of the expulsion. The superintendent shall hold a hearing with the student and the student’s parent or guardian within three calendar days of the expulsion. At the hearing, the student shall have the right to present oral and written testimony on his behalf, and shall have the right to counsel. The superintendent shall have the authority to overturn or alter the decision of the principal or headmaster, including recommending an alternate educational program for the student. The superintendent shall render a decision on the appeal within five calendar days of the hearing. Such decision shall be the final decision of the city, town or regional school district with regard to the expulsion.
Upon expulsion of such student, no school or school district shall be required to provide educational services to such student.
Chapter 71: Section 37H. Policies relative to conduct of teachers or students; student handbooks Section 37H. The superintendent of every school district shall publish the district’s policies pertaining to the conduct of teachers and students. Said policies shall prohibit the use of any tobacco products within the school buildings, the school facilities or on the school grounds or on school buses by any individual, including school personnel. Copies of these policies shall be provided to any person upon request and without cost by the principal of every school within the district.
Each school district’s policies pertaining to the conduct of students shall include the following: disciplinary proceedings, including procedures assuring due process; standards and procedures for suspension and expulsion of students; procedures pertaining to discipline of students with special needs; standards and procedures to assure school building security and safety of students and school personnel; and the disciplinary measures to be taken in cases involving the possession or use of illegal substances or weapons, the use of force, vandalism, or violation of other student’s civil rights. Codes of discipline, as well as procedures used to develop such codes shall be filed with the department of education for informational purposes only.
In each school building containing the grades nine to twelve, inclusive, the principal, in consultation with the school council, shall prepare and distribute to each student a student handbook setting forth the rules pertaining to the conduct of students. The school council shall review the student handbook each spring to consider changes in disciplinary policy to take effect in September of the following school year, but may consider policy changes at any time. The annual review shall cover all areas of student conduct, including but not limited to those outlined in this section.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, all student handbooks shall contain the following provisions:(a) Any student who is found on school premises or at school-sponsored or school-related events, including athletic games, in possession of a dangerous weapon, including, but not limited to, a gun or a knife; or a controlled substance as defined in chapter ninety-four C, including, but not limited to, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, may be subject to expulsion from the school or school district by the principal.
(b) Any student who assaults a principal, assistant principal, teacher, teacher’s aide or other educational staff on school premises or at school-sponsored or school-related events, including athletic games, may be subject to expulsion from the school or school district by the principal.
(c) Any student who is charged with a violation of either paragraph (a) or (b) shall be notified in writing of an opportunity for a hearing; provided, however, that the student may have representation, along with the opportunity to present evidence and witnesses at said hearing before the principal.
After said hearing, a principal may, in his discretion, decide to suspend rather than expel a student who has been determined by the principal to have violated either paragraph (a) or (b).
(d) Any student who has been expelled from a school district pursuant to these provisions shall have the right to appeal to the superintendent. The expelled student shall have ten days from the date of the expulsion in which to notify the superintendent of his appeal. The student has the right to counsel at a hearing before the superintendent. The subject matter of the appeal shall not be limited solely to a factual determination of whether the student has violated any provisions of this section.
(e) When a student is expelled under the provisions of this section, no school or school district within the commonwealth shall be required to admit such student or to provide educational services to said student. If said student does apply for admission to another school or school district, the superintendent of the school district to which the application is made may request and shall receive from the superintendent of the school expelling said student a written statement of the reasons for said expulsion.
Chapter 71: Section 37I. Magnet school facilities; grants; application; approval; agreements; eligible costs; regulations Section 37I. Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of law, including, but not limited to, chapter six hundred forty-five of the acts of nineteen hundred and forty-eight, as amended, the board of education, in this section and section thirty-seven J called the board, may, subject to appropriation, make grants for the cost of providing magnet school facilities. For the purpose of this section, the term “magnet school facility” shall mean a public school or part thereof which meets such requirements as may be established by the board and attracts pupils from outside the neighborhood in which it is located for the purpose of reducing or eliminating racial imbalance or racial isolation, as defined in section thirty-seven D.
The school committee of any city or town or any regional district school committee may apply to the board for a grant to such city, town, or regional district school committee for all or part of the cost of providing a magnet school facility. Such application shall be in such form as may be prescribed by the board and shall be accompanied by such estimates and other information as the board may require. The board may approve any such application for a facility which meets such requirements and which is likely so to attract pupils so as to reduce or eliminate racial imbalance or racial isolation. The board shall notify such school committee or regional district school committee of its approval or disapproval of such application and, in the case of approval, of the estimated amount of the grant which the board will make.
After notification of approval, the board and such school committee or regional district school committee may enter into an agreement providing that such school committee or regional district school committee shall provide, within a reasonable time, such magnet school facility, as approved by the board, and that the commonwealth shall pay to such city, town or regional district school committee the amount of such grant. Any such agreement shall provide that such facility shall be operated in a manner designed to achieve racial balance therein or at the public school of which such facility is a part and that, whenever such school committee or regional district school committee determines, in accordance with regulations of the board, that the number of places available at such facility or school is exceeded by the number of pupils who have applied to be transferred to and to attend such facility or school, the selection of particular pupils to be transferred to and to attend such facility or school shall be in accordance with regulations of the board, which regulations shall reasonably provide for priority for those non-white pupils who are attending or otherwise would attend a racially imbalanced school and for those white pupils who are attending or otherwise would attend a racially isolated school.
The board may, subject to appropriation, make grants for the cost of providing magnet school facilities for the purpose of reducing or eliminating imbalance of minority students, as defined in the regulations promulgated under the federal Emergency School Aid Act, Title VII of Public Law 92–318, as amended.
The following costs of providing a magnet school facility shall be eligible for any such grant:(i) the average cost per pupil of educating each child who attends such facility or the public school of which such facility is a part, less the average cost per pupil of educating each such child at the public school which he otherwise would have attended; provided, however, that such costs shall be determined according to a method approved by the board, and that, to the extent possible, such method shall determine the average cost per pupil of educating each such child in the grade in which he is enrolled;(ii) the cost of transportation of each child attending such magnet school facility;(iii) the cost of planning and construction, reconstruction, enlargement, rehabilitation, or other improvement for the magnet school facility provided, however, that no such grant shall be for more than seventy-five percent of any such cost and(iv) such other costs incidental to the provision of the magnet school facility as the board may approve.
The board may adopt regulations for the administration of the provisions of this section.
Chapter 71: Section 37J. Magnet educational programs; reimbursement for cost; definition; contracts; joining programs Section 37J. The board of education may, subject to appropriation, reimburse any city, town or regional district for all or part of the cost of providing magnet educational programs within the public schools. Any such reimbursement shall be made only after certification by the board that such cost actually has been incurred, that such cost is reasonable, and that such program has met such requirements.
For the purpose of this section, the term “magnet educational program” shall mean educational measures including, but not limited to, planning and special services, instruction, or treatment of children, whether at the public schools or other public or private facility or place, which meet such requirements as may be established by the board for the purpose of providing such children with racially balanced educational experiences.
The board of education may contract with any other public or private facility for the purpose of purchasing magnet educational programs. Any city, town or regional district wanting to join in such a program shall so request the board in writing. The board shall approve all requests that meet the requirements as may be established. Any such contracts must be approved by a majority of the board provided that such cost is reasonable.
Chapter 71: Section 37K. Business demonstration projects; disposition of proceeds Section 37K. Each school committee may authorize business demonstration projects of an educational nature, to be operated by students as an educational service. Each such project shall be subject to all applicable health, safety and nutritional regulations.
Any such project may be operated independently of any other department or program in the school in which such project is operated. The net proceeds, after all expenses have been deducted, of any sale of food by any such project shall be transferred each month to the school lunch or food service account for the school in which such project is operated. Any such project serving food to a daily average of more than ten per cent of the students in the school, in which such project is located, in any given month, shall, during the remainder of the school year, be governed by the regulations of the school lunch program.
Chapter 71: Section 37L. Notification to school personnel of reporting requirements for child abuse and neglect; reports of students possessing or using dangerous weapons on school premises; transferred students’ school records Section 37L. The school committee of each city, town or regional school district shall inform teachers, administrators, and other professional staff of reporting requirements for child abuse and neglect as specified in sections fifty-one A to fifty-one F, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen.
In addition, any school department personnel shall report in writing to their immediate supervisor an incident involving a student’s possession or use of a dangerous weapon on school premises at any time.
Supervisors who receive such a weapon report shall file it with the superintendent of said school, who shall file copies of said weapon report with the local chief of police, the department of social services, the office of student services or its equivalent in any school district, and the local school committee. Said superintendent, police chief, and representative from the department of social services, together with a representative from the office of student services or its equivalent, shall arrange an assessment of the student involved in said weapon report. Said student shall be referred to a counseling program; provided, however, that said counseling shall be in accordance with acceptable standards as set forth by the board of education. Upon completion of a counseling session, a follow-up assessment shall be made of said student by those involved in the initial assessment.
A student transferring into a local system must provide the new school system with a complete school record of the entering student. Said record shall include, but not be limited to, any incidents involving suspension or violation of criminal acts or any incident reports in which such student was charged with any suspended act.
Chapter 71: Section 37M. Consolidation of administrative functions with city or town Section 37M. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter forty-one or chapter seventy-one or any other special or general law to the contrary, any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section may consolidate administrative functions, including but not limited to financial, personnel, and maintenance functions, of the school committee with those of the city or town; provided, however, that such consolidation may occur only upon a majority vote of both the school committee and in a city, the city council, with approval of the mayor required by law or in a town, the annual town meeting or in a town with no town meeting, the town council.
(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a decision to consolidate functions pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section may be revoked by a majority vote of either the school committee of the city or town, or the city or town, or both as such vote is described in said paragraph (a).
Chapter 71: Section 37N. Policy for school-sponsored student travel Section 37N. Each school committee shall establish a policy concerning student travel sponsored by a school that is planned to occur between the hours of midnight and 6:00 a.
m.
, or that will include an overnight stay away from a student’s home. The policy shall address, but not be limited to, such issues as safety of transportation and accommodations, cost, including expectations for fundraising by students, time away from school, appropriateness of the trip for the grade level and the trip approval process. In adopting its policy, the school committee shall consider the model policy drafted by the board of education under section 1B of chapter 69.
Chapter 71: Section 38. Employment of teachers, aides, principals, etc.
; designation of Horace Mann teachers; performance evaluations; performance standards Section 38. No school district shall require that an individual reside within the city, town or regional school district as a condition of promotion, assignment, transfer or continued employment as a school teacher, instructional aide, assistant principal, principal, director, supervisor, deputy superintendent or professional employee; provided, however, that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any individual appointed, reappointed or promoted to the position of superintendent, associate superintendent or assistant superintendent.
Subject to the collective bargaining provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty E, the school committee may designate each year Horace Mann teachers who meet the requirements and guidelines developed by the board of education pursuant to section one G of chapter fifteen. Any position designated as a Horace Mann teacher shall be included in an appropriate teacher collective bargaining unit. Each year the school committee may designate Horace Mann teachers who meet the requirements and guidelines developed by the board of education; provided, however, that a teacher may not be designated as a Horace Mann teacher more than two consecutive years.
The superintendent, by means of comprehensive evaluation, shall cause the performance of all teachers, principals, and administrators within the school district to be evaluated using any principles of evaluation established by the board of education pursuant to section one B of chapter sixty-nine and by such consistent, supplemental performance standards as the school committee may require, including the extent to which students assigned to such teachers and administrators satisfy student academic standards or, in the case of a special education student, the individual education plan, and the successful implementation of professional development plans required under section thirty-eight Q; provided, however, that such principles and standards be consistent with the anti-discrimination requirements of chapter one hundred and fifty-two B. The superintendent shall require the evaluation of administrators and of teachers without professional teacher status every year and shall require the evaluation of teachers with professional teacher status at least once every two years. The procedures for conducting such evaluations, but not the requirement for such evaluations, shall be subject to the collective bargaining provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty E.
Performance standards for teachers and other school district employees shall be established by the school committee upon the recommendation of the superintendent, provided that where teachers are represented for collective bargaining purposes, all teacher performance standards shall be determined as follows: The school committee and the collective bargaining representative shall undertake for a reasonable period of time to agree on teacher performance standards. Prior to said reasonable period of time, the school district shall seek a public hearing to comment on such standards. In the absence of an agreement, after such reasonable period, teacher performance standards shall be determined by binding interest arbitration. Either the school district or the teachers’ collective bargaining representative may file a petition seeking arbitration with the commissioner of education. The commissioner shall forward to the parties a list of three arbitrators provided by the American Arbitration Association. The school committee and the collective bargaining representative within three days of receipt of the list from the commissioner of education shall have the right to strike one of the three arbitrators’ names if they are unable to agree upon a single arbitrator from among the three. The arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association to be consistent with the provisions of this section. In reaching a decision, the arbitrator shall seek to advance the goals of encouraging innovation in teaching and of holding teachers accountable for improving student performance. The arbitrator shall consider the particular socioeconomic conditions of the student population of the school district. Both the parties and the arbitrator may adopt performance standards established by state or national organizations. The performance standards shall be incorporated into the applicable collective bargaining agreement; provided, however, that any subsequent modification of the performance standards shall be made pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section.
The results of such evaluations may be used in decisions to dismiss, demote or remove a teacher or administrator pursuant to sections forty-two, forty-two A and sixty-three.
Each school district shall conduct evaluations of teachers and administrators in accordance with the regulations of the board and shall be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred thereby in accordance with section sixty of chapter fifteen.
Chapter 71: Section 38A. Duties; appointment of director of occupational guidance, duties of director Section 38A. The school committee of a town not in an occupational guidance and placement district may employ a director or directors of occupational guidance and placement, approved by the department prior to his or their appointment, and may fix his or their compensation, and a director employed under this section shall, under the direction and control of the supervisor of guidance and placement provided for in section six B of chapter fifteen, give his whole time to the occupational and employment problems of the young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three in said town. He shall use all means available to furnish occupational guidance and secure employment opportunities for such persons. Every such director may consult with and seek the advice of said supervisor, and shall make an annual report to the committee and forward a copy thereof to said supervisor.
Chapter 71: Section 38B. Repealed, 1978, 367, Sec. 70E Chapter 71: Section 38C. Status of director of occupational guidance Section 38C. Every such director of occupational guidance and placement shall be deemed to be a regularly appointed teacher in the school system of the town by which he is employed, and shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter relating to teachers.
Chapter 71: Section 38D. District directors of occupational guidance; appointment Section 38D. Two or more towns may, by vote of each, form a district for the purpose of employing a director of occupational guidance and placement, who shall annually be appointed by a joint committee composed of the chairman and secretary of the school committee of each of said towns. The committee shall determine the relative amount of service to be performed by him in each town, fix his salary, apportion the amount thereof to be paid by each town, and certify the same to each town treasurer. Any constituent town may, by vote passed prior to December first in any year, withdraw from the district, with the approval of the department, such withdrawal to become effective on June thirtieth following. No city may join in forming such a district.
Chapter 71: Section 38E. Repealed, 1978, 367, Sec. 70E Chapter 71: Section 38F. Fees for services of directors of occupational guidance; prohibition; penalty for violation Section 38F. A director of occupational guidance and placement who accepts any commission, fee, compensation or reward of any kind for obtaining a position for any person shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, and upon conviction his office shall immediately become vacant.
Chapter 71: Section 38G. Certification for certain teaching and administrative positions; provisional and standard certificates; policies and guidelines regarding requirements and qualifications; applications; recommendations; review; continuing education; renewal of certificate Section 38G. As used in this section the following words shall have the following meanings:“Board”, the board of education established by chapter fifteen.
“Provisional educator”, a person who holds a provisional educator certificate.
“Provisional educator with advanced standing”, a person who holds a provisional educator certificate with advanced standing; said certificate shall be valid for five years of employment as an educator in the schools of the commonwealth and may be renewed for an additional five years of employment in accordance with regulations adopted by the board.
“Provisional educator certificate”, a license to teach issued to a person who has successfully met the preparation and eligibility requirements as established by the board. The provisional educator’s certificate shall be valid for five years of employment as an educator in the schools of the commonwealth.
“Provisional educator certificate with advanced standing”, a license to teach issued to a person who has successfully met the preparation and eligibility requirements as established by the board for provisional certification and completed (1) a college program, graduate or undergraduate, approved by the board of education for the preparation of teachers; or (2) a college preparation program included in the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC); or (3) an out of state teacher education program approved by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE); or (4) other program approved by the board.
“Regionally licensed or certified educator”, an applicant for a teacher’s certificate in Massachusetts who has been granted a regional license or certificate by another state jurisdiction under terms of a contract entered into pursuant to chapter seven hundred and forty-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and sixty-eight, the Interstate Agreement on Certification of Educational Personnel. Such certificate shall be equivalent to the provisional educator certificate with advanced standing.
“Reciprocity of certified educators”, the process and requirements established by the commissioner for candidates to obtain certification who have completed (1) a college preparation program included in the alternative certification reciprocity system of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC); (2) out-of-state programs approved by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE); or (3) other programs approved by the board. Such certificate shall be equivalent to the provisional educator with advanced standing certificate.
“Standard educator”, a person who holds a standard educator certificate.
“Standard educator certificate”, a license to teach issued to a person who has successfully met the preparation and eligibility requirements as established by the board. The standard educator’s certificate shall be valid for renewable terms of five years.
“Temporary certificate”, a license to teach which the commissioner of education may, at his discretion, issue to a person who holds a valid teaching certificate from another state and who has been employed under the certificate for a minimum of three years but has not satisfied the certification testing requirements contained in this section. The temporary certificate shall be valid for one year and is nonrenewable. Service under a temporary certificate shall be counted as service in acquiring professional teacher status, contingent upon the teacher passing the applicable certification tests.
The commissioner of education shall have authority to grant, upon application, provisional educator, provisional educator with advanced standing, temporary, and standard educator certificates to persons who have satisfied the requirements for such certificates as established by the board. The board shall define the knowledge of subject matter and demonstration of competencies commensurate with attainment and renewal of such certificates.
To be eligible for certification as a provisional educator, the candidate shall (1) hold a bachelor’s degree in arts or sciences from an accredited college or university with a major course in the arts or sciences appropriate to the instructional field; (2) pass a test established by the board which shall consist of two parts: (A) a writing section which shall demonstrate the communication and literacy skills necessary for effective instruction and improved communication between school and parents; and (B) the subject matter knowledge for the certificate; and (3) be of sound moral character. Candidates who complete the requirements in this paragraph shall be issued provisional educator certificates which will permit them to seek employment in teaching positions requiring instructional certification in districts which have an approved provisional educator preparation program.
The commissioner shall establish standards for the training, support and supervision of provisional educators. During the period of employment, a person holding a provisional teaching certificate pursuant to this section shall be under the direct supervision of the principal or other appropriate supervisor who shall regularly observe and evaluate the performance of assigned duties by such holder of a provisional teaching certificate. Such evaluation shall be according to relevant to nationally recognized professional standards for personnel evaluation.
Each public school district seeking to hire a provisional educator must submit an provisional educator program plan to the department of education. No district shall be authorized to employ a provisional educator unless it has submitted a plan for such a program and received approval of the commissioner. Each plan shall describe the key elements of the proposed provisional educator program in accordance with guidelines established and published by the department. Such guidelines shall require that provisional educators in district-based programs meet the equivalent standards that provisional educators with advanced standing meet in approved college and university programs. Districts shall show either evidence of joint sponsorship or collaboration of training programs with (1) colleges or universities, or (2) other districts, or (3) other programs approved by the commissioner to provide such programs. The department shall issue standard district plans which districts may implement in lieu of developing original plans. The department shall coordinate the training efforts of districts, shall insure that district programs meet fair, substantive and comprehensive professional development standards and shall establish regional programs for provisional educators. The department shall also provide orientation programs for support team members. Provisional educators shall be observed by a professional support team. The department of education shall devise standardized criteria for a final comprehensive evaluation of each provisional educator, conducted at the end of the provisional educator period by the professional support team. All such evaluations shall be conducted according to nationally recognized professional standards for personnel evaluation.
At the conclusion of each year of the approved district training program for provisional educators, the chairperson of the support team shall prepare a comprehensive evaluation report of the provisional educator’s performance. Such report shall be submitted by the chairperson directly to the department of education. The final comprehensive evaluation report on each provisional educator shall be made on forms provided by the department of education. Said report shall include an assessment of the individual’s on the job performance and one of the following recommendations:(1) Approved: recommends that advanced standing status be granted upon completion of the other preparation and eligibility requirements as established by the board;(2) Insufficient: recommends that the candidate be allowed to seek entry in the future into a district training program; or a candidate found insufficient twice shall not be allowed to enter another district training program; or(3) Disapproved: recommends that advanced standing status not be granted and that the candidate not be allowed to enter into a district training program.
The support team chairperson shall provide the provisional educator with a copy of the written evaluation report and certification recommendation before submitting it to the commissioner of education.
If the recommendation is to disapprove, the provisional educator may, within fifteen days, submit to the chairperson written materials documenting the reasons why the provisional educator believes his provisional educator certification should continue to remain valid or a recommendation of insufficient granted. The chairperson shall forward all such documentation to the commissioner of education along with the evaluation report and recommendation concerning certification.
Candidates who receive a recommendation of “disapproved” or two or more recommendations of “insufficient” may appeal to the commissioner for approval of additional opportunities to seek provisional educator employment in districts other than those in which they received unfavorable recommendations. The candidate shall be responsible for demonstrating why he would be likely to succeed if granted the requested opportunity.
To be eligible for certification as a provisional educator with advanced standing, the candidate shall provide evidence that he (1) holds a bachelor’s degree in arts or sciences from an accredited college or university with a major course in the arts or sciences appropriate to the instructional field or the equivalent baccalaureate degree; (2) has passed a test established by the board which shall consist of two parts: (A) a writing section which shall demonstrate the communication and literacy skills necessary for effective instruction and improved communication between school and parents; and (B) the subject matter knowledge for the certificate; (3) has satisfactorily completed a board of education approved teacher preparation program; and (4) is of sound moral character. A candidate who completes the requirements of this paragraph shall be issued a provisional educator certificate with advanced standing which will permit him to seek employment in a teaching position requiring instructional certification.
Each public school district seeking to hire a provisional educator with advanced standing must submit a plan to the department of education which details how the district will supervise and support such provisional educators with advanced standing. No district shall be authorized to employ a provisional educator with advanced standing unless it has submitted a plan for the support and evaluation of such educator to the commissioner and received the approval of the commissioner. The department of education shall issue standard plans for provisional educators with advanced standing which districts may implement in lieu of developing an original plan.
In not less than one year after the issuance of a provisional educator certificate, the commissioner upon receipt of a proper application shall issue a standard educator certificate to such provisional certificate holder who has provided the commissioner with evidence, in such manner and form as prescribed by the board, that he has met the preparation and eligibility requirements set by the board through a master’s degree program approved by the commissioner, or through an equivalent district program for standard certification approved by the commissioner, or other equivalent programs approved by the commissioner; and has met the requirements set by the commissioner for demonstration of successful performance.
Each standard educator certificate shall be valid for five years and continued every five years thereafter upon the successful completion of an individual professional development plan that meets the subject matter knowledge and teaching skill requirements set by the board. Such plan shall be designed to increase the ability of the person to improve student learning.
Certificates granted by the board prior to October first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four are hereby deemed standard certificates which shall be renewed every five years. All such certificates must be renewed by June eighteenth, nineteen hundred and ninety-nine.
The commissioner shall develop alternative paths for certifying school management and educational leadership personnel which shall facilitate a process whereby persons with significant managerial experience can obtain such certification.
Any certificate issued by the commissioner may be revoked for cause, pursuant to standards and procedures established by the board.
The board shall have the authority to promulgate, amend and rescind such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Such regulations shall be presented to the joint committee for informational purposes ninety days before implementation.
All applications for any certificates granted under this section shall be accompanied by a fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provisions of section three B of chapter seven. Said fees shall be established and limited to allow the department to carry out the certification and recertification responsibilities but in no case shall said applications exceed one hundred dollars per year with an annual increase no greater than the consumer price index.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the board shall establish for each certification area alternate methods for fulfilling the professional development requirement, at least one of which shall be provided at no cost to persons employed by a school district, including paraprofessionals or assistant teachers, who are engaging in such activity for the purpose of satisfying the professional development requirement of this section.
No person shall be eligible for employment as a teacher, guidance counselor, director, school psychologist, school adjustment counselor, school social worker, school nurse, library media specialist, school business administrator, principal, supervisor, director, assistant superintendent of school, and superintendent of schools by a school district unless he has been granted by the commissioner a provisional, or standard certificate with respect to the type of position for which he seeks employment; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed to prevent a school committee from prescribing additional qualifications; and provided further, that a superintendent may upon request be exempt by the commissioner for any one school year from the requirement in this section to employ certified personnel when compliance therewith would in the opinion of the commissioner constitute a great hardship in securing teachers for that school district. During the time that such a waiver is in effect, service of an employee of a school district to whom the waiver applies shall not be counted as service in acquiring professional teacher status or other rights under section forty-one.
In addition to any other requirements of this section, the board shall require, as a provision of an administrator’s or educator’s initial certification, that all educators and administrators shall have training in strategies for effective inclusive schooling for children with disabilities, instruction of students with diverse learning styles and classroom organization and management. Such training shall include, at a minimum, practical experience in the application of these strategies.
In addition to any other requirements in this section, in order to receive a provisional or standard educator certificate, persons applying for such certification shall have completed such courses or training sessions as the board shall require in second language acquisition.
Competence in Braille instruction shall be a requirement for initial certification as a teacher of students with vision impairments. Such competence shall be verified through a testing program which meets the standards of the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind or its successor.
For the purposes of certifying educators, the board shall establish policies and guidelines and the commissioner may approve preparation programs devoted to the preparation of teachers and other educational personnel. A college or university or school or district or other institution offering such an approved program shall certify to the commissioner that a student has demonstrated satisfactory competence in the skills and knowledge expected of college graduates in the most advanced nations, and has completed the program approved. The college or university or school district or other institution shall also provide the commissioner with a transcript of the student’s record.
At the end of each five-year period each standard educator shall attest to and provide appropriate supporting evidence and documentation to the state department of education, in such form and at such time as the commissioner shall prescribe, that the standard educator has successfully completed a professional development plan which meets the standards set by the board.
In addition to any other requirements of this section, the board shall require, as a provision of an administrator’s or educator’s recertification, that all educators and administrators shall have training in strategies for effective inclusive schooling for children with disabilities, instruction of students with diverse learning styles and classroom organization and management. Such training shall include, at a minimum, practical experience in the application of these strategies.
It shall be one of the objectives of all school districts’ professional development plans to satisfy the individual professional development plans required by this section; provided, however, that this requirement shall not be construed to require that a school district or the commonwealth provide funding for the fulfillment of the professional development requirements of this section and section thirty-eight Q beyond the foundation budget.
The board shall establish policies and guidelines for approval for any continuing education units, inservice seminars, projects, courses and other activities which would be deemed sufficient to maintain the development of professional skills and the knowledge of subject matter pertinent to particular certificates in accordance with the same procedures used for initial approval of collegiate preparation programs. The commissioner shall establish for each certification alternate methods for fulfilling the professional development requirement, at least one of which must be at no cost to persons employed by a school district who are engaging in such an activity for the purpose of satisfying the professional development requirements for recertification of this section.
Such policies shall provide that a teacher who is to be employed in a position in an area of certification in which he is not currently employed, but for which he held a certificate which had been valid within five years immediately preceding the starting date of employment in this position, shall be given a reasonable period, as determined by the board, to fulfill a professional development plan which demonstrates currency in the subject matter knowledge and requalify him for certification in said area. In every instance, all evaluations and assessments shall follow nationally recognized professional standards.
Each local and regional school district shall attest to the department of education, in such form and at such time as the commissioner shall prescribe, that professional development activities for which credit toward certification renewal is granted meet the requirements set by the board and are documented in accordance with procedures established by the board.
The board shall, in establishing said policies and criteria for professional development, give special consideration to the best interests of the students in the commonwealth, including the need for high quality teachers of English language learners programs established under chapter 71A for limited English proficient students and the need to maintain the highest performance standards of teachers while taking into proper consideration the financial or time constraints these policies may require. In developing such policies, guidelines and assessment methods, the board shall obtain the input of teachers, administrators, educational experts, parents, business leaders and others interested in the improvement of the professional status of teachers.
Except as otherwise specifically provided in this section, no rights of any employees of a school district under the provision of this chapter shall be impaired by the provisions of this section.
Anyone granted either a provisional or standard certificate under this section or currently holding such certification shall be required to maintain the development of professional skills and the knowledge of subject matter pertinent to the areas of certification.
Teachers who were authorized, permitted or approved to teach in a subject or area for which there was no certification standard before September first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two, shall acquire and maintain the development of the skills and training required of persons certified to teach in said subject or areas after that date.
This section shall not apply to trade, vocational, temporary substitute teachers, exchange teachers, regionally licensed or certified teachers or to teaching or administrative interns; provided, however, that approval for the employment of such personnel shall be generated by the board under such rules and regulations as it may adopt.
The requirements of this section shall not apply to the certification of teachers of adult education. Nothing in this section or section 1H of chapter 69 shall be construed to prohibit a school committee from employing a teacher certified under this section to teach adult education.
Chapter 71: Section 38H. School librarian and school library supervisor or co-ordinator; tenure Section 38H. Every school librarian and school library supervisor or co-ordinator appointed by a school committee shall acquire tenure in the school system of the city or town in which he is employed subject to the provisions of section forty-one, relating to tenure for teachers, and of sections forty-two and forty-three A, relating to dismissal, suspension and discharge and of appeals therefrom.
Chapter 71: Section 38I. Reimbursement of teachers for tuitions and fees Section 38I. The school committee of any city or town may, under regulations prescribed by the school committee, reimburse teachers for tuition and fees incurred by such teachers for upgrading skills and improving proficiency.
Chapter 71: Section 38J. Repealed, 1995, 209, Sec. 2 Chapter 71: Section 38K. Public relations bureau in school departments; establishment Section 38K. In cities having a population of over one hundred thousand, the school committee may establish within the school department a bureau of public relations for the purpose of improving public relations between the school department and the community. Said bureau shall be under the control of a director, and such other assistants as the committee deems necessary may be employed to carry out the purpose of such bureau. The director and assistants appointed under the provisions of this section shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter thirty-one.
Chapter 71: Section 38L. Repealed, 1978, 512, Sec. 12 Chapter 71: Section 38M. Student advisory committees Section 38M. School committees of cities, towns and regional school districts shall meet at least once every other month, during the months school is in session, with a student advisory committee to consist of five members to be composed of students elected by the student body of the high school or high schools in each city, town or regional school district.
The members of such student advisory committees shall, by majority vote prior to the first day of June in each year elect from their number a chairperson who shall serve for a term of one year. Said chairperson shall be an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the school committee, without the right to attend executive sessions unless such right is expressly granted by the individual school committee. Said chairperson shall be subject to all school committee rules and regulations and shall serve without compensation.
Chapter 71: Section 38N. Proposed annual budgets; public hearings required; quorum Section 38N. The school committee of each city, town or regional school district shall hold a public hearing on its proposed annual budget not less than seven days after publication of a notice thereof in a newspaper having general circulation in such city, town or district. Prior to such public hearing said committee shall make available to the public at least one copy of said proposed budget for a time period of not less than forty-eight hours either at the office of the superintendent of schools or at a place so designated by said committee. At the time and place so advertised or at any time or place to which such hearing may from time to time be adjourned all interested persons shall be given an opportunity to be heard for or against the whole or any part of the proposed budget. Such hearing shall be conducted by a quorum of the school committee. For the purposes of this section a quorum shall consist of a majority of the members of said school committee.
Chapter 71: Section 38O. Sex education advisory committees Section 38O. In any city, town or regional school district which accepts this section, the school committee shall meet at least once every other month with an advisory committee which shall advise said school committee concerning reading, visual aid and all other material pertaining to sex education. Said committee shall consist of eleven members, one of whom shall be a physician and seven of whom shall be parents of children attending a school of such city, town or regional school district. The school committee in June of each year shall appoint said committee.
Chapter 71: Section 38P. School psychologists; tenure Section 38P. Every school psychologist and supervisor of school psychologists appointed by a school committee and holding certification as a school psychologist from the department of education shall acquire tenure in the school system of the city, town or district in which he is employed, subject to the provisions of sections forty-one, forty-two and forty-three A.
Chapter 71: Section 38Q1/2. Curriculum accommodation plan Section 38Q1/2. A school district shall adopt and implement a curriculum accommodation plan to assist principals in ensuring that all efforts have been made to meet students’ needs in regular education. The plan shall be designed to assist the regular classroom teacher in analyzing and accommodating diverse learning styles of all children in the regular classroom and in providing appropriate services and support within the regular education program including, but not limited to, direct and systematic instruction in reading and provision of services to address the needs of children whose behavior may interfere with learning, or who do not qualify for special education services under chapter 71B. The curriculum accommodation plan shall include provisions encouraging teacher mentoring and collaboration and parental involvement.
Chapter 71: Section 38Q. Professional development plans; statewide assistance plan Section 38Q. Every school district in the commonwealth shall adopt and implement a professional development plan for all principals, teachers, other professional staff, paraprofessionals and teacher assistants employed by the district, to include the professional support teams established pursuant to section thirty-eight G, and annually shall update such plans and set forth a budget for professional development within the confines of the foundation budget. Said plan shall include training in the teaching of new curriculum frameworks and other skills required for the effective implementation of this act, including participatory decision making, and parent and community involvement. The plan shall also include training in: (1) analyzing and accommodating diverse learning styles of all students in order to achieve an objective of inclusion in the regular classroom of students with diverse learning styles; and (2) methods of collaboration among teachers, paraprofessionals and teacher assistants to accommodate such styles. The plan may also include training in the provision of pre-referral services within regular education. Said plan shall also include training for members of school councils, pursuant to section fifty-nine C. Said plan may include teacher training which addresses the effects of gender bias in the classroom. In any school district with limited English proficient students, the plan shall provide training for teachers in second language acquisition techniques for the re-certification of teachers and administrators. All professional development plans required by this section shall be filed annually with the commissioner of education.
The commissioner of education for the commonwealth shall prepare each year a plan for providing statewide assistance in the preparation and implementation of professional development plans. The plan shall include data that demonstrates, statewide and by school district, the types of professional development provided for educators who work with limited English proficient students. The commissioner shall consult with the board of higher education in developing said plan. This plan shall evaluate the feasibility of obtaining assistance from institutions of higher education and private service providers. The plan shall be submitted to the board of education for approval. A copy of said plan shall be submitted to the joint committee on education, arts, and humanities of the general court.
Chapter 71: Section 38R. Schools’ access to criminal offender records; employees, contractors, and volunteers; use limited to protection of children Section 38R. The school committee and superintendent of any city, town or regional school district and the principal, by whatever title the position be known, of a public or accredited private school of any city, town or regional school district shall have access to and shall obtain all available criminal offender record information from the criminal history systems board of any current or prospective employee or volunteer of the school department, who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children, including any individual who regularly provides school related transportation to children. Such school committee, superintendent or principal shall periodically, but not less than every 3 years, obtain all available criminal offender record information from the criminal history systems board on all such employees and volunteers during their term of employment or volunteer service. Said school committee, superintendent or principal shall also have access to all criminal offender record information of any subcontractor or laborer commissioned by the school committee of any city, town or regional school district to perform work on school grounds, and who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children.
Access to such information shall be obtained in accordance with sections 167 to 168, inclusive, of chapter 6. A school committee, superintendent or principal obtaining information under this section shall prohibit the dissemination of such information for any purpose other than to further the protection of school children.
Chapter 71: Section 39. Teacher’s application forms; questions concerning religion or politics Section 39. No public school committee or official shall inquire concerning, or require or solicit from an applicant for a position in the public schools any information as to, his religious belief, creed or practice, or his political opinions or affiliations; and no appointment to such a position shall be in any manner affected thereby. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars.
Section 4. Every town containing, according to the latest federal census, five hundred families or householders, shall, unless specifically exempted by the board of education and under conditions defined by it, maintain a high school, adequately equipped, which shall be kept by a principal and such assistants as may be needed, of competent ability and good morals, who shall give instruction in such subjects as the school committee considers expedient. One or more courses of study, at least four years in length, shall be maintained in such high school and it shall be kept open for the benefit of all inhabitants of the town for at least the number of days required by said board, exclusive of vacations, in each school year; provided, however, that the date of graduation from such high school may precede the regular closing date of the school by not more than twelve school days. A school committee may determine that such school shall be conducted for less than the number of days required by said board in any year during which school has been closed because of epidemic, extraordinary weather conditions dangerous to the health or safety of pupils or other emergency, subject, however, to the provisions of section four A. Each high school maintained by a town required to belong to a superintendency union shall be conducted in accordance with standards of organization, equipment and instruction approved, from time to time, by the board.
Chapter 71: Section 40. Compensation of teachers; deferred payment Section 40. The compensation of each teacher, except a person in training and except a person employed as a temporary substitute, upon a majority vote of the respective school committee and the appropriating authority or, in the case of a regional school district, upon acceptance as provided hereafter, shall be at a rate of not less than eighteen thousand dollars or at a rate not less than twenty thousand dollars, as designated by said vote, for the school year commencing after July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven. In the case of a regional school district, acceptance shall require the approval of the regional school district committee and two-thirds of the appropriating authorities of the municipalities in such regional school district. The compensation paid to such teachers shall be deemed to be fully earned at the end of the school year, and proportionately earned during the school year. Payment of such compensation may be deferred to the extent that equal payments may be established for a twelve month period including amounts payable in July and August subsequent to the end of the school year. Educational collaboratives, formed under the provisions of section four E of chapter forty, may accept the provisions of this section by a majority vote of the collaborative board and the approval by a vote of the majority of the appropriating authorities of the member cities and towns.
Any city, town, regional school district, educational collaborative or independent vocational school district which currently employs teachers at salaries below eighteen thousand dollars or below twenty thousand dollars and which accepts the minimum salary provisions of this section for school years commencing after July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven shall receive a minimum teacher salary grant from the commonwealth in fiscal years nineteen hundred and eighty-eight and nineteen hundred and eighty-nine equal to the cost incurred by such city, town, collaborative or regional school district during said fiscal years as a result of increasing the minimum teacher salary to eighteen thousand dollars or to twenty thousand dollars, as designated by the vote of the school committee and the appropriating authority thereof, for each teacher whose salary was below that level prior to July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and for each teacher hired after June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven whose salary was below that level at any time between July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighty-nine.
Chapter 71: Section 41. Tenure of teachers and superintendents; persons entitled to professional teacher status; dismissal; review Section 41. For the purposes of this section, a teacher, school librarian, school adjustment counselor, school social worker or school psychologist who has served in the public schools of a school district for the three previous consecutive school years shall be considered a teacher, and shall be entitled to professional teacher status as provided in section forty-two. The superintendent of said district, upon the recommendation of the principal, may award such status to any teacher who has served in the principal’s school for not less than one year or to a teacher who has obtained such status in any other public school district in the commonwealth. A teacher without professional teacher status shall be notified in writing on or before June fifteenth whenever such person is not to be employed for the following school year. Unless such notice is given as herein provided, a teacher without such status shall be deemed to be appointed for the following school year.
School principals, by whatever title their position may be known, shall not be represented in collective bargaining, but every principal shall have the opportunity to meet and discuss individually the terms and conditions of his employment in his school district with such district’s superintendent and may be represented by an attorney or other representative, and shall be employed under written contracts of employment. Such contracts shall be for terms of up to three years in length. Failure of the superintendent to notify a principal of the proposed nonrenewal of his contract at least sixty days prior to the expiration date of such contract shall automatically renew the contract for an additional one year period.
Except as provided herein, section forty-two shall not apply to school principals, assistant principals or department heads, although nothing in this section shall deny to any principal, assistant principal or department head any professional teacher status to which he shall otherwise be entitled. A principal, assistant principal, department head or other supervisor who has served in that position in the public schools of the district for three consecutive years shall not be dismissed or demoted except for good cause. Only a superintendent may dismiss a principal. A principal, assistant principal, department head or other supervisor shall not be dismissed unless he has been furnished with a written notice of intent to dismiss with an explanation of the grounds for the dismissal, and, if he so requests, has been given a reasonable opportunity within fifteen days after receiving such notice to review the decision with the superintendent at which meeting such employee may be represented by an attorney or other representative to present information pertaining to the bases for the decision and to such employee’s status. A principal, assistant principal, department head or other supervisor may seek review of a dismissal or demotion decision by filing a petition with the commissioner for arbitration. Except as provided herein, the procedures for arbitration, and the time allowed for the arbitrator to issue a decision, shall be the same as that in section forty-two. The commissioner shall provide the parties with the names of three arbitrators who are members of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrators shall be different from those developed pursuant to section forty-two. The parties each shall have the right to strike one of the three arbitrator’s names if they are unable to agree upon a single arbitrator from amongst the three.
A school committee may award a contract to a superintendent of schools or a school business administrator for periods not exceeding six years which may provide for the salary, fringe benefits, and other conditions of employment, including but not limited to, severance pay, relocation expenses, reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of duties or office, liability insurance, and leave for said superintendent or school business administrator. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a school committee from voting to employ a superintendent of schools who has completed three or more years’ service to serve at its discretion.
Chapter 71: Section 41A. Leaves of absence of professional staff Section 41A. The school superintendent may grant a leave of absence for study or research to any teacher, registered nurse, principal, supervisor, director, school librarian, school business administrator, or assistant superintendent, serving at discretion which would increase his professional ability, such leave to be for a period not exceeding one year at full or partial pay; provided, however, that prior to the granting of such leave he shall enter into a written agreement with the superintendent that upon termination of such leave he will return to service in the public schools of such city or town for a period equal to twice the length of such leave and that, in default of completing such service, he will refund to the city or town an amount equal to such proportion of salary received by him while on leave as the amount of service not actually rendered as agreed bears to the whole amount of service agreed to be rendered. A school superintendent may also grant a leave of absence to any teacher, registered nurse, principal, supervisor, or school business administrator, serving at discretion for service to a statewide professional education organization of which such teacher, registered nurse, principal, supervisor, or school business administrator is a member and has been elected to hold the office of president therein, such leave to be for a period not exceeding four full years at full or partial pay; provided, however, that such professional education organization shall reimburse the school committee for any salary paid to said teacher, registered nurse, principal, supervisor, or school business administrator during such period. Any employee granted a leave of absence under this section may receive compensation from any grants or gifts received for the purpose of this section pursuant to section thirty-seven A, as well as from funds appropriated therefore.
Any teacher, registered nurse, principal, supervisor, director, school librarian, school business administrator or assistant principal who is elected or appointed to a state office, or elected by the people to the office of mayor, shall upon his written request made to the school superintendent, be granted a leave of absence without pay for such position for all or such portion of the term for which he was elected or appointed as he may from time to time designate, and shall not as a result of such election or appointment, be suspended or discharged or suffer any loss of rights. Any person granted a leave of absence under the provisions of this paragraph shall not be subject to the provisions of section thirty-eight G during the period of such leave.
A school committee may grant a leave of absence for study or research, or for service to a statewide professional education organization, and shall grant a leave of absence for service as an elected state official or elected mayor, to a school superintendent under the same terms and conditions as are described above for leaves granted to other professional staff.
Chapter 71: Section 41B. Leaves of absence; Peace Corps Section 41B. A school superintendent shall grant to a teacher who has been accepted to serve in the Peace Corps of the United States and who is currently in good standing in a public school of the commonwealth a leave of absence for the term of such service. Such leave shall be without pay and shall not be counted as creditable service for retirement purposes but such member shall be restored to his previous or a similar position, with the same status, pay, length of service credit and seniority, whenever applicable, as he held on the date of such leave of absence.
Chapter 71: Section 42. Dismissal or demotion of teachers or other employees of school or school district; arbitration Section 42. A principal may dismiss or demote any teacher or other person assigned full-time to the school, subject to the review and approval of the superintendent; and subject to the provisions of this section, the superintendent may dismiss any employee of the school district. In the case of an employee whose duties require him to be assigned to more than one school, and in the case of teachers who teach in more than one school, those persons shall be considered to be under the supervision of the superintendent for all decisions relating to dismissal or demotion for cause.
A teacher who has been teaching in a school system for at least ninety calendar days shall not be dismissed unless he has been furnished with written notice of intent to dismiss and with an explanation of the grounds for the dismissal in sufficient detail to permit the teacher to respond and documents relating to the grounds for dismissal, and, if he so requests, has been given a reasonable opportunity within ten school days after receiving such written notice to review the decision with the principal or superintendent, as the case may be, and to present information pertaining to the basis for the decision and to the teacher’s status. The teacher receiving such notice may be represented by an attorney or other representative at such a meeting with the principal or superintendent. Teachers without professional teacher status shall otherwise be deemed employees at will.
A teacher with professional teacher status, pursuant to section forty-one, shall not be dismissed except for inefficiency, incompetency, incapacity, conduct unbecoming a teacher, insubordination or failure on the part of the teacher to satisfy teacher performance standards developed pursuant to section thirty-eight of this chapter or other just cause.
A teacher with professional teacher status may seek review of a dismissal decision within thirty days after receiving notice of his dismissal by filing a petition for arbitration with the commissioner. The commissioner shall forward to the parties a list of three arbitrators provided by the American Arbitration Association. Each person on the list shall be accredited by the National Academy of Arbitrators. The parties each shall have the right to strike one of the three arbitrators’ names if they are unable to agree upon a single arbitrator from amongst the three. The arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association to be consistent with the provisions of this section. The parties each shall have the right to strike one of the three arbitrators’ names if they are unable to agree upon a single arbitrator from amongst the three. The board of education shall determine the process for selecting arbitrators for the pool. The fee for the arbitration shall be split equally between the two parties involved in the arbitration.
At the arbitral hearing, the teacher and the school district may be represented by an attorney or other representative, present evidence, and call witnesses and the school district shall have the burden of proof. In determining whether the district has proven grounds for dismissal consistent with this section, the arbitrator shall consider the best interests of the pupils in the district and the need for elevation of performance standards.
The arbitrator’s decision shall be issued within one month from the completion of the arbitral hearing, unless all parties involved agree otherwise, and shall contain a detailed statement of the reasons for the decision. Upon a finding that the dismissal was improper under the standards set forth in this section, the arbitrator may award back pay, benefits, reinstatement, and any other appropriate non-financial relief or any combination thereof. Under no circumstances shall the arbitrator award punitive, consequential, or nominal damages, or compensatory damages other than back pay, benefits or reinstatement. In the event the teacher is reinstated, the period between the dismissal and reinstatement shall be considered to be time served for purposes of employment. The arbitral decision shall be subject to judicial review as provided in chapter one hundred and fifty C. With the exception of other remedies provided by statute, the remedies provided hereunder shall be the exclusive remedies available to teachers for wrongful termination. The rules governing this arbitration procedure shall be the rules of the American Arbitration Association as pertains to arbitration.
Neither this section nor section forty-one shall affect the right of a superintendent to lay off teachers pursuant to reductions in force or reorganization resulting from declining enrollment or other budgetary reasons. No teacher with professional teacher status shall be laid off pursuant to a reduction in force or reorganization if there is a teacher without such status for whose position the covered employee is currently certified. No teacher with such status shall be displaced by a more senior teacher with such status in accordance with the terms of a collective bargaining agreement or otherwise unless the more senior teacher is currently qualified pursuant to section thirty-eight G for the junior teacher’s position.
Chapter 71: Section 42A. Repealed, 1993, 71, Sec. 45 Chapter 71: Section 42B. Rights of school employees in regional districts Section 42B. The provisions of this chapter relating to school personnel granted certificates in accordance with section thirty-eight G shall apply to all such school personnel employed by regional school districts. Any such school personnel who have professional teacher status or other rights under section forty-one in a particular school district, whose positions are superseded by reasons of the establishment and operation of a regional school district, shall be employed with the same status by the regional school district.
All such school personnel employed by regional school districts shall initially be placed on the salary schedule of the district so that compensation to be paid to such school personnel shall not be less than the compensation received by such school personnel while previously employed with the same status.
Such school personnel shall also be given credit by the regional school district committee for all accumulated sick leave and accumulated sabbatical leave years of service while employed with such status and for terminal compensation due such school personnel on the termination of such service.
All such personnel without such status in a city or town in the district whose positions are superseded by reason of the establishment and operation of a regional school district shall be elected to serve in such district by the regional school district committee; provided, however, that there is an available position which such person is certified to fill. All such personnel employed by regional school district committees shall initially be placed on the salary schedule of the regional school district so that the compensation paid to such school personnel shall not be less than the compensation received by such school personnel while previously employed by a local school committee. Such school personnel shall also be given credit by the regional school district committee for all accumulated sick leave, accumulated time towards service with such status, and accumulated sabbatical leave years of service, and for terminal compensation due such school personnel on the termination of such service.
Any employee subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one, employed by the school committee of a town, whose position is superseded by reason of the establishment and operation of a regional school district shall be employed by the regional school district without loss of any civil service or other rights previously acquired by him.
This section shall also apply to all school personnel with such status of local trustees for vocational education, and any such school personnel whose positions are superseded by reason of the establishment and operation of a regional school district shall be employed by the regional school district with the same status.
Any such school personnel, employed by a regional school district, whose position is abolished or eliminated by reason of the disestablishment and discontinuance of the regional school district or the withdrawal of a member community from such district shall be employed by one of the withdrawing city or town school committees, and if any such personnel have such status, such personnel shall be employed by such city or town, school committee with the same status. In the event that there are not sufficient teaching positions available in the withdrawing city or town school systems, such personnel shall be offered the available positions for which they are currently certified in the order of their seniority in the regional school district. All such personnel so employed by a city or town school district shall initially be placed on the salary schedule of such city or town school district so that the compensation paid to such school personnel shall not be less than the compensation received by such school personnel while previously employed by the regional school district. Such school personnel also shall be given credit by the city or town school committee for all accumulated sick time, accumulated time towards service with such status, and accumulated sabbatical leave years of service, and for terminal compensation due such school personnel on the termination of such service.
Chapter 71: Section 42C. Records of teachers; inspection Section 42C. School officials of cities and towns keeping records concerning any teacher or his work shall, at the written request of the teacher, permit the teacher by appointment to inspect the contents of his personnel folder, files, cards and records, and to make copies of such contents and records as concern his work or himself.
Chapter 71: Section 42D. Suspension of district employees Section 42D. The superintendent may suspend any employee of the school district subject to the provisions of this section. The principal of a school may suspend any teacher or other employee assigned to the school subject to the provisions of this section. Any employee shall have seven days written notice of the intent to suspend and the grounds upon which the suspension is to be imposed; provided, however, that the superintendent may, for good cause, require the immediate suspension of any employee, in which case the employee shall receive written notice of the immediate suspension and the cause therefor at the time the suspension is imposed. The employee shall be entitled (i) to review the decision to suspend with the superintendent or principal if said decision to suspend was made by the principal; (ii) to be represented by counsel in such meetings; (iii) to provide information pertinent to the decision and to the employee’s status.
No teacher or other employee shall be suspended for a period exceeding one month, except with the consent of the teacher or other employee, and no teacher or other employee shall receive compensation for any period of lawful suspension.
No teacher shall be interrogated prior to any notice given to him relative to the suspension unless the teacher or other employee is notified of his right to be represented by counsel during any such investigation. A suspended teacher or other employee may seek review of the suspension by following the arbitration procedures set forth in section forty-two. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting any provision of a collective bargaining agreement with respect to suspension of teachers or other employees.
Chapter 71: Section 43. Reduction of salaries; conditions Section 43. The salary of no teacher employed with professional teacher status in any city or town except Boston shall be reduced without his consent except by a general salary revision affecting equally all teachers of the same salary grade in the town or except in connection with a reduction in status from full-time to part-time pursuant to a reduction in force resulting from declining enrollments or other budgetary reasons or pursuant to reorganizations for academic or budgetary reasons. Nothing in this section or in any other section of this chapter shall be construed to prevent a school district from entering into an individual annuity contract for such employee or from reducing the salary or compensation of such employee pursuant to such agreement for the purpose of such purchase as authorized by section thirty-seven B.
Chapter 71: Section 43A, 43B. Repealed, 1993, 71, Sec. 49 Chapter 71: Section 44. Restrictions on teachers’ political rights; prohibition Section 44. No committee shall by rule, regulation, or otherwise, restrict any teacher in, or dismiss him for, exercising his right of suffrage, signing nomination papers, petitioning the general court or appearing before its committees, to the extent that such rights, except voting, are not exercised on the school premises during school hours, or when their exercise would actually interfere with the performance of school duties.
Chapter 71: Section 45. Procurement of teaching positions; regulation of fees; penalty for violation Section 45. No person shall demand or accept from any applicant for the position of teacher in the public schools a fee or other compensation exceeding two dollars, and no additional sum shall be charged to cover expenses or for any other reason, except that further compensation, not exceeding five per cent of the teacher’s salary for the first year, provided the position is open to the teacher for said period, may be charged for procuring such position. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars.
Chapter 71: Section 46 to 46B. Repealed, 1972, 766, Sec. 10 Chapter 71: Section 46C. Repealed, 1968, 352, Sec. 2 Chapter 71: Section 46D to 46F. Repealed, 1972, 766, Sec. 10 Chapter 71: Section 46G. Repealed, 1995, 209, Sec. 4 Chapter 71: Section 46H to 46M. Repealed, 1972, 766, Sec. 10 Chapter 71: Section 47. Athletic programs; school organizations; student activity accounts Section 47. The committee may supervise and control all athletic and other organizations composed of public school pupils and bearing the school name or organized in connection therewith. It may directly or through an authorized representative determine under what conditions the same may compete with similar organizations in other schools. Expenditures by the committee for the organization and conduct of physical education, athletics, sports, games and play, for providing proper apparatus, equipment, supplies, athletic wearing apparel, including appropriate souvenir garments and trophies, and facilities for the same in the buildings, yards and playgrounds under the control of the committee, or upon any other land which it may have the right or privilege to use for this purpose, and for the employment of experienced athletic directors to supervise said physical education, athletics, sports, games and play, shall be deemed to be for a school purpose. Expenditures by the committee for making special awards to pupils who have performed meritoriously in the fields of art, debating, distributive education, music, science, social studies or languages shall also be deemed to be for a school purpose. Cities and towns may appropriate for the employment of coaches to supervise in public schools physical education, athletics, sports, games and play, and for the transportation and expenses of public school athletic teams, coaches, cheerleaders, bands and any other groups composed of public school pupils which bear the school name and are under the control of the school committee, within and without the commonwealth, to places where athletic contests or physical education, sports, games, play, musical festivals, competition or other events are held, and for the purchase of band and cheerleaders’ uniforms and musical instruments for the members of bands composed of public school pupils and bearing the school name and under the control of the school committee. All receipts by the committee in connection with the conduct of activities provided for under this section or any other activity not expressly provided for in this chapter but sponsored by the school committee in which participation is contingent upon the payment of a fee by the participant, shall be deposited with the treasurer of such town or, in cases where the town is a member of a regional school district, with the treasurer of such district and held as a separate account and expended by said school committee without further appropriation, notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-three of chapter forty-four. No moneys may be expended from an appropriation or from the separate fund authorized by this section except upon the approval of the school committee, or of the selectmen in towns and of mayors in cities, for travel to other states.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph or section fifty-three of chapter forty-four, the school committee of a city, town or district may authorize a school principal to receive money in connection with the conduct of certain student activities and to deposit such money, with the municipal or regional school district treasurer, into an interest bearing bank account, hereinafter referred to as the Student Activity Agency Account, duly established by vote of the school committee to be used for the express purpose of conducting student activities. Interest earned by such Student Activity Agency Account shall be retained by the fund and the school committee shall determine for what purpose such earnings may be used. In addition to such Student Activity Agency Account, the school committee may authorize the municipal or regional school district treasurer to establish a checking account, hereinafter referred to as the Student Activity Checking Account, to be operated and controlled by a school principal and from which funds may be expended exclusively for student activity purposes for the student activities authorized by the school committee. Such account shall be used for expenditures only and funds received for student activities may not be deposited directly into such account.
The school committee shall vote to set the maximum balance that may be on deposit in such Student Activity Checking Account. The principal designated to operate and control such Student Activity Checking Account shall give bond to the municipality or district in such amount as the treasurer shall determine to secure the principal’s faithful performance of his duties in connection with such account. To the extent that the funds are available in such Student Activity Agency Account, funds up to the maximum balance set by the school committee shall be transferred from the Student Activity Agency Account through the warrant process to initially fund such Student Activity Checking Account.
Periodically, to the extent that funds are available in such Student Activity Agency Account, the municipal or regional school district treasurer shall reimburse such Student Activity Checking Account, through the warrant process, to restore the limit set by the school committee. The principal shall adhere to such administrative procedures as the municipal or regional school district treasurer or accountant may prescribe. There shall be an annual audit of the student activity funds which shall be conducted in accordance with procedures as agreed upon between the school committee and the auditor based upon guidelines issued by the department of education.
Chapter 71: Section 47A. Athletic coaches; employment Section 47A. The superintendent may contract to employ athletic coaches hired under the provisions of section fifty-nine B for periods not in excess of three years. The provisions of section forty-one relative to tenure shall not apply to such athletic coaches, unless they are otherwise entitled to tenure.
Chapter 71: Section 48. Textbooks and school supplies Section 48. The principal at each school, subject to the direction of the superintendent, shall, at the expense of the school district, purchase textbooks and other school supplies, and consistent with the district policy, shall loan them to the pupils attending such school free of charge. If instruction is given in the manual and domestic arts, the principal may so purchase and loan the necessary tools, implements and materials. The principal shall also, at like expense, procure such apparatus, reference books and other means of illustration, as may be needed. Said purchases shall be made in accordance with chapter thirty B and within the purchasing guidelines adopted by the municipality where such purchases are made if such guidelines exist.
Chapter 71: Section 48A. School safety patrols; functions, limitations; liability Section 48A. School committees shall have authority to organize school safety patrols, consisting of pupils, whose functions shall be to encourage pupils to cross highways at designated crossings and when conditions are safe, to assist drivers of school buses in maintaining safety rules and to protect pupils who are boarding or alighting from such buses; and may adopt regulations relative to the flagging or signalling of school buses by members of said safety patrols. Said committees may make expenditures, from funds appropriated for school purposes, for the purchase of traffic belts, so called, to be used by the safety patrol leaders in safeguarding the passage of pupils to and from school. Nothing herein contained shall authorize a safety patrol member to direct vehicular traffic, provided, however, that such patrol member may use a flag or other approved signal to indicate to a driver that school children are crossing or are about to cross the street. No patrol member shall be stationed in that portion of the highway intended for the use of vehicular traffic, but shall perform his duties from the curb and sidewalk areas.
No liability shall attach either to the school committees or any individual member thereof, a superintendent, teacher, patrol member, or parent of a patrol member, or other school authority by virtue of the organization, maintenance or operation of a safety patrol under authority of this section.
Chapter 71: Section 48B. Uniforms of school employees Section 48B. The school committee may make expenditures for the purchase and care of uniforms to be worn by employees whose duties require the preparation, handling and serving of food in connection with the sale of school lunches, or involve the care, maintenance, repair or heating of school buildings.
Chapter 71: Section 49. Purchase of textbooks by pupils Section 49. Pupils in the public schools may, if the committee so votes, purchase from the town, under such regulations as the committee may prescribe, any textbooks which are to be, or have been, used by them in such schools.
Chapter 71: Section 49A. Orders for materials and equipment; contracts for services Section 49A. At any time after the annual appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year are made by a city or town or by all the member cities and towns of a regional school district, a school committee may order materials, supplies and equipment and may contract for services for the public schools which are chargeable against such appropriations, provided that no payment therefor shall be made prior to the commencement of said ensuing fiscal year.
penalty Section 4A. Every town which, without having received a specific exemption from the board of education, fails to keep open all schools required to be maintained under sections one and four or fails to provide school facilities under section six for grade nine through twelve, the number of days required by said board in each school year shall have deducted from the sum of school aid payable to it under chapter seventy an amount equal to the proportion which the number of such days during which schools were not kept open bears to the total number of days required that they be kept open by said board.
Chapter 71: Section 50. Change of school books Section 50. A change may be made in the school books used in the public schools by a vote of two thirds of the whole school committee at a meeting thereof, notice of such intended change having been given at a previous meeting.
Chapter 71: Section 51. Exhibition of school work at expositions Section 51. The school committee may, at any national, state, or foreign exposition, make an exhibition showing the character, standing, or work of its public schools.
Chapter 71: Section 52. Compensation of school committee members Section 52. The school committee shall serve without compensation, except that a member of a school committee of a city, town, regional school district or superintendency union may be compensated for his services by a majority vote of the city council in a city having a Plan D or Plan E charter; in a city not having a Plan D or Plan E charter by vote of the city council, subject to the provisions of the charter of such a city; in a town by a majority vote at a town meeting; and in a regional school district or school superintendency by a majority vote of the voting member towns authorized at their respective town meetings, the amount of such compensation, in each case, to be set by the respective cities, towns or groups of towns. No member of a school committee in any town shall be eligible to the position of teacher, or superintendent of public schools therein, or in any union school or superintendency union or district in which his town participates.
Chapter 71: Section 53. School physicians and nurses Section 53. The school committee shall appoint one or more school physicians and registered nurses, shall assign them to the public schools within its jurisdiction, shall provide them with all proper facilities for the performance of their duties and shall assign one or more physicians to the examination of children who apply for health certificates required by section eighty-seven of chapter one hundred and forty-nine, but in cities where the medical inspection hereinafter prescribed is substantially provided by the board of health, said board shall appoint and assign the school physicians and registered nurses. The department may exempt towns having a valuation of less than one million dollars from so much of this section as relates to school nurses.
Chapter 71: Section 53A. Employment of medical personnel by superintendency district or union; compensation; removal Section 53A. A superintendency district formed and conducted under the provisions of section sixty, or a superintendency union formed and conducted under the provisions of sections sixty-one to sixty-four, inclusive, may employ one or more school physicians and may employ one or more school registered nurses; determine the relative amount of service to be rendered by each in each town; fix the compensation of each person so employed; apportion the payment thereof among the several towns; and certify the respective shares to the several town treasurers. A school physician or registered nurse so employed may be removed by a two thirds vote of the full membership of the joint committee. The joint committee of any superintendency union may employ clerical and secretarial help, special teachers and supervisors, fix the compensation of each person so employed and apportion the payment thereof among the several towns; and certify the respective shares to the respective town treasurers.
Chapter 71: Section 53B. Towns within a superintendency district or union; exemption from appointment requirement Section 53B. The towns comprised in a superintendency district or union employing, to the satisfaction of the department, one or more school physicians and registered nurses in accordance with the provisions of section fifty-three A shall be exempt from the provisions of section fifty-three requiring the appointment of such persons.
Chapter 71: Section 54. Examination of children and school personnel Section 54. Every school physician shall make a prompt examination of all children referred to him as provided in this chapter, and such further examination of teachers, janitors and school buildings as in his opinion the protection of the health of the pupils may require. Every such physician who is assigned to perform the duty of examining children who apply for health certificates shall make a prompt examination of every child who wishes to obtain an employment permit, as provided in section eighty-seven of chapter one hundred and forty-nine, and who presents to said physician the pledge or promise of the employer, as provided in said section; and the physician shall certify in writing whether or not in his opinion such child is in sufficiently sound health and physically able to perform the work described in said pledge or promise.
Chapter 71: Section 54A. Physician or person trained in emergency medical care; assignment to interscholastic football games Section 54A. A physician employed by a school committee or a person who has completed a full course in emergency medical care as provided in section six of chapter one hundred and eleven C shall be assigned to every interscholastic football game played by any team representing a public secondary school in the commonwealth, and the expenses of such physician or person shall be paid by the school committee of the city, town or district wherein such football game is played.
Chapter 71: Section 54B. Administration of medications in school settings; regulations Section 54B. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of public health shall promulgate regulations governing the administration of medications, including psychotropic medications to children in school settings, in accordance with sections seven and nine of chapter ninety-four C. In developing such regulations, the department shall consult with the board of registration in nursing and the board of registration in medicine.
Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary, no school district shall prohibit students with asthma or other respiratory diseases from possessing and administering prescription inhalers in accordance with department of public health regulations concerning students’ self-administration of prescription medications.
Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary, no school district shall prohibit students with cystic fibrosis from possessing and administering prescription enzyme supplements in accordance with department of public health regulations concerning students’ self-administration of prescription medications.
Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary, a school district shall not prohibit a student with diabetes from possessing and administering a glucose monitoring test and insulin delivery system, in accordance with department of public health regulations concerning a student’s self-administration of a prescription medication.
Chapter 71: Section 55. Contagious diseases; regulations Section 55. A child infected, or in a household where a person is infected, with a disease dangerous to the public health as defined in accordance with section six of chapter one hundred and eleven, or in a household exposed to contagion from any such disease in another household, shall not attend any public school while he is so infected or remains in a household where such infection or exposure exists if the regulations of the board of health require such exclusion. A child returning to school after having been absent on account of such infection or exposure shall present a certificate from the board of health or its duly appointed agent that the danger of conveying such disease by such child has passed; provided, that if such a child returns to school without such a certificate, after having been absent on account of such infection or exposure, he shall immediately be referred to a school physician for examination and, if it is found by such physician upon such examination that such danger has passed, he may remain at school.
Chapter 71: Section 55A. Sick, injured or incapacitated pupils; procedure for handling; emergency first aid or transportation; exemption from civil liability Section 55A. A child showing signs of ill health or of being infected with a disease dangerous to the public health as defined in accordance with section six of chapter one hundred and eleven shall be sent home immediately, or as soon as safe and proper conveyance can be found, or shall be referred to a school physician, who may direct that such child be sent home. In the case of schools remotely situated, such other steps may be taken as will best effectuate the purpose of this section and ensure the safety of such child and other pupils. The superintendent of schools or collaborative director of a collaborative as set forth in section four E of chapter forty, shall immediately cause the board of health to be notified of all children excluded under this section by reason of any disease dangerous to the public health.
No public school teacher and no collaborative school teacher, no principal, secretary to the principal, nurse or other public school or collaborative school employee who, in good faith, renders emergency first aid or transportation to a student who has become injured or incapacitated in a public school or collaborative school building or on the grounds thereof shall be liable in a suit for damages as a result of his acts or omissions either for such first aid or as a result of providing such emergency transportation to a place of safety, nor shall such person be liable to a hospital for its expenses if under such emergency conditions he causes the admission of such injured or incapacitated student, nor shall such person be subject to any disciplinary action by the school committee, or collaborative board of such collaborative for such emergency first aid or transportation.
Chapter 71: Section 55B. Repealed, 2003, 46, Sec. 81 Chapter 71: Section 55C. Eye protective devices Section 55C. Each teacher and pupil of any school, public or private, shall, while attending school classes in industrial art or vocational shops or laboratories in which caustic or explosive chemicals, hot liquids or solids, hot molten metals, or explosives are used or in which welding of any type, repair or servicing of vehicles, heat treatment or tempering of metals, or the milling, sawing, stamping or cutting of solid materials, or any similar dangerous process is taught, exposure to which may be a source of danger to the eyes, wear an industrial quality eye protective device, approved by the department of public health. Each visitor to any such classroom or laboratory shall also be required to wear such protective device.
Chapter 71: Section 56. Sick children; notification of parents Section 56. If any child is found to be suffering from any disease or defect, or if any child is found to have any defect or disability requiring treatment, the school committee shall forthwith notify the parent or guardian of such child.
Chapter 71: Section 57. Physical examination of pupils; eye examination, written report Section 57. The committee, or the board of health in those municipalities where school health services are the responsibility of the board of health, shall cause every child in the public schools, and at the individual request of a parent or guardian of a pupil in a private school which has been approved under section one of chapter seventy-six, and which does not discriminate in its entrance requirements on the basis of race or color cause such pupil to be separately and carefully examined in such manner and at such intervals, including original entry, as may be determined by the department of public health after consultation with the department of education and the medical profession, to ascertain defects in sight or hearing, postural and other physical defects tending to prevent his receiving the full benefit of his school work, or requiring a modification of the same in order to prevent injury to the child or to secure the best education results, and to ascertain defects of the feet which might unfavorably influence the child’s health or physical efficiency, or both, during childhood, adolescence and adult years, and shall require a physical record of each child to be kept in such forms as prescribed by the provisions of section one hundred and eighty-five A of chapter one hundred and eleven. Tests ascertaining postural defects shall be administered at least once annually in grades five through nine. Tests of sight and hearing and postural defects shall be performed by teachers, physicians, optometrists, nurses or other personnel who are approved by the department of public health for the purpose, and the examination of feet shall be made by the school physicians or by podiatrists, in accordance with regulations set up by the department. Upon entering kindergarten or within 30 days of the start of the school year, the parent or guardian of each child shall present to school health personnel certification that the child within the previous 12 months has passed a vision screening conducted by personnel approved by the department of public health and trained in vision screening techniques to be developed by the department of public health in consultation with the department of education. For children who fail to pass the vision screening and for children diagnosed with neurodevelopmental delay, proof of a comprehensive eye examination performed by a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist chosen by the child’s parent or guardian indicating any pertinent diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, recommendation and evidence of follow-up treatment, if necessary, shall be provided. Any child shall be exempt on religious grounds from these examinations upon written request of parent or guardian on condition that the laws and regulations relating to communicable diseases shall not be violated.
Any person who conducts an eye examination of a child in response to such child having failed an eye examination given in accordance with the provisions of this section shall forward a written report of the results of the examination to the school health personnel and a copy of said report to a parent or guardian of such child. Said report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:(a) date of the report;(b) name and address of the child;(c) name of the child’s school;(d) type of examination;(e) a summary of significant findings, including diagnoses, medication used, duration of action of medication, treatment, prognosis, whether or not a return visit is recommended and, if so, when;(f) recommended educational adjustments for the child, if any, which may include the following: preferential seating in the classroom, eyeglasses for full-time use in school, eyeglasses for part-time use in school, sight-saving eyeglasses or any other recommendations;(g) name, address and signature of the examiner.
Chapter 71: Section 58. Repealed, 1945, 543, Sec. 1 Chapter 71: Section 59. Superintendent of schools; appointment; compensation; powers and duties Section 59. The school committee of a town not in a superintendency union or district shall employ a superintendent of schools and fix his compensation. A superintendent employed under this section or section sixty or sixty-three shall manage the system in a fashion consistent with state law and the policy determinations of that school committee. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the school committee may also establish and appoint positions of assistant or associate superintendents, who shall report to the superintendent, and the school committee shall fix the compensation paid to such assistant or associate superintendents. The school committee shall approve or disapprove the hiring of said positions. Such approval by the school committee of the recommendation shall not be unreasonably withheld; provided, however, that upon the request of the superintendent the school committee shall provide an explanation of disapproval.
Chapter 71: Section 59A. Superintendents of schools in small towns; appointment; state aid for compensation Section 59A. In any town, having a valuation of less than two million five hundred thousand dollars, which is not a member of a superintendency union under the provision of section sixty-one, the school committee shall, subject to the approval of the department, employ a full-time or a part-time superintendent of schools, and shall, subject to like approval, fix his compensation and his duties as provided in section fifty-nine.
Expenses incurred under the provisions of this section shall be reimbursable under chapter seventy.
Chapter 71: Section 59B. Principals; appointment; compensation; duties; appointment of other personnel Section 59B. The superintendent of a school district shall appoint principals for each public school within the district at levels of compensation determined in accordance with policies established by the school committee. Principals employed under this section shall be the educational administrators and managers of their schools and shall supervise the operation and management of their schools and school property, subject to the supervision and direction of the superintendent. Principals employed under this section shall be responsible, consistent with district personnel policies and budgetary restrictions and subject to the approval of the superintendent, for hiring all teachers, athletic coaches, instructional or administrative aides, and other personnel assigned to the school, and for terminating all such personnel, subject to review and prior approval by the superintendent and subject to the provisions of this chapter. The principal of any school which requires an examination for student admission shall be solely and exclusively responsible for hiring all teachers, instructional or administrative aides and other personnel, and for terminating all such personnel without the requirement of review or prior approval by the superintendent before said hiring or termination. This section shall not prevent one person from serving as the principal of two or more elementary schools or the use of teaching principals in such schools.
It shall be the responsibility of the principal in consultation with professional staff of the building to promote participatory decision making among all professional staff for the purpose of developing educational policy.
The school superintendent of a city or town or regional school district including vocational-technical schools, may also appoint administrators and other personnel not assigned to particular schools, at levels of compensation determined in accordance with policies established by the school committee.
Chapter 71: Section 59C. School councils; members; meetings; duties Section 59C. At each public elementary, secondary and independent vocational school in the commonwealth there shall be a school council consisting of the school principal, who shall co-chair the council; parents of students attending the school who shall be selected by the parents of students attending such school who will be chosen in elections held by the local recognized parent teacher organization under the direction of the principal, or if none exists, chosen by a representative process approved by the school committee. Said parents shall have parity with professional personnel on the school councils; teachers who shall be selected by the teachers in such school; other persons, not parents or teachers of students at the school, drawn from such groups or entities as municipal government, business and labor organizations, institutions of higher education, human services agencies or other interested groups including those from school age child care programs; and for schools containing any of the grades nine to twelve, at least one such student; provided, however, that not more that fifty percent of the council shall be non-school members. The principal, except as otherwise provided herein, shall have the responsibility for defining the composition of and forming the group pursuant to a representative process approved by the superintendent and school committee and for convening the first meeting no later than forty days after the first day of school, at which meeting a co-chairman shall be selected. School councils should be broadly representative of the racial and ethnic diversity of the school building and community. For purposes of this paragraph the term “non-school members” shall mean those members of the council, other than parents, teachers, students and staff of the school.
Nothing contained in this section shall require a new school council to be formed if an existing school council fulfills the intent of this section, the parent and teacher members thereof were selected in a manner consistent with the provisions of this section and the membership thereof complies with the aforesaid fifty percent requirement.
Meetings of the school council shall be subject to the provisions of sections twenty-three A, twenty-three B and twenty-three C of chapter thirty-nine.
The school council, including the school principal, shall meet regularly and shall assist in the identification of the educational needs of the students attending the school, make recommendations to the principal for the development, implementation and assessment of the curriculum accommodation plan required pursuant to section 38Q 1/2, shall assist in the review of the annual school budget and in the formulation of a school improvement plan, as provided below. Parent advisory councils, established under section 3 of chapter 71A, may, at their request, meet at least once annually with the school council.
The principal of each school, in consultation with the school council established pursuant to this section, shall on an annual basis, in conformity with the provisions of section 1I of chapter 69, develop and submit for approval by the district superintendent a plan for improving student performance. Said plan shall be prepared in a manner and form prescribed by the department of education and shall conform to any policies and practices of the district consistent therewith.
Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the school committee from granting a school council additional authority in the area of educational policy; provided, however, that school councils shall have no authority over matters which are subject to chapter one hundred and fifty E.
Chapter 71: Section 59D. School-community partnerships; grant program Section 59D. Superintendents and principals in every school district in the commonwealth shall pursue opportunities to establish school-community partnerships that may advance policy development, staff development, curriculum development, instructional enrichment and may provide material and financial support. The commissioner of education shall assist in and facilitate with the establishment of school-community partnerships. Subject to appropriation, the board shall establish a grant program to assist school districts in developing and implementing such partnerships.
Section 6. If a town of less than five hundred families or householders, according to such census, does not maintain a public high school offering four years of instruction, it shall pay the tuition of any pupil who resides therein and obtains from its school committee a certificate to attend a high school of another town included in the list of high schools approved for this purpose by the department. The department shall approve the high schools which may be attended by such pupils, and it may, for this purpose, approve a public high school in an adjoining state. Whenever, in the judgment of the department, it is expedient that such a pupil should board in the town of attendance the town of residence may, through its school committee, pay toward such board, in lieu of transportation, such sum as the said committee may fix.
If the school committee refuses to issue a certificate as aforesaid, application may be made to the department, which, if it finds that the educational needs of the pupil in question are not reasonably provided for, may issue a certificate having the same force and effect as if issued by the said committee. The application shall be filed with the superintendent of schools of the town of residence, and by him transmitted forthwith to the department with a report of the facts relative thereto.
Chapter 71: Section 60. Repealed, 1969, 254, Sec. 6 Chapter 71: Section 61. Superintendent of schools; employment by a town union Section 61. The school committees of two or more towns, each having a valuation less than two million five hundred thousand dollars, and having an aggregate maximum of seventy-five, and an aggregate minimum of twenty-five, schools, and the committees of four or more such towns, having said maximum but irrespective of said minimum, shall form a union for employing a superintendent of schools. A town whose valuation exceeds said amount may participate in such a union but otherwise subject to this section. Such a union shall not be dissolved except by vote of the school committees representing a majority of the participating towns with the consent of the department, nor by reason of any change in valuation or the number of schools.
Chapter 71: Section 62. Readjustment of town unions Section 62. The department may form or readjust such unions whenever it becomes necessary to include one or more towns otherwise unable to comply with the preceding section, and in so doing may disregard the minimum number of schools prescribed therein, but no such readjustment shall deprive a town of its right to aid under section sixty-five.
Chapter 71: Section 63. School committees as joint committee; representation: meetings; employment of superintendent, removal Section 63. The school committees of such towns shall, for the purposes of the union, be a joint committee and shall be the agent of each participating town, provided that any school committee of more than three members shall be represented therein by its chairman and two of its members chosen by it. The joint committee shall annually, after completion of annual elections in all of the member towns meet at a day and place agreed upon by the chairmen of the constituent committees, and shall organize by choosing a chairman and a secretary. It shall employ for a three year term, a superintendent of schools, determine the relative amount of service to be rendered by him in each town, fix his salary, which shall not be reduced during his term, and may provide for fringe benefits, and other conditions of employment, including but not limited to, severance pay, relocation expenses, reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of duties or office, liability insurance, and leave for said superintendent and shall apportion the payment thereof in accordance with section sixty-five among the several towns and certify the respective shares to the several town treasurers. He may be removed, with the consent of the department, by a two th | |
