reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 71 § 55c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 55d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 55d - Musical Wind Instruments; Notification of Sanitization and Option to Sterilize at Parental Expense

Section 55D. (a) Upon the issuance of a musical wind instrument to a student who is permitted to use or borrow the instrument while attending any public or commonwealth charter school or prekindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, the school issuing the instrument shall inform the student's parent or guardian that the musical wind instrument has been sanitized and may also be sterilized at the expense of the parent or guardian requesting the sterilization to ensure that all microbial life has been eradicated from the instrument. The parent or guardian may request that the school sterilize the instrument prior to issuance in compliance with regulations promulgated by the department of public health. The parent or guardian who makes the request shall be responsible for the entire cost of the sterilization.  (b) This section shall take effect in any city, town or regional school district upon acceptance by the school committee or, in the case of a commonwealth charter school, upon acceptance by the board of trustees.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 56 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 57a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 57a - Students With Potential Indicators of a Neurological Learning Disability; Guidelines for Development of Screening Procedures

Section 57A. The department of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the department of early education and care, shall, subject to appropriation, issue guidelines to assist districts in developing screening procedures or protocols for students that demonstrate 1 or more potential indicators of a neurological learning disability including, but not limited to, dyslexia.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 59 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 59a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 59b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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 this chapter; provided, however, that the promotion and discipline, up to and including termination, of employees in custodial, maintenance and other non-teaching positions shall be conducted in accordance with any governing collective bargaining agreement. Prior to any assignment to a school of a teacher previously employed in another school in the district including, but not limited to, voluntary transfer, involuntary transfer, reduction in force, and recall, the superintendent shall consult in good faith with the principal concerning the assignment and application of any collectively bargained for selection criteria. In the case of an assignment in connection with the involuntary transfer or recall of a teacher to another school, any collectively bargained for selection criteria shall include the factors set forth in the seventh paragraph of section 42. 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 such hiring or termination. This section shall not prevent a person from serving as the principal of 2 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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 59d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 61 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 61 - Superintendent of Schools; Employment by a Town Union; Termination of Town Participation in a 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.  A town may terminate its participation in a union by a majority vote of the school committee of the town; provided, however, that said termination shall only be for the purpose of forming an innovation school pursuant to section 92 or establishing different school governance structures. Termination shall be independent of any pending votes regarding dissolution of the union or pending votes by another town regarding its participation.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 62 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 63 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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 thirds vote of the full membership of the joint committee.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 64 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 64 - Union Superintendent; Compensation

Section 64. The salary of the superintendent in such a union or in any twelve grade regional school district or the combined salary received by a person serving in a dual capacity as a superintendent in a union and a regional school district or in two or more regional school districts shall be not less than the amounts provided in the following schedule: ninety-five hundred dollars for the first year of service, ten thousand dollars for the second year, ten thousand five hundred dollars for the third year, eleven thousand dollars for the fourth year. If his salary is not in excess of eleven thousand six hundred dollars the union or any twelve grade regional school district or the union and the regional school district or two or more regional school districts, as the case may be, shall, and otherwise may, reimburse him for his actual traveling expenses incurred in the discharge of his duties, but such reimbursement may be limited to six hundred dollars a year.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 67 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 67 - Superintendents of Schools; Penalty for Accepting Fees for Obtaining Positions; Employment of Immediate Family of Certain Persons Prohibited

Section 67. A superintendent of schools who accepts any commission, fee, compensation, or reward of any kind for obtaining for any person a position as teacher in the public schools shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars.  A school district shall neither (i) employ a member of the immediate family of a superintendent, central office administrator, or school committee member, nor (ii) assign a member of the immediate family of the principal as an employee at the principal's school, unless written notice is given to the school committee of the proposal to employ or assign such person at least two weeks in advance of such person's employment or assignment. As used in this section, ''immediate family'' shall have the meaning assigned by subsection (e) of section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight A.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 69 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 69 - Display of National Flags; Pledge of Allegiance; Penalty for Violation

Section 69. The school committee shall provide for each schoolhouse under its control, which is not otherwise supplied, flags of the United States of silk or bunting not less than two feet long, such flags or bunting to be manufactured in the United States, and suitable apparatus for their display as hereinafter provided. A flag shall be displayed, weather permitting, on the school building or grounds on every school day and on every legal holiday or day proclaimed by the governor or the President of the United States for especial observance; provided, that on stormy school days, it shall be displayed inside the building. A flag shall be displayed in each assembly hall or other room in each such schoolhouse where the opening exercises on each school day are held. Each teacher at the commencement of the first class of each day in all grades in all public schools shall lead the class in a group recitation of the ''Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag''. A flag shall be displayed in each classroom in each such schoolhouse. Failure for a period of five consecutive days by the principal or teacher in charge of a school equipped as aforesaid to display the flag as above required, or failure for a period of two consecutive weeks by a teacher to salute the flag and recite said pledge as aforesaid, or to cause the pupils under his charge so to do, shall be punished for every such period by a fine of not more than five dollars. Failure of the committee to equip a school as herein provided shall subject the members thereof to a like penalty.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 69a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 69a - Plaque Reading ''for God and Country''; Placement on Public School Buildings

Section 69A. On every public school building within the commonwealth there may be placed in a conspicuous location a suitable plaque which shall contain the words ''For God and Country''. Such plaques may be donated by veterans or civic organizations or individuals.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 70 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 70 - Location of Schools

Section 70. A town may, at a town meeting, determine the situation of its schoolhouses.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 71 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 71 - Use of School Property; Purposes

Section 71. For the purpose of promoting the usefulness of public school property the school committee of any town may conduct such educational and recreational activities in or upon school property under its control, and, subject to such regulations as it may establish, and, consistently and without interference with the use of the premises for school purposes, shall allow the use thereof by individuals and associations for such educational, recreational, social, civic, philanthropic and like purposes as it deems for the interest of the community. The affiliation of any such association with a religious organization shall not disqualify such association from being allowed such a use for such a purpose. The use of such property as a place of assemblage for citizens to hear candidates for public office shall be considered a civic purpose within the meaning of this section. A school committee shall award concessions for food at any field under its control only to the highest responsible bidder. This section shall not apply to Boston.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 71a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 71a - Highway Safety Stations; Designation, Discontinuance

Section 71A. A school committee may, subject, however, to all other provisions of law, designate the locations for the erection of highway safety stations for children awaiting a school bus; provided, that such locations have been approved by the school superintendent or, as his designee, the school transportation officer. A school committee may order the discontinuance of the use of any such station by the children if it is not constructed of durable material with a floor of concrete raised above ground level, or is not kept clean, well painted, free of snow, and suitably maintained at all times.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 71b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 71b - Adult Physical Fitness Programs

Section 71B. A school committee may offer adult physical fitness programs to be held in the gymnasium of any school at any time during which such gymnasium facilities are not being used for school purposes.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 71c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 71c - Community School Programs; Receipts; Deposit and Expenditure

Section 71C. All moneys received by the school committee in connection with the conduct of community school programs, so designated by prior vote of said committee, shall be deposited with the treasurer of the town or city. The school committee may expend, from such receipts and without further appropriation, any sums not in excess of $10,000 within any fiscal year for the purchase of materials and equipment for such programs.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 71d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 71d - Prepayment of Tuition to Private Schools or Program Sources

Section 71D. A school committee of any city, town, or regional school district may authorize the prepayment of tuition for a period not exceeding three months to any approved private school or approved program source which a student is attending under the provisions of chapter seventy-one B, and the city, town or regional school district treasurer shall be required to approve and pay such monies in accordance with the authorization of the school committee.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 71e (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 71e - Appropriations for and Expenditure of Receipts From Adult Education and Continuing Education Programs

Section 71E. In any city, town or regional school district that accepts this section, all monies received by the school committee in connection with the conduct of adult education and continuing education programs, including, but not limited to: (1) adult physical fitness programs conducted under section 71B; (2) summer school programs and enrichment programs, authorized by the school committee and in connection with the use of school property under section 71; and (3) including parking fees, shall be deposited with the treasurer of the city, town or regional school district and held as separate accounts. The receipts held in such a separate account may be expended by the school committee without further appropriation for the purposes of the program or programs from which the receipts held in such account were derived or, in the case of the use of school property account, for expenses incurred in making school property available for such use, notwithstanding section 53 of chapter 44.  A city, town or regional school district may appropriate funds for the conduct of any such program or for expenses incurred in making school property available for such use, which funds shall be expended by the school committee in addition to funds provided from other sources.  Acceptance in a city or town shall be in the manner provided in section 4 of chapter 4 and in a regional school district by vote of the regional school committee. In a city, town or regional school district that accepts this paragraph, said city, town or district may rescind its original acceptance every third year thereafter.