reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 71 § 16b1/2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 16c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 16c - Regional School Districts; 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, subject to appropriation; 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 child care center licensed or approved by the department of early education and care or a child 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. Regional school districts may establish a Regional School Transportation Reimbursement Fund. Reimbursements made by the commonwealth pursuant to this section may be deposited into the fund and may carry forward for 1 fiscal year.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 16d1/2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 16e (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 16e - Regional School Districts; Audits; Payment of Costs

Section 16E. A regional school district shall be considered a district for purposes of conducting periodic audits under sections 35, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 of chapter 44. Upon the completion of each audit, a copy shall be sent to the chief executive officer and the school committee of each city or town that is a member of the district. The cost of each audit shall be apportioned among the several cities and towns that are members of the district in the same manner as the annual expenses of the district.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 16f (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 16g (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 16g1/2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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 commissioner of elementary and secondary education. 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 of 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 commissioner of elementary and secondary education may approve.  This section shall also apply to any regional school district established under the provisions of a special law.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 16i (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 17a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 20a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 21 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 21 - Continuation Schools; 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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 22 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|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.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 26a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 26a - Extended School Services for Children; Establishment; Conditions

Section 26A. If the school committee of a city, town or regional school district determines that sufficient need exists therein for extended school services for children, the school committee, subject to section 26B, may establish and maintain such services.
MA Gen L ch 71 § 26b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XII - Education|Chapter 71 - Public Schools|Section 26b - Extended School Services for Children; 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, it shall submit in writing a plan of said services to the commissioner of elementary and secondary 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''.