2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › 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.