reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 3 - Physical Education

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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 4 - High Schools; Maintenance; Diplomas Awarded to Veterans

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.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, school committees may award diplomas to any World War II veteran, Korean War veteran or Vietnam War veteran as defined in clause Forty-third of section 7 of chapter 4, who is a resident of the commonwealth, who attended the high school maintained by the school committee, who withdrew from secondary school before graduation in order to serve in the armed forces of the United States, who did not receive a high school diploma as a consequence of that service, and who was honorably discharged from the armed services. The department of education and the department of veterans' services shall jointly promulgate guidelines for the identification of eligible veterans by school districts and for the awarding of the diplomas by school committees.
Family members of deceased veterans, who otherwise are eligible to apply for the diplomas, may apply for a diploma for the veteran posthumously under the same guidelines set forth by the department of education and department of veterans services.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 4a - Failure to Keep Schools Open for Required Period; 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 6 - Education in Out-of-Town High Schools

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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 6a - Admission of Students From Outside Commonwealth

Section 6A. Any city, town, or regional school district, acting through its school committee, may, if the school committee finds it has adequate space, accept in any of its schools, including vocational schools, any pupil who resides outside the commonwealth and may contract with the parent or guardian of the pupil, or, if the school committee of the city or town where the child resides, is authorized by law to so contract, with such school committee, for the admission of the pupil into its school system and for a tuition charge which shall in no case be less than the average expense per pupil in such school for the period of attendance. The school committee may vote to waive all or part of such tuition charge.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 6b - A Military-Connected Student School Enrollment

Section 6B. (a) As used in this section, ''military-connected student'' shall mean a student who is an unemancipated person whose parent or guardian: (i) is in the active military service of the United States; or (ii) is full-time status during active service with the National Guard of any state.
(b) A military-connected student whose parent or guardian is being relocated to the commonwealth under military orders and is transferred to, or is pending transfer to, a military installation within the commonwealth shall be deemed a resident pupil of the applicable school district for the purposes of enrollment. A school district shall permit a military-connected student to enroll preliminarily by remote registration without charge and shall not require a parent or guardian of the military-connected student or the military-connected student to physically appear at a location within the district to register the student; provided, however, that a parent or guardian of a military-connected student shall present evidence of military orders that the parent or guardian will be stationed in the commonwealth during the current or following school year. To enroll a student, the parent or guardian shall use an address that: (i) is within the school district where the military-connected student is to be enrolled; and (ii) is either: (A) a temporary on-base billeting facility; (B) a purchased or leased home or apartment; or (C) federal government or public-private venture off-base military housing. Proof of residency shall not be required at the time of the remote registration but shall be required not later than 10 days of the military-connected student's attendance in the school district.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 7b - Transportation of Pupils; Reimbursement of Costs; Determination of Amount; Use of Funds

Section 7B. To provide for the reimbursement of part of the cost not reimbursable under section seven A incurred directly by a school department or indirectly by a city or town on account of an assessment made to meet the cost of maintaining a public transportation system used for the transportation of pupils in a city or town using public transportation facilities licensed under the provisions of sections one and seven of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A or operated under the provisions of chapter one hundred and sixty-one A or chapter one hundred and sixty-one B for the transporting of pupils to and from school who reside more than one and one half miles from the school they attend as determined by the commissioner, or, if the determination of the number of pupils residing more than one and one half miles from the school of attendance is impracticable, the commissioner shall make such determination according to the following formula: From the net average membership in the public and private schools, determined as provided in section five of chapter seventy, the commissioner shall estimate the number of pupils who reside more than one and one half miles from the school they attend, which number shall not exceed ten per cent of said net average membership.
The commissioner shall on or before November first of each year, certify to the commissioner of revenue a transportation allowance payable to such city or town for the preceding school year, the amount of such allowance to be determined by him by multiplying the number of pupils or the estimated number of pupils residing more than one and one half miles from the school by the average cost per pupil in the city or town for transporting all such pupils; provided that such cost shall not exceed twenty cents per pupil per day.
Funds received by each city or town shall be used to pay the cost of providing public transportation or to reimburse a city or town for payments on account of any assessment made upon it to meet the cost of maintaining a public transportation system, provided that notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no amount shall be approved as a reimbursement by the commissioner as herein provided in excess of the amount to be paid by such a city or town for said public transportation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 7c - Bus Transportation Programs; Financial Assistance

Section 7C. No financial assistance shall be provided by the commonwealth for the purchase of buses or the operation thereof to any applicant for such assistance unless such applicant and the secretary of transportation and construction shall have first entered into an agreement that such applicant will not engage in school bus operations, exclusively for the transportation of students and school personnel, in competition with private school bus operators. This section shall not apply to an applicant with respect to operation of a school bus program if the applicant operates a school system in the area to be served and operates a separate and exclusive school bus program for this school system. This section shall not apply unless private school bus operators are able to provide adequate transportation at reasonable rates, and in conformance with applicable safety standards.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 10 - Expenses of Physically Disabled Children

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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 13 - Requested Courses; School Committee Approval

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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 13d - High Schools; Required Subjects; Driver Training

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 registrar of motor vehicles. No school committee and no high school, public or private, shall employ a person to conduct a driver education course unless the person is certified by the registrar as a driving instructor. 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.
A driver education course shall include a module on the science related to addiction and addictive substances, including the impact of psychoactive substances on the brain and the effect of such substances on a person while operating a motor vehicle.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 13f - Broadcast and Television Facilities; Cost of 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 13g - Executive Committee for Educational Television; 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 13h - Educational Television Program Fund; Accounts 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 13i - Executive Committee for Educational Television; 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 14 - Regional School District Planning Committee; Creation; Membership

Section 14. Any town, either by a majority vote of its board of selectmen and a majority vote of the school committee or 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 3 members, including 1 member of the school committee to be appointed by the moderator. At the same meeting or at a subsequent meeting, the town may appropriate for the expense of the regional school district planning committee such sums, not exceeding 1/10 of 1 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 2 or more towns may join together to form a regional school district planning board. Such regional school district planning board shall organize forthwith upon its formation by the election of a chairman and secretary-treasurer.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 14d - Regional School District Planning Board; 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 committee 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.