reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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''.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 26c - Extended School Services for Children; Contributions and Federal Funds; Use

Section 26C. The commonwealth and the school committee may accept funds from the federal government for the purposes of sections 26A to 26D, inclusive. The school committee may receive contributions in the form of money, material, quarters or services for the purposes of the sections from organizations, employers and other individuals. The contributions received in the form of money, together with fees from parents and any allotments received from the federal government for said purposes, shall be deposited with the treasurer of such city, town or regional school district and held as a separate account and expended by said school committee without appropriation, notwithstanding section 53 of chapter 44.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 26d - Borrowing in Anticipation of Federal Funds

Section 26D. If a town shall have a written contract with the federal government whereby said government grants or offers such town a sum of money to be used with funds which may be provided in said town for the purposes of sections twenty-six A to twenty-six F, inclusive, and said town shall be required primarily to pay that portion of the expenses for which reimbursement is to be received from the grant, the treasurer of such town, with the approval of the mayor, or of the city manager, if any, or of the selectmen, as the case may be, in anticipation of the receipt of the proceeds of such grant, may incur debt, outside the debt limit, to an amount not exceeding the amount of the grant as shown by the agreement, and may issue notes therefor, payable in not exceeding one year from their dates. Any loan so issued for a shorter period than one year may be refunded by the issue of other notes maturing within the required period; provided, that the period from the date of issue of the original loan to the date of maturity of the refunding loan shall not be more than one year. The proceeds of the grant, so far as necessary, shall be applied to the discharge of the loan.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 30 - Moral Education

Section 30. The president, professors and tutors of the university at Cambridge and of the several colleges, all preceptors and teachers of academies and all other instructors of youth shall exert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and youth committed to their care and instruction the principles of piety and justice and a sacred regard for truth, love of their country, humanity and universal benevolence, sobriety, industry and frugality, chastity, moderation and temperance, and those other virtues which are the ornament of human society and the basis upon which a republican constitution is founded; and they shall endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear understanding of the tendency of the above mentioned virtues to preserve and perfect a republican constitution and secure the blessings of liberty as well as to promote their future happiness, and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 31 - Bible Reading

Section 31. A portion of the Bible shall be read daily in the public schools, without written note or oral comment; but a pupil whose parent or guardian informs the teacher in writing that he has conscientious scruples against it, shall not be required to read from any particular version, or to take any personal part in the reading. The school committee shall not purchase or use in the public schools school books favoring the tenets of any particular religious sect.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 32a - Sex Education; Policy Regarding Notice to Parents, Exception

Section 32A. Every city, town, regional school district or vocational school district implementing or maintaining curriculum which primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality issues shall adopt a policy ensuring parental/guardian notification. Such policy shall afford parents or guardians the flexibility to exempt their children from any portion of said curriculum through written notification to the school principal. No child so exempted shall be penalized by reason of such exemption.
Said policy shall be in writing, formally adopted by the school committee as a school district policy and distributed by September first, nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and each year thereafter to each principal in the district. A copy of each school district's policy must be sent to the department of education after adoption.
To the extent practicable, program instruction materials for said curricula shall be made reasonably accessible to parents, guardians, educators, school administrators, and others for inspection and review.
The department of education shall promulgate regulations for adjudicatory proceedings to resolve any and all disputes arising under this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 34 - Support of Schools; Appropriations; Recommendations

Section 34. Every city and town shall annually provide an amount of money sufficient for the support of the public schools as required by this chapter, provided however, that no city or town shall be required to provide more money for the support of the public schools than is appropriated by vote of the legislative body of the city or town. In acting on appropriations for educational costs, the city or town appropriating body shall vote on the total amount of the appropriations requested and shall not allocate appropriations among accounts or place any restriction on such appropriations. The superintendent of schools in any city or town may address the local appropriating authority prior to any action on the school budget as recommended by the school committee notwithstanding his place of residence. The city or town appropriating body may make nonbinding monetary recommendations to increase or decrease certain items allocating such appropriations.
The vote of the legislative body of a city or town shall establish the total appropriation for the support of the public schools, but may not limit the authority of the school committee to determine expenditures within the total appropriation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 34a - Transcript of Student's Record; Availability

Section 34A. Any person operating or maintaining an educational institution within the commonwealth shall, upon request of any student or former student thereof, furnish to him a written transcript of his record as a student. There shall be no charge for any transcript originally furnished by any such person hereunder, but for any duplicate or additional transcript furnished hereunder a charge of not exceeding one dollar for each page, but not exceeding five dollars for an entire transcript, may be made by such person.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 34b - Remedy for Failure to Furnish Transcript of Student's Record

Section 34B. In case any person subject to section thirty-four A shall refuse or neglect for thirty days after such request to furnish such a written transcript, the student or former student requesting the same or, if a minor, his guardian or next friend, may present to the superior court for the county within which such person so subject resides or such institution is located, or for the county of Suffolk, a petition addressed to said court and praying for such relief as it may deem proper in the circumstances; and thereupon such court shall have jurisdiction of such petition and may issue such orders relative thereto as it may deem proper, and any failure or refusal to obey any such order may be treated by the court as a contempt thereof. Upon any such petition the court may award costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the petitioner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 34d - Student Records; Maintenance, Storage, Destruction, etc.; Inspection by Parent or Guardian

Section 34D. The board of education shall adopt regulations relative to the maintenance, retention, duplication, storage and periodic destruction of student records by the public elementary and secondary schools of the commonwealth. Such rules and regulations shall provide that a parent or guardian of any pupil shall be allowed to inspect academic, scholastic, or any other records concerning such pupil which are kept or are required to be kept.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 34e - Inspection of Student Records; Persons Authorized

Section 34E. Each school committee shall, at the request of a parent or guardian of a student, allow such parent or guardian to inspect academic, scholastic, or any other records concerning such student that are kept or are required to be kept, regardless of the age of such student. Each school committee shall, at the request of a student eighteen years of age or older, allow such student complete access to all school records relative to him or her.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 34g - Private Schools; Transfer of Transcripts Upon Ceasing Operation

Section 34G. In the event that any private educational institution providing a course of study through the twelfth grade level ceases operation, the owner or administrators shall transfer transcripts of all students or former students to the department of education; provided, however, that in the case of a student who is transferring to another private or public educational institution, such student's records shall be transferred to the school the student will be attending, rather than to the department. The department may, upon request of a former student of an educational institution which has transferred transcripts pursuant to this provision, provide such student with a copy of his transcript. For the purposes of this section a transcript shall mean the documentary record or records which contain the name, address and phone number of the student, the student's birthdate, name, address and phone number of parent or guardian, course titles, grades, or equivalent thereof when grades are not applicable, course credit, grade level completed and the year completed. Said educational institution shall limit the student record information transmitted to the department to that required to be contained in the transcript.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 36a - Orientation for School Committee Members

Section 36A. School committee members, within 1 year after their initial election or appointment, shall complete at least 8 hours of orientation concerning the responsibilities of their office at no cost to individual school committee members. The orientation shall include but not be limited to a review of school finance, the open meeting law, public records law, conflict of interest law, special education law, collective bargaining, school leadership standards and evaluations and the roles and responsibilities of school committee members. The orientation shall be provided by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Inc. or any other entity approved by the commissioner of education after consulting the association. The Association and any other entity providing such orientation shall offer every year at least 2 orientation sessions at no required cost to eligible school committees. A certificate shall be awarded to each participant upon completion of the orientation and notice thereof shall be filed with the clerk of the city or town where the school committee member resides.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37 - Powers and Duties; Superintendent Serving Joint Districts

Section 37. The school committee in each city and town and each regional school district shall have the power to select and to terminate the superintendent, shall review and approve budgets for public education in the district, and shall establish educational goals and policies for the schools in the district consistent with the requirements of law and statewide goals and standards established by the board of education. The school committee in each city, town and regional school district may select a superintendent jointly with other school committees and the superintendent shall serve as the superintendent of all of the districts that selected him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37a - Grants; Acceptance and Disbursement

Section 37A. School committees of cities and towns and regional district school committees may accept grants or gifts for educational purposes from federal, state, county and municipal governments or agencies thereof, charitable foundations and private corporations and disburse the same for such purposes. Any amounts so received by a school committee of a city or town shall be deposited with the treasurer of such city or town and held as a separate account, and expended by said school committee without further appropriation, notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-three of chapter forty-four. Any amounts so received by a regional district school committee shall be deposited with the treasurer of such regional school district and held as a separate account and expended by said committee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37c - Promotion of Racial Balance

Section 37C. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the commonwealth to encourage all school committees to adopt as educational objectives the promotion of racial balance and the correction of existing racial imbalance in the public schools. The prevention or elimination of racial imbalance shall be an objective in all decisions involving the drawing or altering of school attendance lines, establishing of grade levels, and the selection of new school sites.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37e - Legal Counsel for Collective Bargaining

Section 37E. The school committee of a city or town may employ legal counsel in connection with collective bargaining with employee organizations for school employees, and may expend money therefor from the funds appropriated by said city or town for school purposes provided, however, that no such money shall be expended in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars without the prior approval of the mayor, the city manager in a city having Plan D or Plan E form of government, or the board of selectmen. Said legal counsel shall not be subject to the provisions of section nine A of chapter thirty or the provisions of chapter thirty-one.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37f - Legal Counsel for General Purposes

Section 37F. The school committee of a city or town may employ legal counsel for the general purposes of the committee and may expend money therefor from the funds appropriated by said city or town for school purposes. Said legal counsel shall not be subject to the provisions of section nine A of chapter thirty or the provisions of chapter thirty-one.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37g - Corporal Punishment of Pupils Prohibited; Use of Physical Restraint; Regulations

Section 37G. (a) The power of the school committee or of any teacher or any other employee or agent of the school committee to maintain discipline upon school property shall not include the right to inflict corporal punishment upon any pupil.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not preclude any member of the school committee or any teacher or any employee or agent of the school committee from using such reasonable force as is necessary to protect pupils, other persons, and themselves from an assault by a pupil. When such an assault has occurred, the principal shall file a detailed report of such with the school committee.
(c) The board of education shall promulgate regulations regarding the use of physical restraint for students. Such regulations shall not preclude any teacher or employee or agent of the school from using reasonable force to protect pupils, other persons and themselves from an assault by a pupil as set forth above in section (b). Such regulations shall require training of all personnel authorized to administer any forms of restraint. Such regulations shall provide for procedures for notification to the department and to the parents.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37j - Magnet Educational Programs; Reimbursement for Cost; Definition; Contracts; Joining Programs

Section 37J. The board of education may, subject to appropriation, reimburse any city, town or regional district for all or part of the cost of providing magnet educational programs within the public schools. Any such reimbursement shall be made only after certification by the board that such cost actually has been incurred, that such cost is reasonable, and that such program has met such requirements.
For the purpose of this section, the term ''magnet educational program'' shall mean educational measures including, but not limited to, planning and special services, instruction, or treatment of children, whether at the public schools or other public or private facility or place, which meet such requirements as may be established by the board for the purpose of providing such children with racially balanced educational experiences.
The board of education may contract with any other public or private facility for the purpose of purchasing magnet educational programs. Any city, town or regional district wanting to join in such a program shall so request the board in writing. The board shall approve all requests that meet the requirements as may be established. Any such contracts must be approved by a majority of the board provided that such cost is reasonable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37k - Business Demonstration Projects; Disposition of Proceeds

Section 37K. Each school committee may authorize business demonstration projects of an educational nature, to be operated by students as an educational service. Each such project shall be subject to all applicable health, safety and nutritional regulations.
Any such project may be operated independently of any other department or program in the school in which such project is operated. The net proceeds, after all expenses have been deducted, of any sale of food by any such project shall be transferred each month to the school lunch or food service account for the school in which such project is operated. Any such project serving food to a daily average of more than ten per cent of the students in the school, in which such project is located, in any given month, shall, during the remainder of the school year, be governed by the regulations of the school lunch program.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37m - Consolidation of Administrative Functions With City or Town

Section 37M. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter forty-one or chapter seventy-one or any other special or general law to the contrary, any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section may consolidate administrative functions, including but not limited to financial, personnel, and maintenance functions, of the school committee with those of the city or town; provided, however, that such consolidation may occur only upon a majority vote of both the school committee and in a city, the city council, with approval of the mayor required by law or in a town, the annual town meeting or in a town with no town meeting, the town council.
(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a decision to consolidate functions pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section may be revoked by a majority vote of either the school committee of the city or town, or the city or town, or both as such vote is described in said paragraph (a).
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37n - Policy for School-Sponsored Student Travel

Section 37N. Each school committee shall establish a policy concerning student travel sponsored by a school that is planned to occur between the hours of midnight and 6:00 a.m., or that will include an overnight stay away from a student's home. The policy shall address, but not be limited to, such issues as safety of transportation and accommodations, cost, including expectations for fundraising by students, time away from school, appropriateness of the trip for the grade level and the trip approval process. In adopting its policy, the school committee shall consider the model policy drafted by the board of education under section 1B of chapter 69.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37q - Mental Health Support Plans

Section 37Q. (a) As used in this section the following words shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:—
''Approved private day or residential school'', a school that accepts, through agreement with a school committee, a child requiring special education pursuant to section 10 of chapter 71B.
''Charter school'', commonwealth charter schools and Horace Mann charter schools established pursuant to section 89.
''Collaborative school'', a school operated by an educational collaborative established pursuant to section 4E of chapter 40.
''Plan'', a mental health support plan established pursuant to subsection (b).
''School district'', the school department of a city or town, a regional school district or a county agricultural school.
(b) Each school district, charter school, approved private day or residential school and collaborative school shall develop and adhere to a plan to address the general mental health needs of its students, including the students' families, teachers and school administrators. Each plan shall also address the potential need for emergency and acute treatment for students, including the students' families, teachers and school administrators as a result of a tragedy or crisis within the district or school; provided, that the medical and behavioral health emergency response plans submitted pursuant to section 8A of chapter 69 shall satisfy the requirement for emergency and acute treatment planning required by this section. Before September 1 of each year, each school district, charter school, approved private day or residential school and collaborative school shall review and update its plan to achieve best practices.
(c) The department of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate rules or regulations necessary to carry out this section.
(d) No public employer shall be liable for injury, loss of property, personal injury or death caused by an act or omission of a public employee while acting in the scope of the public employee's employment and arising out of the implementation of this section. This section shall not be construed as creating or imposing a specific duty of care.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 37r - Possession and Access to Two-Way Communication Device for Communicating With Police and Fire Departments During Emergency Situation

Section 37R. (a) As used in this section the following words shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:—
''School'', a school administered by a school department of a city or town or regional school district, a county agricultural school, a commonwealth charter school or Horace Mann charter school established pursuant to section 89 or an educational collaborative established pursuant to section 4E of chapter 40.
''Two-way communication device'', a device capable of transmitting, conveying or routing real-time, 2–way voice communications through radio frequency.
(b) Every school shall, subject to appropriation, possess and have access to a two-way communication device to be used solely for communicating with police and fire departments of the city or town where the school is located during an emergency situation.
(c) No public employer shall be liable for injury, loss of property, personal injury or death caused by an act or omission of a public employee while acting in the scope of the public employee's employment and arising out of the implementation of this section. This section shall not be construed as creating or imposing a specific duty of care.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38a - Duties; Appointment of Director of Occupational Guidance, Duties of Director

Section 38A. The school committee of a town not in an occupational guidance and placement district may employ a director or directors of occupational guidance and placement, approved by the department prior to his or their appointment, and may fix his or their compensation, and a director employed under this section shall, under the direction and control of the supervisor of guidance and placement provided for in section six B of chapter fifteen, give his whole time to the occupational and employment problems of the young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three in said town. He shall use all means available to furnish occupational guidance and secure employment opportunities for such persons. Every such director may consult with and seek the advice of said supervisor, and shall make an annual report to the committee and forward a copy thereof to said supervisor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38d - District Directors of Occupational Guidance; Appointment

Section 38D. Two or more towns may, by vote of each, form a district for the purpose of employing a director of occupational guidance and placement, who shall annually be appointed by a joint committee composed of the chairman and secretary of the school committee of each of said towns. The committee shall determine the relative amount of service to be performed by him in each town, fix his salary, apportion the amount thereof to be paid by each town, and certify the same to each town treasurer. Any constituent town may, by vote passed prior to December first in any year, withdraw from the district, with the approval of the department, such withdrawal to become effective on June thirtieth following. No city may join in forming such a district.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38f - Fees for Services of Directors of Occupational Guidance; Prohibition; Penalty for Violation

Section 38F. A director of occupational guidance and placement who accepts any commission, fee, compensation or reward of any kind for obtaining a position for any person shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, and upon conviction his office shall immediately become vacant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38h - School Librarian and School Library Supervisor or Co-Ordinator; Tenure

Section 38H. Every school librarian and school library supervisor or co-ordinator appointed by a school committee shall acquire tenure in the school system of the city or town in which he is employed subject to the provisions of section forty-one, relating to tenure for teachers, and of sections forty-two and forty-three A, relating to dismissal, suspension and discharge and of appeals therefrom.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38k - Public Relations Bureau in School Departments; Establishment

Section 38K. In cities having a population of over one hundred thousand, the school committee may establish within the school department a bureau of public relations for the purpose of improving public relations between the school department and the community. Said bureau shall be under the control of a director, and such other assistants as the committee deems necessary may be employed to carry out the purpose of such bureau. The director and assistants appointed under the provisions of this section shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter thirty-one.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38m - Student Advisory Committees

Section 38M. School committees of cities, towns and regional school districts shall meet at least once every other month, during the months school is in session, with a student advisory committee to consist of five members to be composed of students elected by the student body of the high school or high schools in each city, town or regional school district.
The members of such student advisory committees shall, by majority vote prior to the first day of June in each year elect from their number a chairperson who shall serve for a term of one year. Said chairperson shall be an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the school committee, without the right to attend executive sessions unless such right is expressly granted by the individual school committee. Said chairperson shall be subject to all school committee rules and regulations and shall serve without compensation.
A school committee may designate a student outreach coordinator for the purpose of ensuring the establishment of a student advisory committee and regularly informing the advisory committee of the school committee's agenda.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38n - Proposed Annual Budgets; Public Hearings Required; Quorum

Section 38N. The school committee of each city, town or regional school district shall hold a public hearing on its proposed annual budget not less than seven days after publication of a notice thereof in a newspaper having general circulation in such city, town or district. Prior to such public hearing said committee shall make available to the public at least one copy of said proposed budget for a time period of not less than forty-eight hours either at the office of the superintendent of schools or at a place so designated by said committee. At the time and place so advertised or at any time or place to which such hearing may from time to time be adjourned all interested persons shall be given an opportunity to be heard for or against the whole or any part of the proposed budget. Such hearing shall be conducted by a quorum of the school committee. For the purposes of this section a quorum shall consist of a majority of the members of said school committee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38o - Sex Education Advisory Committees

Section 38O. In any city, town or regional school district which accepts this section, the school committee shall meet at least once every other month with an advisory committee which shall advise said school committee concerning reading, visual aid and all other material pertaining to sex education. Said committee shall consist of eleven members, one of whom shall be a physician and seven of whom shall be parents of children attending a school of such city, town or regional school district. The school committee in June of each year shall appoint said committee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38p - School Psychologists; Tenure

Section 38P. Every school psychologist and supervisor of school psychologists appointed by a school committee and holding certification as a school psychologist from the department of education shall acquire tenure in the school system of the city, town or district in which he is employed, subject to the provisions of sections forty-one, forty-two and forty-three A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38q - Professional Development Plans; Statewide Assistance Plan

Section 38Q. Every school district in the commonwealth shall adopt and implement a professional development plan for all principals, teachers, other professional staff, paraprofessionals and teacher assistants employed by the district, to include the professional support teams established pursuant to section thirty-eight G, and annually shall update such plans and set forth a budget for professional development within the confines of the foundation budget. Said plan shall include training in the teaching of new curriculum frameworks and other skills required for the effective implementation of this act, including participatory decision making, and parent and community involvement. The plan shall also include training in: (1) analyzing and accommodating diverse learning styles of all students in order to achieve an objective of inclusion in the regular classroom of students with diverse learning styles; and (2) methods of collaboration among teachers, paraprofessionals and teacher assistants to accommodate such styles. The plan may also include training in the provision of pre-referral services within regular education. Said plan shall also include training for members of school councils, pursuant to section fifty-nine C. Said plan may include teacher training which addresses the effects of gender bias in the classroom. In any school district with English learners as defined in chapter 71A, the plan shall provide training for teachers in second language acquisition techniques for the re-certification of teachers and administrators. All professional development plans required by this section shall be filed annually with the commissioner of education.
The commissioner of education for the commonwealth shall prepare each year a plan for providing statewide assistance in the preparation and implementation of professional development plans. The plan shall include data that demonstrates, statewide and by school district, the types of professional development provided for educators who work with English learners as defined in chapter 71A. The commissioner shall consult with the board of higher education in developing said plan. This plan shall evaluate the feasibility of obtaining assistance from institutions of higher education and private service providers. The plan shall be submitted to the board of education for approval. A copy of said plan shall be submitted to the joint committee on education, arts, and humanities of the general court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 38q1/2 - Curriculum Accommodation Plan

Section 38Q1/2. A school district shall adopt and implement a curriculum accommodation plan to assist principals in ensuring that all efforts have been made to meet students' needs in regular education. The plan shall be designed to assist the regular classroom teacher in analyzing and accommodating diverse learning styles of all children in the regular classroom and in providing appropriate services and support within the regular education program including, but not limited to, direct and systematic instruction in reading and provision of services to address the needs of children whose behavior may interfere with learning, or who do not qualify for special education services under chapter 71B. The curriculum accommodation plan shall include provisions encouraging teacher mentoring and collaboration and parental involvement.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 39 - Teacher's Application Forms; Questions Concerning Religion or Politics

Section 39. No public school committee or official shall inquire concerning, or require or solicit from an applicant for a position in the public schools any information as to, his religious belief, creed or practice, or his political opinions or affiliations; and no appointment to such a position shall be in any manner affected thereby. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars.