reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 40 - Compensation of Teachers; Deferred Payment

Section 40. The compensation of each teacher, except a person in training and except a person employed as a temporary substitute, upon a majority vote of the respective school committee and the appropriating authority or, in the case of a regional school district, upon acceptance as provided hereafter, shall be at a rate of not less than eighteen thousand dollars or at a rate not less than twenty thousand dollars, as designated by said vote, for the school year commencing after July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven. In the case of a regional school district, acceptance shall require the approval of the regional school district committee and two-thirds of the appropriating authorities of the municipalities in such regional school district. The compensation paid to such teachers shall be deemed to be fully earned at the end of the school year, and proportionately earned during the school year. Payment of such compensation may be deferred to the extent that equal payments may be established for a twelve month period including amounts payable in July and August subsequent to the end of the school year. Educational collaboratives, formed under the provisions of section four E of chapter forty, may accept the provisions of this section by a majority vote of the collaborative board and the approval by a vote of the majority of the appropriating authorities of the member cities and towns.
Any city, town, regional school district, educational collaborative or independent vocational school district which currently employs teachers at salaries below eighteen thousand dollars or below twenty thousand dollars and which accepts the minimum salary provisions of this section for school years commencing after July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven shall receive a minimum teacher salary grant from the commonwealth in fiscal years nineteen hundred and eighty-eight and nineteen hundred and eighty-nine equal to the cost incurred by such city, town, collaborative or regional school district during said fiscal years as a result of increasing the minimum teacher salary to eighteen thousand dollars or to twenty thousand dollars, as designated by the vote of the school committee and the appropriating authority thereof, for each teacher whose salary was below that level prior to July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and for each teacher hired after June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven whose salary was below that level at any time between July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 41b - Leaves of Absence; Peace Corps

Section 41B. A school superintendent shall grant to a teacher who has been accepted to serve in the Peace Corps of the United States and who is currently in good standing in a public school of the commonwealth a leave of absence for the term of such service. Such leave shall be without pay and shall not be counted as creditable service for retirement purposes but such member shall be restored to his previous or a similar position, with the same status, pay, length of service credit and seniority, whenever applicable, as he held on the date of such leave of absence.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 42c - Records of Teachers; Inspection

Section 42C. School officials of cities and towns keeping records concerning any teacher or his work shall, at the written request of the teacher, permit the teacher by appointment to inspect the contents of his personnel folder, files, cards and records, and to make copies of such contents and records as concern his work or himself.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 42d - Suspension of District Employees

Section 42D. The superintendent may suspend any employee of the school district subject to the provisions of this section. The principal of a school may suspend any teacher or other employee assigned to the school subject to the provisions of this section. Any employee shall have seven days written notice of the intent to suspend and the grounds upon which the suspension is to be imposed; provided, however, that the superintendent may, for good cause, require the immediate suspension of any employee, in which case the employee shall receive written notice of the immediate suspension and the cause therefor at the time the suspension is imposed. The employee shall be entitled (i) to review the decision to suspend with the superintendent or principal if said decision to suspend was made by the principal; (ii) to be represented by counsel in such meetings; (iii) to provide information pertinent to the decision and to the employee's status.
No teacher or other employee shall be suspended for a period exceeding one month, except with the consent of the teacher or other employee, and no teacher or other employee shall receive compensation for any period of lawful suspension.
No teacher shall be interrogated prior to any notice given to him relative to the suspension unless the teacher or other employee is notified of his right to be represented by counsel during any such investigation. A suspended teacher or other employee may seek review of the suspension by following the arbitration procedures set forth in section forty-two. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting any provision of a collective bargaining agreement with respect to suspension of teachers or other employees.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 43 - Reduction of Salaries; Conditions

Section 43. The salary of no teacher employed with professional teacher status in any city or town except Boston shall be reduced without his consent except by a general salary revision affecting equally all teachers of the same salary grade in the town or except in connection with a reduction in status from full-time to part-time pursuant to a reduction in force resulting from declining enrollments or other budgetary reasons or pursuant to reorganizations for academic or budgetary reasons. Nothing in this section or in any other section of this chapter shall be construed to prevent a school district from entering into an individual annuity contract for such employee or from reducing the salary or compensation of such employee pursuant to such agreement for the purpose of such purchase as authorized by section thirty-seven B.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 44 - Restrictions on Teachers' Political Rights; Prohibition

Section 44. No committee shall by rule, regulation, or otherwise, restrict any teacher in, or dismiss him for, exercising his right of suffrage, signing nomination papers, petitioning the general court or appearing before its committees, to the extent that such rights, except voting, are not exercised on the school premises during school hours, or when their exercise would actually interfere with the performance of school duties.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 45 - Procurement of Teaching Positions; Regulation of Fees; Penalty for Violation

Section 45. No person shall demand or accept from any applicant for the position of teacher in the public schools a fee or other compensation exceeding two dollars, and no additional sum shall be charged to cover expenses or for any other reason, except that further compensation, not exceeding five per cent of the teacher's salary for the first year, provided the position is open to the teacher for said period, may be charged for procuring such position. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 47a - Athletic Coaches; Employment

Section 47A. The superintendent may contract to employ athletic coaches hired under the provisions of section fifty-nine B for periods not in excess of three years. The provisions of section forty-one relative to tenure shall not apply to such athletic coaches, unless they are otherwise entitled to tenure. All coaches shall have a current certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation from the American Heart Association, American Red Cross or other agency or organization approved by the department of public health. This requirement shall not apply to a coach with a physical disability. A school district that hires a coach under this section shall not be responsible for costs associated with the certification.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 48 - Textbooks and School Supplies

Section 48. The principal at each school, subject to the direction of the superintendent, shall, at the expense of the school district, purchase textbooks and other school supplies, and consistent with the district policy, shall loan them to the pupils attending such school free of charge. If instruction is given in the manual and domestic arts, the principal may so purchase and loan the necessary tools, implements and materials. The principal shall also, at like expense, procure such apparatus, reference books and other means of illustration, as may be needed. Said purchases shall be made in accordance with chapter thirty B and within the purchasing guidelines adopted by the municipality where such purchases are made if such guidelines exist.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 48a - School Safety Patrols; Functions, Limitations; Liability

Section 48A. School committees shall have authority to organize school safety patrols, consisting of pupils, whose functions shall be to encourage pupils to cross highways at designated crossings and when conditions are safe, to assist drivers of school buses in maintaining safety rules and to protect pupils who are boarding or alighting from such buses; and may adopt regulations relative to the flagging or signalling of school buses by members of said safety patrols. Said committees may make expenditures, from funds appropriated for school purposes, for the purchase of traffic belts, so called, to be used by the safety patrol leaders in safeguarding the passage of pupils to and from school. Nothing herein contained shall authorize a safety patrol member to direct vehicular traffic, provided, however, that such patrol member may use a flag or other approved signal to indicate to a driver that school children are crossing or are about to cross the street. No patrol member shall be stationed in that portion of the highway intended for the use of vehicular traffic, but shall perform his duties from the curb and sidewalk areas.
No liability shall attach either to the school committees or any individual member thereof, a superintendent, teacher, patrol member, or parent of a patrol member, or other school authority by virtue of the organization, maintenance or operation of a safety patrol under authority of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 48b - Uniforms of School Employees

Section 48B. The school committee may make expenditures for the purchase and care of uniforms to be worn by employees whose duties require the preparation, handling and serving of food in connection with the sale of school lunches, or involve the care, maintenance, repair or heating of school buildings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 49a - Orders for Materials and Equipment; Contracts for Services

Section 49A. At any time after the annual appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year are made by a city or town or by all the member cities and towns of a regional school district, a school committee may order materials, supplies and equipment and may contract for services for the public schools which are chargeable against such appropriations; provided, however, that payment may be made prior to the commencement of said ensuing fiscal year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 52 - Compensation of School Committee Members

Section 52. The school committee shall serve without compensation, except that a member of a school committee of a city, town, regional school district or superintendency union may be compensated for his services by a majority vote of the city council in a city having a Plan D or Plan E charter; in a city not having a Plan D or Plan E charter by vote of the city council, subject to the provisions of the charter of such a city; in a town by a majority vote at a town meeting; and in a regional school district or school superintendency by a majority vote of the voting member towns authorized at their respective town meetings, the amount of such compensation, in each case, to be set by the respective cities, towns or groups of towns. No member of a school committee in any town shall be eligible to the position of teacher, or superintendent of public schools therein, or in any union school or superintendency union or district in which his town participates.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 53 - School Physicians and Nurses

Section 53. The school committee shall appoint one or more school physicians and registered nurses, shall assign them to the public schools within its jurisdiction, shall provide them with all proper facilities for the performance of their duties and shall assign one or more physicians to the examination of children who apply for health certificates required by section eighty-seven of chapter one hundred and forty-nine, but in cities where the medical inspection hereinafter prescribed is substantially provided by the board of health, said board shall appoint and assign the school physicians and registered nurses. The department may exempt towns having a valuation of less than one million dollars from so much of this section as relates to school nurses.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 53a - Employment of Medical Personnel by Superintendency District or Union; Compensation; Removal

Section 53A. A superintendency district formed and conducted under the provisions of section sixty, or a superintendency union formed and conducted under the provisions of sections sixty-one to sixty-four, inclusive, may employ one or more school physicians and may employ one or more school registered nurses; determine the relative amount of service to be rendered by each in each town; fix the compensation of each person so employed; apportion the payment thereof among the several towns; and certify the respective shares to the several town treasurers. A school physician or registered nurse so employed may be removed by a two thirds vote of the full membership of the joint committee. The joint committee of any superintendency union may employ clerical and secretarial help, special teachers and supervisors, fix the compensation of each person so employed and apportion the payment thereof among the several towns; and certify the respective shares to the respective town treasurers.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 53b - Towns Within a Superintendency District or Union; Exemption From Appointment Requirement

Section 53B. The towns comprised in a superintendency district or union employing, to the satisfaction of the department, one or more school physicians and registered nurses in accordance with the provisions of section fifty-three A shall be exempt from the provisions of section fifty-three requiring the appointment of such persons.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 54 - Examination of Children and School Personnel

Section 54. Every school physician shall make a prompt examination of all children referred to him as provided in this chapter, and such further examination of teachers, janitors and school buildings as in his opinion the protection of the health of the pupils may require. Every such physician who is assigned to perform the duty of examining children who apply for health certificates shall make a prompt examination of every child who wishes to obtain an employment permit, as provided in section eighty-seven of chapter one hundred and forty-nine, and who presents to said physician the pledge or promise of the employer, as provided in said section; and the physician shall certify in writing whether or not in his opinion such child is in sufficiently sound health and physically able to perform the work described in said pledge or promise.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 54a - Physician or Person Trained in Emergency Medical Care; Assignment to Interscholastic Football Games

Section 54A. A physician employed by a school committee or a person who has completed a full course in emergency medical care as provided in section six of chapter one hundred and eleven C shall be assigned to every interscholastic football game played by any team representing a public secondary school in the commonwealth, and the expenses of such physician or person shall be paid by the school committee of the city, town or district wherein such football game is played.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 54b - Administration of Medications in School Settings; Regulations

Section 54B. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of public health shall promulgate regulations governing the administration of medications, including psychotropic medications to children in school settings, in accordance with sections 7 and 9 of chapter 94C. In developing such regulations, the department shall consult with the board of registration in nursing and the board of registration in medicine.
Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary, no school district shall prohibit students with asthma or other respiratory diseases from possessing and administering prescription inhalers or students with life-threatening allergies from possessing and administering epinephrine in accordance with department of public health regulations concerning students' self-administration of prescription medications.
Each school shall allow storage of epinephrine in a secure but unlocked place, as determined by the school nurse, accessible only to authorized persons, located in every part of the school grounds where an allergic student is most at risk, including, but not limited to, classrooms and lunchrooms.
Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary, no school district shall prohibit students with cystic fibrosis from possessing and administering prescription enzyme supplements in accordance with department of public health regulations concerning students' self-administration of prescription medications.
Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary, a school district shall not prohibit a student with diabetes from possessing and administering a glucose monitoring test and insulin delivery system, in accordance with department of public health regulations concerning a student's self-administration of a prescription medication.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 54c - Automated External Defibrillators Required at School Facilities; Certified Aed Providers; Hardship Waivers; Personal Liability; Regulations

Section 54C. (a) Each school district, vocational district, charter school, approved private day or residential school and collaborative school shall provide and maintain at least 1 automated external defibrillator, AED, on site at each school facility where instruction is provided. Each school shall have on staff a person who is an AED provider having current certification in a training course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and in the use of an AED in accordance with the standards established by the American Heart Association or the American National Red Cross. The school administration shall ensure that an AED and AED provider is readily available at any school-sponsored athletic event.
(b) If a school system in unable to comply with the requirements of this section, the superintendent of the school district, the administration of a private day or residential school or the board of trustees of a charter school, shall request a hardship waiver from the department of elementary and secondary education. The department of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the department of public health, shall make available to public schools a list of grants and other funding sources that a public school may access to facilitate the purchase of AEDs.
(c) An AED provider on staff by a school subject to this section who, in good faith, attempts to render emergency care, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation, and does so without compensation, shall not be liable for acts or omissions, other than gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct, resulting from the attempt to render such emergency care.
(d) The department of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the department of public health, shall establish regulations and guidelines for the implementation, training, support and supervision of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 55 - Contagious Diseases; Regulations

Section 55. A child infected, or in a household where a person is infected, with a disease dangerous to the public health as defined in accordance with section six of chapter one hundred and eleven, or in a household exposed to contagion from any such disease in another household, shall not attend any public school while he is so infected or remains in a household where such infection or exposure exists if the regulations of the board of health require such exclusion. A child returning to school after having been absent on account of such infection or exposure shall present a certificate from the board of health or its duly appointed agent that the danger of conveying such disease by such child has passed; provided, that if such a child returns to school without such a certificate, after having been absent on account of such infection or exposure, he shall immediately be referred to a school physician for examination and, if it is found by such physician upon such examination that such danger has passed, he may remain at school.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 55a - Sick, Injured or Incapacitated Pupils; Procedure for Handling; Emergency First Aid or Transportation; Exemption From Civil Liability

Section 55A. A child showing signs of ill health or of being infected with a disease dangerous to the public health as defined in accordance with section six of chapter one hundred and eleven shall be sent home immediately, or as soon as safe and proper conveyance can be found, or shall be referred to a school physician, who may direct that such child be sent home. In the case of schools remotely situated, such other steps may be taken as will best effectuate the purpose of this section and ensure the safety of such child and other pupils. The superintendent of schools or collaborative director of a collaborative as set forth in section four E of chapter forty, shall immediately cause the board of health to be notified of all children excluded under this section by reason of any disease dangerous to the public health.
No public school teacher and no collaborative school teacher, no principal, secretary to the principal, nurse or other public school or collaborative school employee who, in good faith, renders emergency first aid or transportation to a student who has become injured or incapacitated in a public school or collaborative school building or on the grounds thereof shall be liable in a suit for damages as a result of his acts or omissions either for such first aid or as a result of providing such emergency transportation to a place of safety, nor shall such person be liable to a hospital for its expenses if under such emergency conditions he causes the admission of such injured or incapacitated student, nor shall such person be subject to any disciplinary action by the school committee, or collaborative board of such collaborative for such emergency first aid or transportation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 55c - Eye Protective Devices

Section 55C. Each teacher and pupil of any school, public or private, shall, while attending school classes in industrial art or vocational shops or laboratories in which caustic or explosive chemicals, hot liquids or solids, hot molten metals, or explosives are used or in which welding of any type, repair or servicing of vehicles, heat treatment or tempering of metals, or the milling, sawing, stamping or cutting of solid materials, or any similar dangerous process is taught, exposure to which may be a source of danger to the eyes, wear an industrial quality eye protective device, approved by the department of public health. Each visitor to any such classroom or laboratory shall also be required to wear such protective device.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 55d - Musical Wind Instruments; Notification of Sanitization and Option to Sterilize at Parental Expense

Section 55D. (a) Upon the issuance of a musical wind instrument to a student who is permitted to use or borrow the instrument while attending any public or commonwealth charter school or prekindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, the school issuing the instrument shall inform the student's parent or guardian that the musical wind instrument has been sanitized and may also be sterilized at the expense of the parent or guardian requesting the sterilization to ensure that all microbial life has been eradicated from the instrument. The parent or guardian may request that the school sterilize the instrument prior to issuance in compliance with regulations promulgated by the department of public health. The parent or guardian who makes the request shall be responsible for the entire cost of the sterilization.
(b) This section shall take effect in any city, town or regional school district upon acceptance by the school committee or, in the case of a commonwealth charter school, upon acceptance by the board of trustees.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 57a - Students With Potential Indicators of a Neurological Learning Disability; Guidelines for Development of Screening Procedures

Section 57A. The department of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the department of early education and care, shall, subject to appropriation, issue guidelines to assist districts in developing screening procedures or protocols for students that demonstrate 1 or more potential indicators of a neurological learning disability including, but not limited to, dyslexia.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 59 - Superintendent of Schools; Appointment; Compensation; Powers and Duties

Section 59. The school committee of a town not in a superintendency union or district shall employ a superintendent of schools and fix his compensation. A superintendent employed under this section or section sixty or sixty-three shall manage the system in a fashion consistent with state law and the policy determinations of that school committee. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the school committee may also establish and appoint positions of assistant or associate superintendents, who shall report to the superintendent, and the school committee shall fix the compensation paid to such assistant or associate superintendents. The school committee shall approve or disapprove the hiring of said positions. Such approval by the school committee of the recommendation shall not be unreasonably withheld; provided, however, that upon the request of the superintendent the school committee shall provide an explanation of disapproval.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 59a - Superintendents of Schools in Small Towns; Appointment; State Aid for Compensation

Section 59A. In any town, having a valuation of less than two million five hundred thousand dollars, which is not a member of a superintendency union under the provision of section sixty-one, the school committee shall, subject to the approval of the department, employ a full-time or a part-time superintendent of schools, and shall, subject to like approval, fix his compensation and his duties as provided in section fifty-nine.
Expenses incurred under the provisions of this section shall be reimbursable under chapter seventy.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 59b - Principals; Appointment; Compensation; Duties; Appointment of Other Personnel

Section 59B. The superintendent of a school district shall appoint principals for each public school within the district at levels of compensation determined in accordance with policies established by the school committee. Principals employed under this section shall be the educational administrators and managers of their schools and shall supervise the operation and management of their schools and school property, subject to the supervision and direction of the superintendent. Principals employed under this section shall be responsible, consistent with district personnel policies and budgetary restrictions and subject to the approval of the superintendent, for hiring all teachers, athletic coaches, instructional or administrative aides and other personnel assigned to the school and for terminating all such personnel, subject to review and prior approval by the superintendent and subject to this chapter; provided, however, that the promotion and discipline, up to and including termination, of employees in custodial, maintenance and other non-teaching positions shall be conducted in accordance with any governing collective bargaining agreement. Prior to any assignment to a school of a teacher previously employed in another school in the district including, but not limited to, voluntary transfer, involuntary transfer, reduction in force, and recall, the superintendent shall consult in good faith with the principal concerning the assignment and application of any collectively bargained for selection criteria. In the case of an assignment in connection with the involuntary transfer or recall of a teacher to another school, any collectively bargained for selection criteria shall include the factors set forth in the seventh paragraph of section 42. The principal of any school which requires an examination for student admission shall be solely and exclusively responsible for hiring all teachers, instructional or administrative aides and other personnel and for terminating all such personnel without the requirement of review or prior approval by the superintendent before such hiring or termination. This section shall not prevent a person from serving as the principal of 2 or more elementary schools or the use of teaching principals in such schools.
It shall be the responsibility of the principal in consultation with professional staff of the building to promote participatory decision making among all professional staff for the purpose of developing educational policy.
The school superintendent of a city or town or regional school district including vocational-technical schools, may also appoint administrators and other personnel not assigned to particular schools, at levels of compensation determined in accordance with policies established by the school committee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 59d - School-Community Partnerships; Grant Program

Section 59D. Superintendents and principals in every school district in the commonwealth shall pursue opportunities to establish school-community partnerships that may advance policy development, staff development, curriculum development, instructional enrichment and may provide material and financial support. The commissioner of education shall assist in and facilitate with the establishment of school-community partnerships. Subject to appropriation, the board shall establish a grant program to assist school districts in developing and implementing such partnerships.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 61 - Superintendent of Schools; Employment by a Town Union; Termination of Town Participation in a Union

Section 61. The school committees of two or more towns, each having a valuation less than two million five hundred thousand dollars, and having an aggregate maximum of seventy-five, and an aggregate minimum of twenty-five, schools, and the committees of four or more such towns, having said maximum but irrespective of said minimum, shall form a union for employing a superintendent of schools. A town whose valuation exceeds said amount may participate in such a union but otherwise subject to this section. Such a union shall not be dissolved except by vote of the school committees representing a majority of the participating towns with the consent of the department, nor by reason of any change in valuation or the number of schools.
A town may terminate its participation in a union by a majority vote of the school committee of the town; provided, however, that said termination shall only be for the purpose of forming an innovation school pursuant to section 92 or establishing different school governance structures. Termination shall be independent of any pending votes regarding dissolution of the union or pending votes by another town regarding its participation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 62 - Readjustment of Town Unions

Section 62. The department may form or readjust such unions whenever it becomes necessary to include one or more towns otherwise unable to comply with the preceding section, and in so doing may disregard the minimum number of schools prescribed therein, but no such readjustment shall deprive a town of its right to aid under section sixty-five.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 63 - School Committees as Joint Committee; Representation: Meetings; Employment of Superintendent, Removal

Section 63. The school committees of such towns shall, for the purposes of the union, be a joint committee and shall be the agent of each participating town, provided that any school committee of more than three members shall be represented therein by its chairman and two of its members chosen by it. The joint committee shall annually, after completion of annual elections in all of the member towns meet at a day and place agreed upon by the chairmen of the constituent committees, and shall organize by choosing a chairman and a secretary. It shall employ for a three year term, a superintendent of schools, determine the relative amount of service to be rendered by him in each town, fix his salary, which shall not be reduced during his term, and may provide for fringe benefits, and other conditions of employment, including but not limited to, severance pay, relocation expenses, reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of duties or office, liability insurance, and leave for said superintendent and shall apportion the payment thereof in accordance with section sixty-five among the several towns and certify the respective shares to the several town treasurers. He may be removed, with the consent of the department, by a two thirds vote of the full membership of the joint committee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 64 - Union Superintendent; Compensation

Section 64. The salary of the superintendent in such a union or in any twelve grade regional school district or the combined salary received by a person serving in a dual capacity as a superintendent in a union and a regional school district or in two or more regional school districts shall be not less than the amounts provided in the following schedule: ninety-five hundred dollars for the first year of service, ten thousand dollars for the second year, ten thousand five hundred dollars for the third year, eleven thousand dollars for the fourth year. If his salary is not in excess of eleven thousand six hundred dollars the union or any twelve grade regional school district or the union and the regional school district or two or more regional school districts, as the case may be, shall, and otherwise may, reimburse him for his actual traveling expenses incurred in the discharge of his duties, but such reimbursement may be limited to six hundred dollars a year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 67 - Superintendents of Schools; Penalty for Accepting Fees for Obtaining Positions; Employment of Immediate Family of Certain Persons Prohibited

Section 67. A superintendent of schools who accepts any commission, fee, compensation, or reward of any kind for obtaining for any person a position as teacher in the public schools shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars.
A school district shall neither (i) employ a member of the immediate family of a superintendent, central office administrator, or school committee member, nor (ii) assign a member of the immediate family of the principal as an employee at the principal's school, unless written notice is given to the school committee of the proposal to employ or assign such person at least two weeks in advance of such person's employment or assignment. As used in this section, ''immediate family'' shall have the meaning assigned by subsection (e) of section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 69 - Display of National Flags; Pledge of Allegiance; Penalty for Violation

Section 69. The school committee shall provide for each schoolhouse under its control, which is not otherwise supplied, flags of the United States of silk or bunting not less than two feet long, such flags or bunting to be manufactured in the United States, and suitable apparatus for their display as hereinafter provided. A flag shall be displayed, weather permitting, on the school building or grounds on every school day and on every legal holiday or day proclaimed by the governor or the President of the United States for especial observance; provided, that on stormy school days, it shall be displayed inside the building. A flag shall be displayed in each assembly hall or other room in each such schoolhouse where the opening exercises on each school day are held. Each teacher at the commencement of the first class of each day in all grades in all public schools shall lead the class in a group recitation of the ''Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag''. A flag shall be displayed in each classroom in each such schoolhouse. Failure for a period of five consecutive days by the principal or teacher in charge of a school equipped as aforesaid to display the flag as above required, or failure for a period of two consecutive weeks by a teacher to salute the flag and recite said pledge as aforesaid, or to cause the pupils under his charge so to do, shall be punished for every such period by a fine of not more than five dollars. Failure of the committee to equip a school as herein provided shall subject the members thereof to a like penalty.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 69a - Plaque Reading ''for God and Country''; Placement on Public School Buildings

Section 69A. On every public school building within the commonwealth there may be placed in a conspicuous location a suitable plaque which shall contain the words ''For God and Country''. Such plaques may be donated by veterans or civic organizations or individuals.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 71 - Use of School Property; Purposes

Section 71. For the purpose of promoting the usefulness of public school property the school committee of any town may conduct such educational and recreational activities in or upon school property under its control, and, subject to such regulations as it may establish, and, consistently and without interference with the use of the premises for school purposes, shall allow the use thereof by individuals and associations for such educational, recreational, social, civic, philanthropic and like purposes as it deems for the interest of the community. The affiliation of any such association with a religious organization shall not disqualify such association from being allowed such a use for such a purpose. The use of such property as a place of assemblage for citizens to hear candidates for public office shall be considered a civic purpose within the meaning of this section. A school committee shall award concessions for food at any field under its control only to the highest responsible bidder. This section shall not apply to Boston.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 71a - Highway Safety Stations; Designation, Discontinuance

Section 71A. A school committee may, subject, however, to all other provisions of law, designate the locations for the erection of highway safety stations for children awaiting a school bus; provided, that such locations have been approved by the school superintendent or, as his designee, the school transportation officer. A school committee may order the discontinuance of the use of any such station by the children if it is not constructed of durable material with a floor of concrete raised above ground level, or is not kept clean, well painted, free of snow, and suitably maintained at all times.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 71c - Community School Programs; Receipts; Deposit and Expenditure

Section 71C. All moneys received by the school committee in connection with the conduct of community school programs, so designated by prior vote of said committee, shall be deposited with the treasurer of the town or city. The school committee may expend, from such receipts and without further appropriation, any sums not in excess of $10,000 within any fiscal year for the purchase of materials and equipment for such programs.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 71d - Prepayment of Tuition to Private Schools or Program Sources

Section 71D. A school committee of any city, town, or regional school district may authorize the prepayment of tuition for a period not exceeding three months to any approved private school or approved program source which a student is attending under the provisions of chapter seventy-one B, and the city, town or regional school district treasurer shall be required to approve and pay such monies in accordance with the authorization of the school committee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XII - Education › Chapter 71 - Public Schools › Section 71e - Appropriations for and Expenditure of Receipts From Adult Education and Continuing Education Programs

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