Massachusetts Statutes

Section 16C. The regional school district shall be subject to all laws pertaining to school transportation; and when the agreement provides for the furnishing of transportation by the regional school district, the regional school district shall be obliged to provide transportatio…

Section 16D. (a) A regional school district shall be entitled to receive state aid for construction of regional schools. Each city or town in a regional school district whether established under special or general law shall continue to receive such state aid for educational purpo…

Section 16E. A regional school district shall be considered a district for purposes of conducting periodic audits under sections 35, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 of chapter 44. Upon the completion of each audit, a copy shall be sent to the chief executive officer and the school committe…

Section 16F. The regional school district shall maintain a contributory retirement system for non-teaching employees of the district, subject in all respects to the applicable provisions of chapter thirty-two.

Section 16G. No town in a regional school district shall be liable for any obligation imposed on any other town in said district by authority of sections fourteen to sixteen I, inclusive, or of any agreement thereunder, any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding.

Section 16I. If any provision of said sections, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, the remainder of said sections and the application of such provisions to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held in…

Section 17A. In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section and in any regional school district upon its acceptance by the school committee of said district and a majority of the cities and towns in said district by vote of the city council or board of selectmen…

Section 18. Any town may, and every town in which there are issued during any year certificates authorizing the employment of twenty or more persons who do not possess the educational qualifications enumerated in section one of chapter seventy-six, shall maintain for not less tha…

Section 19. Every city of fifty thousand inhabitants shall maintain annually an evening high school, in which shall be taught such subjects as the school committee considers expedient, if fifty or more residents, sixteen years or over, competent in the opinion of the committee to…

Section 1A. At the commencement of the first class of each day in all grades in all public schools the teacher in charge of the room in which each such class is held shall announce that a period of silence not to exceed one minute in duration shall be observed for personal though…

Section 1B. The school committee of any city or town may permit any child attending its public schools to participate in voluntary prayer with the approval of such child's parents before the commencement of each daily school session. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the co…

Section 1C. Each school district shall conduct, in cooperation with the local parent advisory council, at least one workshop annually within the school district on the rights of students and their parents and guardians under the special education laws of the commonwealth and the …

Section 1D. A school district, school committee, public school, nonsectarian school, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association or any equivalent school organization or an entity or board that provides athletic officials, including, but not limited to, referees and um…

Section 2. (a) In all public schools, history of the United States of America and social science, including civics, shall be taught as required subjects to promote civic service and a greater knowledge thereof and to prepare students, morally and intellectually, for the duties of…

Section 20. The school committee shall, two weeks next before the opening of each term of the evening schools, post in three or more public places in the town notice of the situation of said schools, the date of the beginning of the term, the evenings of the week on which they wi…

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 mon…

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 des…

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 …

Section 23. In the establishment and conduct of said schools or courses, a town may take advantage of established educational agencies, and may utilize any suitable quarters approved by the department; but, when established, the said schools or courses shall be a part of the publ…

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 p…

Section 25. Any minor under sixteen who has been regularly employed in a town other than that of his residence, and who is temporarily unemployed, may be required, under conditions approved by the department, to attend a continuation school or course in the town of his residence.

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 depar…

Section 26A. If the school committee of a city, town or regional school district determines that sufficient need exists therein for extended school services for children, the school committee, subject to section 26B, may establish and maintain such services.

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; provide…

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 sect…

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 sa…

Section 27. The school committee may employ competent persons to deliver lectures on the natural sciences, history, and kindred subjects, and may provide cards or pamphlets giving the titles and authors of books of reference on the subject matter of said lectures contained in the…

Section 28. The school committee may establish and maintain schools to be kept open for the whole or any part of the summer vacation; but attendance thereon shall not be compulsory or be considered as a part of the school attendance required by law.

Section 2A. No person shall use a tobacco product, as defined in section 6 of chapter 270, within the school buildings or facilities or on the grounds or school buses of a public or private primary or secondary school or at a school-sponsored event. Each school committee or board…

Section 2B. In all public elementary and secondary schools, American Sign Language shall be recognized as a standard, independent language with its own grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and cultural heritage. Courses in American Sign Language may be taught for the purpose of contribut…

Section 2C. Each school district in the commonwealth, subject to appropriation, shall implement a specific policy and discipline code to address teen dating violence in public schools. The policy shall clearly state that dating violence will not be tolerated and shall include gui…

Section 3. Physical education shall be taught as a required subject in all grades for all students in the public schools for the purpose of promoting the physical well-being of such students. Instruction in physical education may include calisthenics, gymnastics and military dril…

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 the…

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…

Section 31A. The school committee may set appropriate guidelines for the celebration of Christmas and other festivals observed as holidays for the purpose of furthering the educational, cultural and social experiences and development of children.

Section 32. In all the public schools the last regular session, or a portion thereof, prior to the last Monday in May, known as Memorial Day, shall be devoted to patriotic exercises.

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 a…

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 app…

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…

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 supe…

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…

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 stude…

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, how…