Title 16, Title 16 Title 16

The department of elementary and secondary education may enter into any agreements, with any agency of the federal government, with any school board, or with any other agency or person, prescribe any regulations, employ any personnel, and take any action, that it may deem necessa…

The town treasurer shall receive the money due the town from the state for public schools, and shall keep a separate accounting of all money appropriated by the state or town or otherwise for public schools in the town, and shall pay the money to the order of the school committee…

The school committees of the several towns shall cause the United States flag to be displayed upon the public school buildings or premises during school hours if in their best judgment it is practicable, otherwise at any times that they may direct, and the committees shall also e…

The town treasurer shall, before the tenth (10th) day of July in each year, submit to the school committee a statement of all money applicable to the support of public schools for the current school year, specifying the sources of the money.

Any town may vote, in a meeting notified for that purpose, to provide schoolhouses, together with the necessary fixtures and appendages.

(a) The department of elementary and secondary education is instructed to develop regulations to ensure that any city, town, or district which undertakes “new school construction” as defined in this section provides in the planning for necessary wiring which is consistent with cu…

Any city or town from time to time may take lands within the city or town, improved or unimproved, for the location of schoolhouses, the enlargement of schoolhouse lots, and for school purposes, provided that the amount of the land at any one taking shall not exceed fifteen (15) …

If any town has already passed or shall pass a vote to erect a schoolhouse or to enlarge a schoolhouse lot, and the school committee shall fix upon a location for the schoolhouse in the town or shall determine that a school lot ought to be enlarged, the school committee of the to…

Any owner of or person entitled to any estate in or interested in any part of the land so taken, who cannot agree with the school committee for the price of the land so taken in which he or she is interested, may, within three (3) months after personal notice of the taking, or, i…

In case any owner of or person having an estate in or interested in the land shall fail to receive personal notice of the taking of the land, and shall fail to file his or her petition as provided in § 16-9-7, the court in its discretion may permit the filing of the petition subs…

The school committees of the several towns of the state shall, in the same manner as now provided by law for the purchase of supplies for public schools by the committees, purchase for every school in their respective towns not now provided with a United States flag, flag staff, …

No person shall be employed to teach, as principal or assistant, in any school supported wholly or in part by public money unless the person shall have a certificate of qualification issued by or under the authority of the board of regents for elementary and secondary education. …

(a) The department of education shall provide rules and regulations to streamline the English as a second language (ESL) and/or English language learner (ELL) teaching certification, including, but not limited to: providing reciprocity to persons who hold a Massachusetts teaching…

The board of regents for elementary and secondary education shall hold, or cause to be held, in any places in different parts of the state and at any times it may determine, examinations for the position of teacher in the public schools of this state; and the board of regents for…

(a) No person who obtained an initial certificate prior to January 8, 2002 shall be barred from certification under this chapter solely because of his or her score on any standardized teacher’s examination; provided, however, that he or she successfully completes an assessment, b…

The board of regents for elementary and secondary education may, in its discretion, issue certificates of qualification without examination to persons who may present evidence of qualification and shall comply with the regulations of the board. Provided, that any teacher who is c…

(a) The commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate rules and regulations under which a certificate may be annulled for cause. The holder shall be entitled to notice and a hearing before the commissioner of elementary and secondary education prior to the a…

The interstate agreement on qualification of education personnel is enacted into law and entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein, in the form substantially as follows: 1. The states party to this agreement, desiring by common action to improve their resp…

The “designated state official” for this state shall be the commissioner of elementary and secondary education. The commissioner is hereby authorized to enter into contracts pursuant to article III of the agreement in § 16-11-5.

True copies of all contracts made on behalf of this state pursuant to the agreement shall be kept on file in the office of the commissioner of elementary and secondary education and in the office of the secretary of state. The department of elementary and secondary education shal…

(a) The Rhode Island department of education shall, as part of its certification of qualified candidates, utilize and apply for available grants with the Troops to Teachers (TTT) program whose oversight is provided by the United States Department of Defense and managed by the Def…

(a) The department of elementary and secondary education (the “department”) shall establish a fast-track principal certification program. (b) The fast-track principal certification program shall include, but need not be limited to, the following courses: (1) School finance; (2) S…

The term “teacher,” as used in this chapter, is deemed to include every person employed as a teacher, supervisor, principal, or superintendent or assistant superintendent, of schools, whether employed in schools supported in whole or in part by public funds, or in colleges, or in…

Any teacher, school administrator, school guidance counselor, school psychologist, school drug counselor, school nurse, supervisor of attendance, attendance teacher, or attendance officer having reasonable cause to suspect that an elementary or secondary school student is abusing…

(a) Any board of education-approved educator evaluation system for tenured teachers shall include, but not be limited to, the following provisions: (1) Any teacher who obtains or earns a rating of “highly effective,” or a number “4,” or any equivalent thereof shall, subsequent to…

No member of the school committee of any town shall, so long as he or she continues in office as member of the school committee, be eligible or employed to teach as principal, supervisor, or assistant in any school supported entirely or in part by public money, or to serve as sup…

Every teacher shall aim to implant and cultivate in the minds of all children committed to his or her care the principles of morality and virtue.

At the opening of every school day in all grades in all public schools the teacher in charge of the room in which each class is held shall announce that a period of silence not to exceed one minute in duration shall be observed for meditation, and during this period silence shall…

On every September 11 in all grades in all public schools, a building administrator or a teacher may allow a brief moment of silence to be observed in memory of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

(a) Every teacher in any public or private school shall keep a register of the names of all the students attending the school, their sex and age, names of parents or guardians, the time when each student enters and leaves the school, and their daily attendance, and shall prepare …

The annual salary of any teacher employed on a full time basis in any public school shall not be less than twelve hundred dollars ($1,200).

The school committee of any town may, on reasonable notice and hearing, dismiss any teacher for refusal to conform to the regulations made by the committee, or for other just cause.

The school committee of the town of Cumberland in electing teachers shall elect to serve at its discretion all teachers who have served in the schools under its direction for the previous three (3) consecutive school years; provided, that the school committee of the town of Cumbe…

(a) No teacher as defined in this section shall be required to teach classes in any of the state institutions named in this section for a maximum of more than one hundred and ninety (190) days in any one school year. (b) The term “teacher” as used in this section is deemed to mea…

(a) The general laws which apply to certified teachers in the cities and towns shall apply equally to certified teachers in state schools. (b) The provisions of § 16-60-7.2 shall also apply equally to certified teachers in state schools.

Notwithstanding any prior ratification and validation by the general assembly of any home rule charter provision requiring that a public school department employee reside within the employing city or town, effective September 1, 2001, no home rule charter provision shall require …

The term “teacher” as used in this chapter means every person for whose position a certificate issued by the department of elementary and secondary education is required by law.

(a) Teaching service shall be on the basis of an annual contract, except as hereinafter provided, and the contract shall be deemed to be continuous unless the governing body of the schools shall notify the teacher, in writing, on or before March 1, that the contract for the ensui…

(a) Three (3) annual contracts within five (5) successive school years shall be considered evidence of satisfactory teaching and shall constitute a probationary period. Teachers who complete the probationary period shall be considered in continuous service and shall not be subjec…

(a) The statement of cause for dismissal shall be given to the teacher, in writing, by the governing body of the schools. The teacher may, within fifteen (15) days of the notification, request, in writing, a hearing before the school committee or school board. The hearing shall b…

(a) Section 16-13-4 shall not prevent the suspension of a teacher for good and just cause. Prior to the suspension of a teacher as provided in this section, the school committee shall hold a pre-suspension hearing to determine if a suspension is warranted, and at the pre-suspensi…

(a) A school board may, by reason of a substantial decrease of pupil population within its school system, suspend teachers in numbers necessitated by the decrease in pupil population; provided, however, that suspension of teachers shall be in the inverse order of their employment…

Absence from teaching because of serving one’s country shall not impair the continuing service status.

Any teacher in continuing service who voluntarily resigns and transfers to another community in Rhode Island without interrupting his or her professional career, shall be considered to remain under tenure unless the teacher is notified to the contrary, in writing, prior to March …

(a) Whenever a tenured teacher is terminated for good and just cause pursuant to § 16-13-3 by a school committee or the governing body of a charter or private school, the school committee or the governing body of the charter or private school shall, within sixty (60) days of the …

The state pension systems for teachers of public education have proved to be inadequate to meet the special needs of retirement during this period of sharply increasing costs of living. A completely adequate retirement system for teachers is an essential responsibility of the sta…