Title 16, Title 16 Title 16

The school committees of the several cities, towns, and school districts shall provide for pupils in the public schools in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) to be taught and be required to study courses that include instruction in career and technical education programs th…

(a) All children in grades one through twelve (12) attending public schools, or any other schools managed and controlled by the state, except as provided in § 16-100-3(d), shall receive in those schools instruction in health and physical education under rules and regulations the …

(a) The state shall establish pilot programs in communities of the several cities and towns to encourage and promote healthy weight and weight management in children. These programs shall incorporate a combination of exercise and nutrition plans that may include, but shall not be…

All children attending public schools, or any other schools managed or controlled by the state, that have elementary grades kindergarten through six (6) shall receive in those schools at least twenty (20) consecutive minutes of supervised, safe, and unstructured free-play recess …

(a) Any city or town may enact a municipal ordinance to provide that any specially designed physical education instruction that is provided as part of a student’s individualized education program (IEP) shall be open to all students choosing to participate; provided that, the stud…

The department of elementary and secondary education is empowered and directed to prescribe a course of study in fire prevention for use in the public schools of the state, dealing with the protection of lives and property against loss or damage as a result of preventable fire.

It shall be the duty of the department of elementary and secondary education, school superintendents, school committees, or other committees or persons having control of public schools in cities and towns to arrange for a course of study in fire prevention, and require its use in…

(a) Whenever there shall be twenty (20) students who apply for a course in the Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish language in any high school of the state, the school committee of the specific city or town shall arrange a course in Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish to be conducted by …

The commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall establish a program for uniform achievement testing of pupils in elementary and secondary schools in the state. Pupils attending public schools shall be administered tests under the supervision of the state department o…

(a) Every superintendent of schools employed in accordance with the provisions of chapter 2 of this title shall on or before September 15, 2022, and annually thereafter on or before September 15, complete a report on the progress and status of educational achievement and developm…

A change may be made in the school books in the public schools of any city or town or regional school district by a vote of a majority of all the members of the school committee, notice of the proposed change having been given, in writing, at a previous regular meeting of the com…

(a) The school committee of every community as it is defined in § 16-7-16 shall furnish upon request, at the expense of the community, textbooks to all students in grades K-12 in the fields of mathematics, science, modern foreign languages, English/language arts and history/socia…

The commissioner shall publish annually a list of textbooks in use in the public schools in the fields of mathematics, science, modern foreign languages, English/language arts and history/social studies to all students in grades K-12. The list shall be published for the purpose o…

There is hereby established a textbook reimbursement fund for which the general assembly shall make a specific appropriation. The department of elementary and secondary education shall administer the appropriation. School districts shall submit to the department of elementary and…

If any part of this chapter is, for any reason, declared void, the invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter.

(a) In any city or town where there is a child with a disability within the age range as designated by the regulations of the state board of education who is functionally limited to such an extent that normal educational growth and development is prevented, the school committee o…

(a) Unless expressly preempted by federal law, local education agencies (“LEAs”) shall obtain written parental consent before conducting an initial evaluation or making an initial placement of a student in a special education program of services. Except when the parent is unrespo…

No later than July 1, 2026, the department of elementary and secondary education (the “department”) shall promulgate rules and regulations consistent with the provisions of this section and § 16-24-1.1. No later than December 31, 2026, the department shall additionally review and…

Each city and town that contains fewer than eight (8) minors with intellectual or developmental disabilities may contract with another city or town for the education of the minors or may establish a special class pursuant to the previous provision with the consent of the board of…

Transportation shall be provided for all pupils attending a special class or suitable day schools.

Classes for children with disabilities as described in the regulations of the state board of regents for elementary and secondary education shall be provided for those children in all the state institutions and also in state operated and state supported facilities where children …

For the purpose of furnishing transportation and providing incidental expenses for the education of minors with intellectual or developmental disabilities, a center approved by the director of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals shall be decreed to be …

No school district shall pay to any provider of either health or educational services to children with disabilities under this title any charges in excess of the rate currently being charged by the provider to any other public or private purchaser for the basic services, includin…

(a) There is established within the department of elementary and secondary education an interagency transition council (the “transition council”) composed of: (1) The administrators or their designees of the following: (i) Department of human services — office of rehabilitation s…

(a) Every public school district shall, on the district’s website: (1) Post and maintain either a link to the website of the district’s special education local advisory committee (the “committee”), or provide the contact information for the committee; and (2) Post or otherwise li…

It shall be the duty of the state board of regents for elementary and secondary education to set up regulations for the purpose of carrying out the intent of this chapter; and the regulations shall also be applicable in the administration of all educational programs operated and/…

The school committee of every city and town shall annually ascertain, under regulations prescribed by the state board of regents for elementary and secondary education, in cooperation with the directors of human services and behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and h…

The school committee of each city and town shall provide for the transportation to and from school either within the school district or in another school district of the state for any child who has a disability in accordance with the regulations of the state board of regents for …

Wherever possible and practical two (2) or more cities or towns may organize in providing educational facilities in a district center for the children in the respective cities or towns who are in need of special care and individual instruction.

(a) The state shall make available to the communities a special education fund to be appropriated annually for allocation to the communities for noncapital expenses for special education of children with disabilities in accordance with the regulations of the board of regents for …

The term “minors with intellectual or developmental disabilities” means all children between the age of three (3) and twenty-one (21) who because of delayed intellectual development, as determined by an individual multidisciplinary evaluation, require specialized instruction appr…

The name of the institution previously existing under the provisions of this chapter as the Rhode Island Institute for the Deaf is changed to Rhode Island School for the Deaf, and shall be known as Rhode Island School for the Deaf. Where the words “Rhode Island Institute for the …

The board of regents for elementary and secondary education shall annually in the month of January make a report to the general assembly of the state and condition of the school, and a statement of all expenses incurred for salaries, maintenance, tuition, and other items of curre…

The board of regents for elementary and secondary education shall carry out the provisions of this chapter and shall make any rules and regulations governing the operation of the school that may be required.

(a) The 2009 general assembly, through the FY 2010 appropriation act, established a fee for a service program, also known as a tuition program, for the Rhode Island school for the deaf effective July 1, 2009 in accordance with the fee structure developed and implemented by the de…

The state board of regents for elementary and secondary education shall have supervision, administration, and control of the school for the deaf.

(a) The powers delegated and authorized in this chapter for the board of regents for elementary and secondary education and the department of elementary and secondary education shall be in addition to those previously authorized by any other general or public law. (b) The governa…

The board of regents for elementary and secondary education may admit any persons in the Rhode Island School for the Deaf as provided in § 16-26-7.

(a) All children of parents, or under the control of guardians or other persons, legal residents of this state, between the ages from birth to twenty-one (21) years, whose hearing or speech, or both, are impaired as to make it impracticable for this student to make progress towar…

(a) Each city and town may contract with the Rhode Island School for the Deaf to establish and operate programs for the hearing impaired. (b) When these programs are operated by the Rhode Island School for the Deaf, each participating city or town shall be assessed for the cost o…

Any child having attended the school for a time or course prescribed by the board, upon leaving the school, shall be entitled to receive a certificate of his or her proficiency from the board.

One or more public evening schools, in which attendance shall be free for persons resident in the city or town in which the school shall be located, and in which the speaking, reading, and writing of the English language shall be taught for two (2) hours on each of at least one h…

The truant officer or truant officers appointed by the school committee in compliance with the provisions of § 16-19-3 shall, under the direction of the school committee, inquire into all cases of irregular attendance or of failure or neglect to attend upon instruction in complia…

The general assembly shall annually appropriate any sum as it may deem necessary for the promotion of home and community classes in any city or town for instruction in the use of the English language, in the common rights and obligations of citizenship, and in the fundamental pri…

When in any city or town a class of twenty (20) or more persons has been organized in accordance with the provisions of § 16-29-11, the school committee shall provide a teacher for this class, and pay the expenses of instruction from the appropriation of the city or town for the …

Attendance upon any class shall not be obligatory, but where there is a day or evening school maintained by a city or town in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, no resident of the city or town under twenty-one (21) years of age shall be allowed to attend any class ex…