Title 16, Title 16 Title 16

(a) The general assembly shall make certain annual appropriations of state funds, for the purposes of adult education, as part of the total appropriations to the department, as prescribed in § 16-5-22. (b) The state controller is authorized to draw his or her orders upon the gene…

(a) The school committee of each district established pursuant to § 16-7-16(5), in order to insure that adults receive their adequate share of education programs and services, shall be encouraged to allocate local funds within its annual budgets to support appropriate activities …

If any provision of this chapter, or of any regulation issued under it, or the application of it to any person or circumstance, is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this chapter or of any regulation or application to other persons or circumstance…

This chapter shall be construed liberally in aid of its declared purpose.

(a) In selecting which tests shall be utilized and recognized by the state in the granting of high school equivalency diplomas, the board shall consider all available high school equivalency tests that meet and adhere to Rhode Island academic standards and shall give priority to …

(a) The general assembly, in accordance with the constitution of the state, R.I. Const., Art. XII, § 1, which obligates the state “to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education,” and also pursuant to R.I. Const., Art. XII, § 4, which requires it to “make a…

For the purposes of this chapter the following terms have the following meanings: (1) “Adult education” means all the concerns and activities within the definition in § 16-58-2; (2) “Board” means the board of regents for elementary and secondary education created pursuant to § 16…

The applicable provisions of the laws of the state or local governments, and of any regulations or policies arising from these, shall be construed to include adults and young persons as the recipients and beneficiaries of education; adults shall not be subject to compulsory atten…

Programs and services constituting adult education, as defined in § 16-58-2, shall be categorized and defined as follows: (1) Category 1. Basic education, which shall consist of efforts to alleviate illiteracy and provide opportunities for academic achievement up to grade twelve …

The board of regents, at its discretion, may assign the advocacy, coordinating, and communicative functions of adult education, as defined in § 16-58-2 and in this chapter, to an office of adult education within the bureau. The office may be headed by a coordinator of adult educa…

The functions of the office may include, but may not necessarily be limited to, the following: (1) The development of recommendations to the commissioner and the implementation of any approved recommendations, including: (i) The utilization of federal and state funds for any purp…

The department shall develop a state plan for adult education, which shall be a document containing: (1) current needs assessment data, (2) statements of the policies, procedures, regulations, and program activities contemplated for carrying out the intent of this chapter, and (3…

(a) Adult education throughout the state shall be delivered through the appropriate utilization of a combination of agencies, institutions, organizations, and other mechanisms and settings, including but not necessarily limited to the following: (1) The schools and other faciliti…

Except as provided by law or by agreement, a child shall be enrolled in the school system of the city or town where he or she resides. A child shall be deemed to be a resident of the city or town where his or her parents reside. If the child’s parents reside in different cities o…

(a) Children placed in foster care by a Rhode Island-licensed child-placing agency or a Rhode Island governmental agency shall be entitled to the same free, appropriate public education provided to all other residents of the city or town where the child is placed. The city or tow…

(a) An initial factual determination and designation of the residence of the parent(s) of a child placed in the care and custody of the state shall be made by the family court in accordance with § 33-15.1-2. The director of the department of children, youth, and families shall in…

(a) The city or town in which a foster home, group home, or other residential facility that does not include the delivery of educational services is located shall be responsible for the free appropriate public education of any child residing in those placements, including all pro…

A child shall be eligible to receive education from the city or town in which the child’s residence has been established until his or her residence has been established in another city or town and that city or town has enrolled the child within its school system, unless the commi…

In any proceeding where it is alleged that a child’s residence has been changed due to illness of a parent, the break-up of the child’s family, abandonment of the child by his or her parents, death of the child’s parents, or emancipation of the child, the party alleging the exist…

The appointment of a guardian of the person of a child pursuant to chapter 15.1 of title 33 shall not operate to change a child’s residence unless the child takes up residence with the guardian and unless the guardian has been appointed for a substantial reason other than to chan…

In cases where the director of a Rhode Island state agency considers it likely that a child under his or her care and control will be subject to a short term placement or series of short term placements, the director may petition the commissioner of elementary and secondary educa…

When a school district or a state agency charged with educating children denies that it is responsible for educating a child on the grounds that the child is not a resident of the school district or that the child is not the educational responsibility of the state agency, the dis…

When the family court enters an order pursuant to the provisions of § 33-15.1-2 vesting the right to control a child’s education with the department of children, youth, and families, that department shall be empowered to authorize and direct the transfer of public school pupil re…

When a student changes his or her residence during the course of a semester the student shall be allowed to complete the semester in his or her original city or town of residence. If the student is a senior or about to enter his or her senior year the student shall be allowed to …

Members of the general assembly shall be entitled to audit courses at state colleges and universities without the payment of tuition, fees, or charges. Admission into particular courses shall be limited to one course per semester per legislator and where space is available.

This chapter shall be known as the “Rhode Island School Staff Institute Act”.

The general assembly has found and declares that: (1) In-service education is different from pre-service education. Effective staff development programs are directed at educational improvements and also encourage the professional development of individual participants. (2) In-ser…

The Rhode Island school staff institute is created as a part of the department of elementary and secondary education.

The department of elementary and secondary education shall: (1) Establish policies and procedures for the institute consistent with this chapter. (2) Carry out the following responsibilities: (i) Receive, process, and approve requests for in-service education program grants; (ii)…

Institute program grants may be used to pay for consultants, materials, and certain incidental expenses when these are approved by the department of elementary and secondary education; they may not be used to pay for tuition, stipends, substitutes for participants, meals, confere…

(a) The school staff institute advisory board is created, consisting of the following seventeen (17) members: eight (8) school teachers, four (4) to be appointed by the president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and four (4) to be appointed by the president of the Natio…

The state of Rhode Island is committed to equal education opportunity for all citizens. To ensure the fulfillment of this commitment, all persons must have the opportunity to acquire the skills of literacy: basic reading, writing, speaking, listening, and mathematics skills. The …

(a) Activities under this section shall include strategies to improve the performance of students in mathematics, reading and writing, and to specifically address issues of dyslexia. Such activities must be founded on a scientific research base, as described in the No Child Left …

It is required that programs serving special population students be coordinated with the requirements of this chapter. All these programs shall focus on literacy objectives to the extent appropriate for each special population. All coordinating efforts shall not absolve participa…

(a) Funding of programs. The programs described in this chapter shall be funded as follows: (1) Screening for all children first entering school. This program shall be supported by an annual appropriation. All children first entering school will be screened. Allocations to school…

For the purposes of this chapter, an educationally disadvantaged student is one whose educational readiness or educational achievement is below average for his or her age or grade level in terms of specified expected outcomes in literacy: reading, writing, speaking, listening, or…

It shall be the duty of the board of regents for elementary and secondary education to establish and promulgate regulations for the purpose of carrying out the intent of this chapter.

A state advisory council shall be established by the department of elementary and secondary education. The council shall be composed of fifteen (15) members, to be appointed by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, and be representative of the population to be s…

This chapter shall be known as the “60/40 Funding of Public Schools Act”.

(a) In defining the percentage of state support to fund elementary and secondary education, the state’s share shall be defined to include appropriations for the following: (1) Chapter 4 of this title, Permanent School Fund; (2) Chapter 5 of this title, State Aid; (3) Chapter 7 of…

Each year the board of regents for elementary and secondary education shall make a report to the governor and the general assembly which shall include the following: (1) The percent of state support of public education for the last completed fiscal year. (2) The projected percent…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as “The Onward We Learn Scholarship Act”.

It is found and declared as follows: (1) Rhode Island must continue to develop the educational and career and technical skills of its students for its continued economic development, prosperity, and for maintaining and improving its quality of life. (2) The present and future wor…

The council on postsecondary education is empowered to establish and provide as part of the operation of the office of the postsecondary commissioner methods and procedures for the state’s support of the onward we learn scholarship and provide financial and technical assistance a…

The council on postsecondary education shall have the following powers and duties: (1) To prepare with the assistance of the commissioner of postsecondary education and to present annually to the state budget officer in accordance with § 35-3-4, as part of the state higher educat…

The general assembly shall annually appropriate any sums as it deems necessary as the state’s share for the support and maintenance of the onward we learn scholarship program, including operational and scholarship support, and the state controller is authorized and directed to dr…