Algebra, vocal music, agriculture, sewing, physiology, hygiene, physical and industrial training, and the elementary use of hand tools shall be taught, by lectures or otherwise, in all the public schools in which the school committee deem it expedient. The Bible shall be read in the schools without comment. Every town may, and every town containing 500 families or householders, according to the latest public census taken by the authority either of the Commonwealth or of the United States, shall, besides the schools prescribed above, maintain a high school, to be kept by a master of competent ability and good morals, who, in addition to the branches of learning before mentioned, shall give instruction in general history, bookkeeping, surveying, geometry, natural philosophy, chemistry, botany, the civil polity of this Commonwealth and of the United States, and the Latin language. Such high school shall be kept for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the town, ten months at least, exclusive of vacations, in each year, and at such convenient place or alternately at such places in the town as the legal voters at their annual meeting determine. And in every town containing 4,000 inhabitants the teacher or teachers of the schools required by this section shall, in addition to the branches of instruction before required, be competent to give instruction in the Greek and French languages, astronomy, geology, rhetoric, logic, intellectual and moral science, and political economy. After the first day of September, 1895, every city of 20,000 or more inhabitants shall maintain as a part of its high school system the teaching of manual training. The course to be pursued in such instruction shall be subject to the approval of the State board of education. Two adjacent towns, having each less than 500 families or householders, may form one high school district for establishing such a school, when a majority of the legal voters of each town, in meetings called for that purpose, so determine. The school committees of the two towns so united shall elect one person from each of their respective boards, and the two so elected shall form the committee for the management and control of such school, with all the powers conferred upon school committees and prudential committees. The committee thus formed shall determine the location of the schoolhouse authorized to be built by the towns forming the district, or if the towns do not determine to erect a house, shall authorize the location of such school alternately in the two towns. In the erection of a schoolhouse for the permanent location of such school, in the support and maintenance of the school, and in all incidental expenses attending the same, the proportions to be paid by each town, unless otherwise agreed upon, shall be according to its proportion of the county tax. Evening schools shall be maintained by towns having 10,000 inhabitants for the instruction of persons over 12 years of age in orthography, reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, drawing, history of the United States, good behavior, and such other branches as the school committee may deem expedient, and any town may establish such a school. Every town of 50,000 inhabitants must maintain an evening high school. Any town may, and every city and town having more than 10,000 inhabitants shall, annually make provision for giving free instruction in industrial or mechanical drawing to persons over 15 years of age, in either day or evening schools, under the direction of the school committee. Any town may establish and maintain one or more industrial (including nautical) schools, which shall be under the superintendence of the school committee, who shall employ the teachers, prescribe the arts, trades, and occupations to be taught therein, and have the general control and management thereof, but attendance upon such schools shall not take the place of the attendance upon public schools required by law. The school committees of cities and towns maintaining frce evening schools are hereby authorized to employ competent persons to deliver lectures on the natural sciences, history, and kindred subjects in such places as said committees may provide. Said committees are hereby authorized to provide cards or pamphlets giving the titles and names of authors of books of reference contained in the local public libraries on the subject-matter of said lectures. Text-books. - The school committee shall direct what text-books shall be used in the public schools, but a change in those in use may be made by a vote of twothirds of the whole committee at a meeting of the committee, notice of the intended change having been given at a previous meeting. The school committee shall purchase, at the expense of the city or town, the necessary text-books and other supplies and loan them to the pupils. Buildings. Every town shall provide and maintain a sufficient number of schoolhouses, properly furnished, hygienically arranged, and conveniently located for the accommodation of all the children therein entitled to attend the public schools; and the school committee, unless the town otherwise directs, shall keep such houses in good order, and shall procure a suitable place for the schools where there is no schoolhouse, and provide fuel and all other things necessary for the comfort of the scholars therein at the expense of the town. A town which refuses or neglects for one year to comply with the requirements of this section shall forfeit not less than $500 nor more than $1,000. Any school committee neglecting for four weeks after the receipt of an order from an inspector of buildings to provide the sanitary provisions required by law shall be fined $100. [See also under Schools; attendance, where the hygienic requirements are set forth in the compulsory school law.] Whoever willfully and maliciously or wantonly and without cause destroys, defaces, mars, or injures a schoolhouse or any of its appurtenances shall be fined $500 or imprisoned in the jail not exceeding one year. FINANCES. Funds (permanent or special).-Taxation.—The Massachusetts school fund. The present school fund of the Commonwealth, together with such additions as may be made thereto, shall constitute a permanent fund to be called "the Massachusetts school fund," the principal of which shall not be diminished, and the income, including the interest on notes and bonds taken for sale of Maine lands and belonging to said fund, shall be appropriated as follows [The fund is now nearly $4,000,000, and is increased annually by $100,000 from the State treasury until it shall be $5,000,000]: One-half of the annual income of the school fund of the Commonwealth shall be apportioned and distributed, without a specific appropriation, for the support of public schools, and in the manner following, to wit: Every town complying with all laws in force relating to the distribution of said income and whose valuation of real and personal estate, as shown by the last preceding assessors' valuation thereof, does not exceed $500,000, shall annually receive $300; every such town whose valuation is more than $500,000 and does not exceed $1,000,000 shall receive $250, provided that any such town for any year for which its rate of taxation shall be $18 or more on $1,000 shall receive $50 additional; and every such town whose valuation is more than $1,000,000 and does not exceed $2,000,000 shall receive $100; and every such town whose valuation is more than $2,000,000 and does not exceed $3,000,000 shall receive $50. The remainder of said half shall be distributed to all towns whose valuation does not exceed $3,000,000 and whose annual tax rate for the support of public schools is not less than one-sixth of their whole tax rate for the year, as follows: Every town whose public school tax is not less than onethird of its whole tax shall receive a proportion of said remainder expressed by one-third; every such town whose school tax is not less than one-fourth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion expressed by one-fourth; every such town whose school tax is not less than one-fifth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion expressed by one-fifth, and every such town whose school tax is not less than onesixth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion expressed by one-sixth. All money appropriated for other educational purposes, unless otherwise specially provided, shall be paid from the other half of said income. If the income in any year exceeds such appropriations the surplus shall be added to the principal of said fund. The income of said fund, appropriated to the support of public schools, shall be apportioned by the secretary and treasurer (who, as Commissioners of the School Fund, manage and invest it) in the manner provided, and paid over by the treasurer to the treasurers of the several cities and towns. No such apportionment and distribution shall be made to a city or town which has not maintained a school as required by law; or which, if containing the number of families or householders named in the law, has not maintained, for at least thirty-six weeks during the year, exclusive of vacations, a high school such as is mentioned therein; or which has not made the returns required and complied with the laws relating to truancy; or which has not raised by taxation for the wages and board of teachers, fuel for the schools, and care of fires and schoolrooms during the school year embraced in the last annual returns a sum not less than $3 for each person between the ages of 5 and 15 years belonging to such city or town on the 1st day of May of said school year. The income of said funds received by the several cities and towns shall be applied by the school committees thereof to the support of the public schools therein; but said committees may, if they see fit, appropriate therefrom any sum, not exceeding 25 per cent of the same, to the purchase of books of reference, maps, and apparatus for the use of said schools. The income of the Todd fund shall be paid to the treasurer of the board of education, to be applied by said board to specific objects in connection with the normal schools, not provided for by legislative appropriation. Moneys received by a county treasurer under the provisions relating to dogs and not paid out for damages shall in the month of January be paid back to the treasurers of the cities and towns in proportion to the amounts received from such cities and towns; and the money so refunded shall be expended for the support of public libraries or schools. In Suffolk County moneys so received by the treasurer of a city or town, and not so paid out, shall be expended by the school committee for the support of public schools. Taxation. The several towns shall at their annual meetings, or at a regular meeting called for the purpose, raise such sums of money for the support of schools as they judge necessary; which sums shall be assessed and collected in like manner as other town taxes. Any town may raise by taxation or otherwise a sufficient sum of money to be expended by the school committee, in their discretion, for the conveyance of pupils to and from the public schools. An Any town not maintaining a school of academic grade, but which arranges for such instruction in the school of another town, may pay the necessary transportation expenses of the pupil. RHODE ISLAND. 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM. State board of education.—Commissioner of public schools.-Town school committee.-Town superintendent. --District trustees.—Truant officers. State board of education. The general supervision and control of the public schools of the State and the enforcement of all rules and regulations necessary for carrying into effect the laws in relation thereto, with such high schools, normal schools, and normal institutes as are or may be established and maintained wholly or in part by the State, shall be vested in a State board of education, which shall consist of the governor and lieutenant-governor ex officio, and of six other members, one from each of the counties of the State, with the exception of Providence County, which shall have two members. Two members of the board of education shall be elected annually at the May session of the general assembly from each county, the term of whose member has expired, who shall hold office three years. Vacancies are filled in the same manner. The governor shall be president and the commissioner of public schools secretary of the board, which shall hold quarterly meetings, unless specially convoked by its president or secretary. The board may grant for the purchase of books in any free public library brary the sum of $50 for the first 500 volumes it obtains, and $25 for every additional 500 volumes therein, provided that the annual payment shall not exceed the sum of $500. It shall prescribe the character of books which shall constitute such library and regulate its management so as to secure the free use of the same to the people of the town and neighborhood. The board shall make an annual report to the general assembly. The members shall receive no compensation, but the expenses necessitated by the performance of their duties shall be paid after approval by the general assembly. Commissioner of public schools. The State board shall annually elect a commissioner of public schools, who shall devote his time exclusively to the duties of his office, and while unable to perform, the governor shall appoint a person to act as commissioner during the continuance of the disability. He may appoint a clerk to assist in the duties of his office, at an annual compensation not exceeding $750. He shall visit, as often as practicable, every school district in the State for the purpose of inspecting schools and of diffusing as widely as possible by public addresses and personal communication to school officers, teachers, and parents a knowledge of the defects and of any advisable improvements in the administration of the system and the government and instruction of the schools. He shall endeavor to secure uniformity in text-books and promote the establishment of school libraries, and shall report annually to the board of education upon the condition of education in the State schools, with suggestions for their improvement. Town school committee. - The school committee of each town shall consist of three residents of the town or of the same number as previous to the taking effect ED 94-69 of this act, divided as equally as may be into three groups, one group retiring from office annually. In a town abolishing all the school districts within its limits, the town school committee shall not be composed of more than seven persons. Vacancies are filled by the town council until the next annual election. The school committee shall meet at least four times in every year. A majority shall constitute a quorum unless the committee consist of more than six, when four shall be a quorum. The committee may alter and discontinue districts, locate all school houses, examine applicants for teachers, shall visit by one or more of its number every public school in the town at least twice during each term, once within two weeks of its opening and once within two weeks of its close, examining the register, schoolhouse, library, studies, books, discipline, modes of teaching and of improving the school. It shall make rules and regulations for the attendance and classification of the pupils, for the introduction and use of text-books and works of reference, and for the instruction, government, and discipline of the public schools, and shall prescribe the studies to be pursued therein, under the direction of the commissioner of public schools, and it may suspend incorrigible children. Where a town is not divided into districts, or shall vote to provide schools without reference to such division, the school committee shall manage and regulate such schools and draw orders for the payment of their expenses. Whenever the public schools are maintained by district organization, the committee shall apportion among the districts the town's proportion of the sum of $120,000 received from the State, and in addition at least one-fourth as much more from the town appropriati ation for the support of public schools; the remainder of the town appropriation and the moneys received from registry and dog taxes, from school funds, and other sources, shall be divided into two ea equal parts, one to be apportioned to the several districts according to the average attendance at the schools during the preceding year, the other to be apportioned at the discretion of the committee; provided always, that the total apportionment shall not be less than $180, and the district shall have reported in legal manner and form that one or more schools have been taught by a competent teacher in an approved building, that the "teachers' money" of the preceding year has been wholly used in paying teachers, and that the register has been properly kept and deposited. The committee shall make a report annually to the State commissioner and may reserve not more than $40 to defray the expenses of printing it. Superintendent of town schools. -The school committee of each town shall elect a superintendent of the public schools of the town to perform, under the advice and direction of the committee, such duties and to exercise such powers as the committee shall assign him, and to receive such compensation as the town may vote. District school trustees. Each district shall annually elect a moderator, a clerk, a treasurer, a collector, and either one or three trustees. The trustees shall provide and have the custody of the schoolhouse and other property, and shall employ one or more qualified teachers for every fifty scholars in average daily attendance; shall see that the pupils are supplied with books, and shall provide the same at the expense of the district on failure of parent or guardian to furnish them. Whatever compensation is received by the trustees must be paid by tax levied on the district, and may not be taken out of State or town appropriations. Truant officers. -The town council of each town and the board of aldermen of each city shall annually appoint one or more special constables and fix their compensation, who shall be truant officers, and who shall, under the direction of the school committee, inquire into all cases arising under the provisions of the compulsory attendance act or any ordinances made by the town or city appointing such officers, and shall alone be authorized, in case of violation of any of the provisions of this act or of any such ordinances, to make complaint therefor; they shall also serve all legal processes issued in pursuance of this act or of any such ordinances, but shall not be entitled to receive any fees for such service: Provided, however, That in case of the commitment of any person under the provisions of any section of this act or of any ordinance made in pursuance thereof, or for default of payment of any fine and costs imposed thereunder, such officer shall be entitled to the regular fees allowed by law for similar service. The truant officers and the school committees of the several towns and cities shall inquire into all cases of neglect of the duty prescribed by this act within their respective towns and cities, and ascertain the reasons, if any, therefor; and such truant officers or any of them shall, when so directed by the school committee, prosecute any person liable to the penalty provided above. 2. TEACHERS. Appointment and qualifications. Duties. Preliminary training. -Meetings. Appointment and qualifications. -No person shall be employed by any trustee to teach, as principal or assistant, in any school supported entirely or in part by the public money, unless he shall have a certificate of qualification signed either by the school committee of the town or by some person appointed by said committee or by the trustees of the normal school, the certificate to be valid for one year, if not otherwise specified, and may be revoked for cause. But no superintendent or school committeeman or trustee may teach in the schools of his town or district. The teacher must be of good moral character and aim to implant in the minds of children committed to his care the principles of morality and virtue. He shall keep a register of the scholars, their names, sex, names of parents or guardians, time of entry and withdrawal, daily attendance, and note by date the visit of a school officer. He shall also prepare the return of the district to the school committee of the town. Preliminary training. The normal school shall be under the management of the board of education and commissioner of public schools as a board of trustees. Tuition is free to State pupils having passed the required examination and given satisfactory assurances of their intention to teach in the State public schools at least one year after leaving the school. Graduates in the regular course shall, on recommendation of the principal, receive a diploma. Pupils having attended regularly one term, but living 5 miles distant from the school, may be allowed a sum not exceeding $10 for each quarter year for traveling expenses. The fund for such purpose, however, shall be limited to $1,500. Meetings. A sum not exceeding $500 shall be annually allowed to defray the necessary expenses and charges for teachers and lecturers and for teachers' institutes; and a sum not exceeding $300 shall be annually allowed, under the direction of the board of education, for publishing and distributing among the several towns educational publications, providing lectures on educational topics, and otherwise promoting the interests of education in the State. 3. SCHOOLS. Attendance.-Character of instruction. -Text-books. Buildings. Attendance.-Schools must be taught for at least six months by a qualified teacher in an approved schoolhouse. Every person having under his control a child between the ages of 7 and 15 years shall annually cause such child to attend for at least eighty full school days some public day school in the town or city in which such child resides; and while such child is not lawfully employed to labor at home or elsewhere said person shall cause such child to attend a public day school regularly during the days and hours that the public schools are in session in the city, town, or district where such child resides; and for every neglect of such duty the person so offending shall be fined not exceeding $20; provided, that if the person so charged shall prove or shall present a certificate made by or under the direction of the school committee, setting forth that the child has attended for the required period of time a private day school, approved by the school committee of such town or city, or that the child has been otherwise furnished for a like period of time with the means of education, or has already acquired the elementary branches of learning taught in the public schools, or that his physical or mental condition was such as to render such attendance inexpedient or impracticable, or that the child was destitute of clothing suitable for attending school, and that the person in charge of said child was unable to provide such clothing, or that the child has been excused by the school committee of the town in which such child resides, then such penalty shall not be incurred. For the purposes of this act the school committee shall approve a private school only when the teaching therein is in the English language and when the persons in charge of such school shall keep the record of attendance of the pupils thereof upon the blanks provided by the State, and shall render to the school committee a detailed report of the attendance of every pupil for any specified time; provided, that the request for such report is made in writing and sets forth that a pupil is suspected of irregular attendance or truancy, and when they are satisfied that such teaching is thorough and efficient; but they shall not refuse to approve a private school on account of the religious teaching therein. |