LB IRLF LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. GIFT OK , &ubfji& Received , IQO Accession No. 8-2-742- Cla * s No ' THE Public Statutes of Massachusetts RELATING TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ANNOTATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, INCLUDING THE LAWS IN FORCE JUNE, 1892. BOSTON : WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 POST OFFICE SQUARE. 1892. THE Public Statutes of Massachusetts RELATING TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ANNOTATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, INCLUDING THE LAWS IN FORCE JUNE, 1892. BOSTON : WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 POST OFFICE SQUARE. 1892. CONTENTS. PAGE Foundation of our Public Schools . 5_9 Statutes relating to Education, 10 Board of Education, 10-18 Teachers' Institutes and Associations, 19-22 The School Funds, 23-27 The Public Schools, . 28-52 School Registers and Returns, 53-57 The Attendance of the Children in the Schools, 57-C2 Employment of Children and Regulations respecting them C2-Cr, Truant Children and Truant Officers, 6973 Protection of Destitute and Abandoned Children, ...... 74 Miscellaneous Statutes, 75 76 Normal Schools, 77-80 State Scholarships, 81-84 82742 FOUNDATION OF OUB PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Lord Macaulay once said in Parliament: " Illustrious for- ever in history were the founders of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ; though their love of freedom of conscience was illimitable and indestructible they could see nothing servile or degrading in the principle that the State should take upon itself the charge of the education of the people. In the year 1642 they passed their first legislative enactment on this subject, in the preamble of which they distinctly pledged themselves to this principle, that education is a matter of the deepest pos- sible importance and the greatest possible interest to all nations and to all communities, and that as such it is, in an eminent degree, deserving of the peculiar attention of the State." [Speedi on Government Plan of Education, April 19, 1847.] ORDINANCE OF 1642. At a session of the General Court of the Colony of Massa- chusetts Bay in New England commenced on the 14th of June, 1642, the court, taking into consideration the great neglect in many parents and masters in training up their children in learning, ordered and decreed : That in every town the chosen men appointed for managing the prudential affairs of the same shall henceforth stand charged with the care of the redress of this evil ; and for this end they shall have power to take account from time to time of their parents and masters, and of their children, concerning thei*. calling and employment of their children, especially of their ability to read and understand the principles of religion and the capital laws of the country, and to impose fines upon all those who refuse to render such account to them when required ; and they shall have power to put forth ^apprentices the children of such as they shall find not to be able and fit to employ and bring them up. [Mass. Coll. Records, vol. 2, pp. 6-9.] 6 SCHOOL LAWS, [June, ORDIXAXCE OF 1647. The following ordinance was adopted Nov. 11, 1647 : It being one cbiefe project of that ould deluder, Satan, to keepe men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an unknowne tongue, so in these latter times by per- suading from the use of tongues, that so at least the true sence and meaning of the originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint seeming deceivers, that learning may not be buried in the grave of our fathers in the Church and Commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors : It is therefore ordered, that every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of 50 householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their towne, to teach all such children, as shall resort to him to write and reade whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in generall, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order the prudentials of the towne shall appoint; Provided, those that send their children be not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught in other townes ; And it is further ordered that where any towne shall increase to the number of 100 families or householders they shall set up a grammar schoole, the Master thereof being able to instruct youth so farr as they may be fited for the university. Provided, that if any towne neglect the performance hereof above one yeare, every such town shall pay 5s to the next schoole till they shall perform this order. [Mass. Coll. Records, vol. 2, p. 203.] The act of 1642 enjoined upon the municipal authorities the duty of making education universal, but not necessarily free. The act of 1647 made the support of public schools compulsory, and education universal and free. As this was the first law of the kind ever passed by any community of persons or by any State, Massachusetts may claim the honor of having originated the free public school. At this time it was ordered that every town of one hundred families, in addition to' its elementary schools, should establish and maintain a grammar school which should fit pupils for the University at Cambridge. In 1683 all towns of five hundred families were required to maintain two grammar schools and two writing schools. These were the principal laws establishing and regulating the schools during the colonial period. 1892.] CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS. EDUCATIONAL PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. In the Constitution of Massachusetts, adopted in 1780, is the following : [Chap. 5, sect. 2.] THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF LITERATURE, ETC. Wisdom, and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused gen- Duty of legis- erally among the body of the people, being necessary for the miguJrates in preservation of their rights and liberties ; and as these depend a U r foJj| re p or on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in further pro- the various parts of the country, and among the different orders public of the people, it shall be the duty of legislators and magis- SSSJjraefto, trates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish ^, rt ;^ VI1 , 1 ' \Z A IJf'ii, oUU the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries 508. 10'3 Muss 94 of them ; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools 97. and grammar schools in the towns ; to encourage private societies and public institutions, rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures and a natural history of the country ; to counte- nance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and punctuality in their dealings ; sincerity, good humor, and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people. [Amendments, Art. 18.] Xo PUBLIC MONEY TO BE USED FOR SECTARIAN SCHOOLS. ART. XVIII. All moneys raised by taxation in the towns School and cities for the support of public schools, and all moneys to"be appSed which may be appropriated by the state for the support of jhoois tarian common schools, shall be applied to, and expended in, no other 12 Allen, 500, schools than those which are conducted according to law, los'Mass. 94, under the order and superintendence of the authorities of the 96> town or city in which the money is to be expended ; and such moneys shall never be appropriated to any religious sect for the maintenance exclusively of its own school. [Adopted May 23, 1855] SUBSEQUENT ORGANIC LEGISLATION. In 1789 a general act was passed requiring every town to maintain one school for the term of six months, or two or more schools for terms of time that shall together be equivalent to six months, in which shall be taught orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography and decent behavior. At this time it was ordered that the towns be divided into districts for the purpose of facilitating the attendance of the 8 SCHOOL LAWS. [June,, children upon the schools. The schools were still to be under the direct control of the towns. It was further ordered that towns of two hundred families, instead of one hundred, as before, should constitute the mini- mum number for supporting a grammar school, and that teachers should have a certificate of good moral as well as intellectual character. In 1800 an act of the legislature authorized the selectmen of the towns to call district meetings at which the legal voters therein should raise money for build- ing school-houses, and for supplying them with all necessary furniture. In 1817 school districts were made corporations, and were empowered to hold property for the use of the schools. The final Act abolishing the district system was passed in 1882. In 1826 every town containing five hundred families was required to maintain a town or high school, which should differ from the old grammar school by omitting from its curriculum of studies the Latin and Greek languages. If the town contained four thousand inhabitants, it was required to maintain a higher grade of high school, in which the classic languages were to be taught. The school law of 1826 was the first to require towns to elect a town school committee. By a law passed in 1827, school districts were authorized to take care of their school-houses, and to contract with their school teachers. The Massachusetts school fund was established in 1834. On the 14th of January, 1837, in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, it was ordered that the Committee on Education be requested to consider the expediency of providing by law for the better education of teachers of public schools. On the 14th of April of the same year, a bill relating to com- mon schools was taken up, and the House resolved itself into a committee of the whole for the consideration thereof, and Mr. Winthrop of Boston, for the Committee on Education, reported that the said bill, with sundry amendments recommended by the committee, ought to pass, and the bill was ordered to a third reading. The report was as follows : u The Committee on Education, to whom wa*s referred so much of His Excellency the Governor's address as relates to education, and 1892.] NORMAL SCHOOLS. 9* to whom was also referred, ' The memorial of the Directors of the American Institute of Instruction,' and the petition of a convention of delegates from each of the towns in Plymouth County, and who were directed by order of the House, Jan. 14, 1837, to consider the expediency of providing by law for the better education of teachers, of the public schools of the Commonwealth, have carefully considered those subjects, and report thereon the accompanying bill : "Be it enacted, etc. "His Excellency the Governor, with the advice and consent of the coun- cil, is hereby authorized to appoint eight persons, who, together with the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, shall constitute and be denominated the Board of Education." One of the first acts of the Board was the establishment of schools for the special education of teachers. In 1839 two- normal schools were opened, one at Lexington, afterward removed to West Newton, thence to Framingham ; the other at Barre, afterward removed to Westfield. In 1840 one was opened at Bridge water ; in 1854, one at Salem; and in 1874, another at Worcester. A Normal Art School was established in Boston in 1873. Teachers' institutes were first established in. Massachusetts in 1846. 10 BOARD OF EDUCATION. [Chap. STATUTE LAW RELATING TO EDUCATION. PUBLIC STATUTES TITLE X. OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION AND REGULATIONS RESPECTING CHILDREN. CHAPTER 41. Of the Board of Education. CHAPTER 42. Of Teachers' Institutes and Associations. CHAPTER 43. Of the School Funds. CHAPTER 44. Of the Public Schools. CHAPTER 46. Of School Registers and Returns. CHAPTER 47. Of the Attendance of Children in the Schools. CHAPTER 48. Of the Employment of Children, and Regulations respecting them. CHAPTER 41. OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. SECTION 1. Board of education, how organized; term of office ; vacancies. 2. may take grants, devises, etc., in trust for educational purposes; to pay all monies to treasurer. Duty of treasurer. 3. shall prescribe form of school reg- isters, and of blanks for returns; transmit abstracts of returns, and report, to legislature. 4. may appoint secretary, who shall make abstracts, collect and diffuse information, etc. 5. Secretary shall suggest improve- ments, visit different places, collect books, receive reports, etc. 6. shall give notice and attend meet- ings of teachers, etc., and collect in- formation, etc. 7. shall send blank forms and reports to clerks of towns and cities. how du " SECTIOX 8. Compensation of secretary, and ex penses of office. 9. Board may appoint agents to make inquiry, etc. 10. Expenses of Board, how paid 11. Assistant state librarian may act as clerk. 12. Board to have management of nor- mal schools, and charge of expendi- tures of appropriations. 13. Statistics required of officers of schools and others respecting pupils, instruction, etc. 14. blanks for, to be prepared. 15. Institutions for instruction of deaf, dumb, and blind to report to the board. 16. With the approval of the board, deaf mutes, etc., may be instructed at the public expense. 17. Board to supervise their education, and report concerning the same, etc. SECTION I- The board of education shall consist of the organized; governor and lieutenant-governor, and eight persons appointed vacancies. ' by the governor with the advice and consent of the council, efstS^i. 1 ' each to nolcl office ei nt veai 's from the time of his appoint- ment, and one to retire each year in the order of appointment ; and the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall fill all vacancies in the board. 41.] MEMBERS OF BOARD. 11 The following list of the members of the Board, named in the order of their appointment, or connection with it, is com- plete to the present time : James. G. Carter. Emerson Davis. Edmund Dwight. Horace Mann. George Putnam. Charles Hudson. George N. Briggs. William G. Bates. John W. James. Elisha Bartlett. Heman Humphrey. Stephen C. Phillips. Barnas Sears. Edwin H. Chapin. Henry B. Hooker. Stephen P. Webb. Thomas Kinnicutt. Joseph W. Ingraham. John A. Bolles. George B. Emerson. Charles K. True. Mark Hopkins. Edward Otheman. Isaac Davis. Alexander H. Vinton. George S. Boutwell. Henry Wheatland. Hosea Ballou. Ariel Parish. Cornelius C. Felton. Alonzo H. Quint. William A. Stearns. Russell Tomlinson. Erastus O. Haven. David H. Mason. Edward Everett. Marcus Morton. John Davis. George N. Briggs. George S. Boutwell. Original Members. Edward A. Newton. Robert Rantoul, Jr. Thomas Robbins. Jared Sparks. Appointed Since. John P. Marshall. Emory Washburn. Abner J. Phipps. James Freeman Clarke. William Rice. John D. Philbrick. Samuel T. Seelye. George T. Wilde. Gardiner G. Hubbard. Alonzo A. Miner. . Henry Chapin. Constantine C. Esty. Edward B. Gillett. Phillips Brooks. Christopher C.Hussey. Charles B. Rice. Elijah B. Stoddard. Horatio G. Knight. Miss Abby W. May. Charles Francis Adams, Jr. Milton B. Whitney. Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Admiral P. Stone. Francis A. Walker. Edward C. Carrigan. Horace E. Scudder. Elmer H. Capen, Kate Gannett Wells. Alice Freeman Palmer. George I. Aldrich. Ex-Ojficiis. Governors. John H. Clifford. Emory Washburn. Henry J. Gardner. Nathaniel P. Banks. John A. Andrew. 12 BOARD OF EDUCATION. [Chap. Alexander H. Bullock. William Claflin. William B. Washburn. William Gaston. Alexander H. Rice. Thomas Talbot. John D. Long. Benjamin F. Butler. George D. Robinson. Oliver Ames. John Q. A. Brackett. William E. Russell. Lieutenant- Governors. George Hull. Henry H. Childs. John Reed. Henry W. Cushman. Elisha Huntington. William C. Plunkett. Simon Brown. Henry W. Benchley. Eliphalet Trask. John Z. Goodrich. John Nesmith. Joel Hay den. William Claflin. Joseph Tucker. Thomas Talbot. Horatio G. Knight. Byron Weston Oliver Ames. J. Q. A. Brackett. William H. Haile. GRANTS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. Board of edu- cation may take grants, etc., in trust, for educa- tional pur- poses, etc. Duty of treas- urer. 1850, 88. G-. S. 34, 2. SECT. 2. The board may take and hold, in trust for the commonwealth, any grant or devise of lands, and any donation or bequest of money or other personal property, made to it for educational purposes; and shall forthwith pay over to the treasurer of the commonwealth, for safe keeping and invest- ment, all money and other personal property so received. The treasurer shall from time to time invest all such money in the name of the commonwealth, and shall pay to the board, on the warrant of the governor, the income or principal thereof, as it shall from time to time require ; but no disposition shall be made of any devise, donation, or bequest inconsistent with the conditions or terms thereof. For the faithful management of all property so received by the treasurer he shall be respon- sible, upon his bond to the commonwealth, as for other funds received by him in his official capacity. TODD FUND. The only trust in the control of the Board under this section is the bequest of Henry Todd, Esq., late of Boston. The amount of this fund when it was established was $10,797.72. Its present amount is $12,100.00.. By the terms of the will the income is to " be applied in aid of the normal schools, of this Commonwealth, the same to be subject to no sectarian purposes or objects of a religious character." The Board applies the income of this fund to such specific objects in connection w T ith the normal schools as are not pro- vided for by the appropriations of the Legislature. 41.] KEGISTERS AND RETURNS. 13 REGISTERS AND RETURNS. SECT. 3. The board shall prescribe the form of registers to Board of edu- be kept in the schools, and the form of the blanks and inquiries prescribe for the returns to be made by school committees ; shall annually on or before the third Wednesday of January lay before the J]jj, 8 s f etc general court an annual report containing a printed abstract of 1837, 241, 2, said returns, and a detailed report of all the doings of the 1838, 105, 5- board, with such observations upon the condition and efficiency 5g 46> 223, 3. of the system of popular education, and such suggestions ^ 4 |- 2 3 4 9 - in regard to the most practicable means of improving and extending it, as the experience and reflection of the board may dictate. It is the duty of the Board of Education to prescribe a blank form of school register to be used in all the public schools of the State. The registers are to be sent to every town, and delivered to the committee by the town clerk, one for each school in the town. The committees are responsible for the registers after they are received, and it is the duty of the com- mittee to cause the registers to be faithfully kept in all the schools. The blank forms of inquiry sent to the towns to be filled out and returned, together with the reports of the school com- mittees, furnish the data from which the annual report of the Board to the Legislature is principally made. It is highly important that these returns should be accurate, as school legislation and the distribution of the income of the school fund are largely based on them. The school registers are to be retained by the school com- mittees. The filled-out forms of inquiry only are to be returned. SECRETARY AND His DUTIES. SECT. 4. The board may appoint its own secretary, who, raay ap - under its direction, shall make the abstract of school returns {JJfy * J^o*" required by the preceding section ; shall collect information sha11 make J abstracts, etc. respecting the condition and efficiency of the public schools 1837, 241, 2. and other means of popular education ; and shall diffuse as 1349! 215) i! widely as possible throughout the commonwealth information G< s> 34 > 4 - concerning the best system of studies and the best method of instruction for the young in order that the best education which public schools can be made to impart may be secured to all children who depend upon them for instruction. Under this section, Horace Mann, a member of the first Board of Education, was chosen its first secretary and served 14 BOARD OF EDUCATION. [Chap. Secretary shall suggest improve- ments, etc. 1849,215, 1. 1858, 61. G-. 8. 34, 5. from 1837 to 1848. His successor was Barnas Sears, who served till 1855. George S. Boutwell served from 1855 to 1860 ; Joseph White from 1860 to 1877. John W. Dickinson, the present secretary, was appointed in 1877. SECT. 5. The Secretary shall suggest to the board and to the general court improvements in the present system of pub- lic schools ; shall visit, as often as his other duties will permit, different parts of the commonwealth for the purpose of arous- ing and guiding public sentiment in relation to the practical interests of education ; shall collect in his office such school books, apparatus, maps, and charts, as can be obtained without expense to the commonwealth ; shall receive and arrange in his office the reports and returns of the school committees ; and shall receive, preserve, or distribute, the state documents in relation to the public school system. SECT. 6. He shall, under the direction of the board, give sufficient notice of and attend such meetings of teachers of public schools, of members of the school committees of the several towns, and of friends of education generally in any county, as may voluntarily assemble at the time and place designated by the board ; and shall at such meetings devote himself to the object of collecting information with respect to the condition of the public schools of such county, the fulfil- ment of the duties of their office by members of the school committees of all the cities and towns, and the circumstances of the several school districts in regard to teachers, pupils, books, apparatus, and methods of education, with a view to enabling him to furnish all information desired for the report of the board required in section three. SECT. 7. He shall send the blank forms of inquiry, the school registers, the annual report of the board, and his own annual report, to the clerks of the several cities and towns as soon as may be after they are ready for distribution. shall give notice and attend meetings of teachers, etc. 1838, 159, 1. 1842, 42. G. 8. 34, 6. shall send forms and re- ports to town clerks, etc. 1850,41. G. S.34, 7. See chapter 46, section 12, Public Statutes. SALARY OF SECRETARY. Section 8 of chapter 41 was repealed by chapter 227 of the Acts of 1885 and the following substituted : Compensation From and after January first, one thousand eight hundred and expenses and eighty-five, the secretary of the board of education shall 1849, 215', 2, receive an annual salary of three thousand dollars, and also four hundred dollars in full compensation for travelling . 34, 8. expenses, to be paid out of the half of the school fund appli- cable for educational expenses ; the incidental and other neces- gary expenses arising in his office shall be paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth. 1853 49 ^ 1876J no! 885, 227. 41.] AGENTS OF BOARD. 15 Since the election of the first secretary, in 1837, a uniform system of schools has been created, a comprehensive plan of collecting accurate school statistics has been established, six State normal schools for the professional training of teachers have been organized, and methods of teaching have been improved. In addition to these changes, laws have been passed requiring the use of a uniform method of selecting and examin- ing teachers, establishing uniform courses of studies for the different grades of schools, and a minimum time of attendance by the pupils ; the district system has been abolished ; super- vision by superintendents has been introduced and quite gen- erally adopted ; and there has been awakened in the minds of the people a deeper and more general interest in popular edu- cation. AGENTS OP BOARD OF EDUCATION. SECT. 9. The board may appoint one or more suitable Board may agents to visit the several cities and towns for the purpose of aS"*o inquiring into the condition of the schools, of conferring with t |! k in( i uir y' teachers and committees, of lecturing upon subjects connected !< es - I.*- , _ _ . . 1\.68. lool.ol. with education, and in general of giving and receiving mfor- ites. 1853, is. mation upon such subjects, in the same manner as the secretary S^s'.s^y 2 " might do if he were present. The authority conferred by the ninth section was first given to the Board of Education in 1850, and renewed in 1851, 1853 and 1857. The commissioners and the Legislature charged with the revision of the General Statutes saw fit to give to these transitory enactments the form of permanent law. The following named persons have served the State as agents of the Board : Nathaniel P. Banks. Charles W. Upham. Samuel S. Greene. Rodolphus B. Hubbard. J. T Burrill. Charles Northend. Horace James. Henry K. Oliver. Daniel Leach. Richard Edwards. Alpheus Crosby. A. R Pope. Cornelius Walker. B G. North rop. Abner J. Phipps. George A \V r alton. Eli. A. Hubbard John D Philbrick. John Kneel and. George II. Martin John T. Prince. ' Andrew W Edson Henry T Bailey G T Fletcher The agents at the present time are Messrs. Walton, Martin, Prince, Edson, Baile} r and Fletoner. 16 BOARD OF EDUCATION. [Chap. Expenses of board, how paid. 183 1838, 55. G. 8. 34, 10. Olerk. 1849, 155, 1. G. 8. 34, 11. Board to J87olo6. SECT. 10. The incidental expenses of the board, and the expenses of the members thereof incurred in the discharge of their official duties, shall be paid out of the treasury. SECT. 11. The assistant librarian of the state library shall act when necessary as clerk of the board. MANAGEMENT OF THE NORMAL SCHOOLS. SECT. 12. The general management of the several state normal schools shall be vested in the board, and moneys appropriated for their maintenance may be expended under its direction. BOARDING HOUSES AT THE NORMAL SCHOOLS. Chapter 384 of the Acts of 1891 provides : 1. The boarding houses of the state normal schools shall be under the general management of the state board of edu- cation. 2. The accounts of the boarding houses shall be kept under the direction of the auditor of the Commonwealth in accord- ance with the provisions of chapter eighty-seven of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven. RETURNS OF PRIVATE AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. Statistics re- quired of offi- -cers of schools and others respecting pupils, in- struction, etc. 1867, 123, 1. blanks for, to be pre- pared. 1867, 123, 2. U.S. Rev. St., 516. Institutions forinstruction of deaf, dumb and blind to report to the board. 1875, 118. SECT. 13. The trustees, officers, or persons in charge of all literary, scientific, or professional institutions of learning, incorporated, supported, or aided by the commonwealth ; of all reform schools, almshouses, or private educational institu- tions ; and all agents, guardians, or treasurers, to w r hom appro- priations are made by general statute or special resolve for the support of schools among Indians, shall, on or before the first day of June in each year, make a report in writing to the board, at the office of the secretary, of such statistics as the board shall prescribe, relating to the number of pupils and instructors, courses of study, cost of tuition, and the general condition of the institution or school under their charge. SECT. 14. The board shall prepare blank forms of inquiry for such statistics, and shall send the same to every such insti- tution or school on or before the tenth day of May in each year. In preparing said forms, reference shall be had to the requirements of the bureau of education, created by the gen- eral government. EDUCATION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB. SECT. 15. Every institution for the instruction of the deaf, dumb, and blind, when aided by a grant of money from the state treasury, shall annually make to the board such a report as is required, by sections sixteen and seventeen of chapter seventy-nine, of other private institutions so aided. 41.] DEAF AND DUMB. 17 SECT. 16. [Section 16 of the public statutes is repealed by chapter 239 of the Acts of the year 1888, and the following substituted] : Upon the request of the parents or guardians and with the approval of the state board of education, the governor may send such deaf mutes or deaf children as he may deem fit subjects for education, for a term not exceeding ten years in the case of any pupil, to the American asylum at Hartford in the state of Connecticut, the Clarke Institution for Deaf Mutes at Northampton, or to the Horace Mann School at Boston, or to .any other school for deaf mutes in the commonwealth, as the parents or guardians may prefer ; and with the approval of the With the ap- state board he may make at the expense of the commonwealth board! dL? 6 such provision for the care and education of children, who are S^c^ 6 both deaf mutes and blind, as he may deem expedient. In the certain insti- exercise of the discretionary power conferred by this act, no pubic 8 ex- distinction shall be made on account of the wealth or poverty JSTsn. -of the parents or guardians of such children ; no such pupil JjjjjjJ' |g- :shali be withdrawn from such institution or schools except isri.'soo.' with the consent of the proper authorities thereof or of the ISSG,' 241! .governor ; and the sums necessary for the instruction and sup- HH' HI' port of such pupils in such institutions or schools, including all travelling expenses of such pupils attending such institutions or schools, whether daily or otherwise, shall be paid by the 'Commonwealth : provided, however, that nothing herein con- tained shall be held to prevent the voluntary payment of the whole or any part of such sums by the parents or guardians of such pupils. Chapter 226 of the Acts of 1889 provides that, Upon the request of the parents or guardians, and with the approval of the state board of education, the governor may continue the schooling of meritorious deaf mutes or deaf children of capacity and promise, beyond the limitation of ten years, when such pupils are properly recommended therefor by the principal or other chief officer of the school of which they are members. SECT. 17. The board shall direct and supervise the educa- Board to su- tion of all such pupils, and shall set forth in its annual report educatton, eir the number of pupils so instructed, the cost of their instruction g"^^^}^ 4 and support, the manner in which the money appropriated by thejsame, etc. the commonwealth therefor has been expended, and such other isss', us! * information as it deems important to be laid before the general court. Pupils are now sent under the above sections to the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston, the Clarke Institution at Northampton and the American Asylum at Hartford, Conn. 18 BOARD OF EDUCATION. [Chap. EDUCATION OF THE BLIND. Chapter 118 of the Acts of 1885 provides that the Board of Education shall have the same supervision over the admission, and instruction of pupils in the Perkins Institution and Massa- chusetts School for the Blind that it now exercises over the instruction of deaf mutes and deaf children under sections 16 and 17 of chapter 41 of the Public Statutes. EDUCATION OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED. Section 3 of chapter 298 of the Acts of 1886 provides that the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded shall gratui- tously receive, maintain and educate in the school department such indigent feeble-minded persons from this Commonwealth as shall be designated by the governor upon the recommenda- tion of the secretary of the State Board of Education. Section 9 of the same act provides that the trustees of the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded shall annually prepare and send to the Board of Education a written or printed report of its proceedings, income and expenditures, properly classified, for the year ending on the thirtieth day of September, stating the sum appropriated by the Common- wealth, the sum expended under said appropriation, the whole number and the average number of inmates, the number and salaries of officers and persons employed, and such other infor- mation as the Board may require, and shall also once in three months make a report to said Board stating the number of inmates received and the number discharged during the pre- ceding three months, also the whole number then in the institution and the number of beneficiaries supported by the Commonwealth, together with such other information as the Board may require. Blanks for application for admission to these several institu- tions will be supplied, on request, by the secretary of the State Board of Education. 42.] TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. 19 CHAPTER 42. ACKERS' INSTITUTES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 1. Board of education to arrange for meeting of teachers' institutes. 2. Expenses of meetings, how paid. SECTION 4. County teachers' associations to. re- ceive twenty-five dollars for annual meetings. 3. Board to regulate length of session 5 ' Massachusetts Teachers' Associa- and expense. tion to receive tnree hundred dollars annually. SECTION 1. When the board of education is satisfied that ^f t a u c t ^ rs ^ in - fifty teachers of public schools desire to unite in forming; a ings of.' teachers' institute, it shall, by a committee or by its secretary, jg^j JJ; * *' or in case of his inability by such person as it may delegate, JJ 4 ^ 6 3 2 _- l appoint and give notice of a time and place for such meeting, and make suitable arrangements therefor. SECT. 2. To defray the necessary expenses and charges, expenses of, and to procure teachers and lecturers for such institutes, a sum 1846, a?,' 2,3. not exceeding three thousand dollars may annually be paid out J 854 ' 300 ' 3 ' of that half of the income of the school fund not apportioned {* es g - 1 3 8 . 50 - ^ 5 - for distribution to cities and towns. 1873, 292, i. SECT. 3. The board may determine the length of time length of during which a teachers 1 institute shall remain in session, and and expense. 1846, 99 2. what portion, not exceeding three hundred and fifty dollars, of 1849, 62'. the sum provided for in the preceding section, shall be appro- and the income of which, including the interest on notes and j|JJ M. bonds taken for sales of Maine lands and belonging; to said * fund, shall be appropriated as hereinafter provided. 1859 154 G- 8 S6 61 1866, 53.' HISTORY OF THE FUND. The Massachusetts School Fund was established by the Leg- islative Acts of 1834, chapter 169, providing that " all moneys in the treasury derived from the sale of lands in the State of Maine, and from the claims of the State on the Government of the United States for military services, and not otherwise appropriated, together with fifty per centum of all moneys thereafter to be received from the sale of lands in Maine, shall be appropriated to constitute a permanent fund for the aid and encouragement of common schools, provided that said fund .shall not exceed one million dollars." In 1854 (chapter 300) an important act was passed, providing for the increase of the fund by the transfer ' of such a number of the shares held by the Commonwealth in the Western Rail- road Corporation, as will, at the rate of one hundred dollars a share, increase the principal of said fund to the amount of one million five hundred dollars." Again, by chapter 154 of the Acts of 1859, it was provided in section 3, that " all the avails of the moiety of the sales of public 24 SCHOOL FUNDS. [Chap/ lands which by the provisions of the seventeenth chapter of the resolves of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven inure immediately to the use of the Commonwealth, and the use- of which is not otherwise provided for in this act, shall be added to the principal of the Massachusetts School Fund." Provision was thus made for the indefinite enlargement of the amount which the common schools would annually receive from the treasury of the State. Had this legislation been permitted to stand, the school fund would have been increased to the sum of five million of dollars, and thus the Commonwealth would have stood foremost in the Union in the provisions for the free and impartial education of her children. Up to this period the legislation of the State had been liberal and generous to the common schools, and to the general educa- tional interests of the Commonwealth. The first adverse act was in 1861, when by the gift of land in the Back Bay to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Boston Society of Natural History the sum of $232,790 was diverted from the fund, the fund which had been solemnly set apart and pledged for the support of the schools and for general educational purposes. But under the exigency of the case, and the necessity of providing means for the payment of the large sums raised by the State for recruiting and sending forward troops, in 1864, chapter 313, the Legislature created a fund by the issue of State scrip, not exceeding ten million dollars, to be called the Massachusetts Bounty Fund, and created a sinking fund for the payment. Towards this sinking fund the Legislature appropriated all the receipts from the sale of Back Bay lands, less the expense of commissioners and of filling and preparing the lands for sale, including the portion now by law made payable to the Massachusetts School Fund as soon as said school fund shall have reached the sum of $2,000,000. The whole amount paid under this statute into the school fund was $456,930.06, " or less than fifteen percent, of the estimated profits of the enterprise." The fund was increased in the year 1891 by the United States war claims collected, amounting to $12,043.75, and by United States direct tax of 1861, recently refunded, $696,107.88, a total of $708,151.63, making the present fund $3,665,761.88. The Massachusetts school fund thus enlarged 43.] COMMISSIONERS OF FUND. 25 will produce an income that will materially aid the small towns to which it is now limited, in supporting their public schools. The method of distribution of the income of this fund was first provided for by the Legislature of 1835, which method was amended by the Legislature of 1839, and subsequently in the years 1840, 1841, 1849, 1854, 1866, 1874, 1884 and 1891. Under the fourth section of this chapter the money distrib- uted by the State is held by the treasurers of the respective towns subject to the order of the school committee of each town. Three-fourths of the income must be applied by the committees to the support of schools, and the whole may be. The income received from the State is not subject to a vote of the town, nor is it necessarily divided in the same manner as money raised by local taxation. Under this section it becomes the duty of each town treasurer to open an account with the school committee, and to hold the funds received from the State subject to their order. The establishment of the school fund in connection with the organization of the Board of Education has wrought a refor- mation in the character of the public schools. Although it was not the purpose of the Legislature in establishing the fund to relieve the towns from the support of their schools, it was the purpose to furnish aid and encouragement. By furnishing this material aid the State established a necessary relation between its own control and the control of the towns over the manage- ment of the public schools. With the fund it is possible to obtain accurate and full re- turns, and to communicate to the Legislature and to the people all the material facts relating to the condition of the public schools. It enables the authorities to execute the school laws, and to establish a uniform system of schools throughout the Commonwealth. It greatly aids the towns in supporting such schools as the statute requires the towns to maintain. COMMISSIONERS OF THE FUND SECT. 2. The secretary of the board of education and the Commission- treasurer shall be commissioners, whose duty it shall be to invest and manage the fund, and report annually to the general court the condition and income thereof. All new investments 1866,53. of the fund, or of any part of the same, shall be made with the approval of the governor and council. 26 SCHOOL FUNDS. [Chap. Chapter 335 of the Acts of 1890 provides as follows : - SECTION 1. Any moneys which may hereafter be received into the treasury of the Commonwealth from the general gov- ernment, the disposition of which is not otherwise provided for, shall be paid into the Massachusetts school fund. SECT. 2. In investing the Massachusetts school fund there may be paid from any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated the premiums on any securities which may be purchased for said fund : provided, that the aggregate amount so paid shall not in any one year exceed the sum of fifty thou- sand dollars. DISTRIBUTION OF THE INCOME or THE FUND. Section 3 was repealed by chapter 22 of the Acts of 1884 and this was repealed by chapter 177 of the Acts of 1891, and the following, under which the distribution is now made, was substituted therefor : Distribution SECTION 1. One-half of the annual income of the school of one-half of income among fund of the Commonwealth shall be apportioned and distrib- Appropria- uted, without a specific appropriation, for the support of pub- ^ c scno l s an( l m ^ e manner following, to wit : Every town poses paid complying with all laws in force relating to the distribution of from other .. . half. Balance said income and whose valuation of real and personal estate, princu>a?? d t as shown by the last preceding assessors valuation thereof, 1874, 348, l, doeg not excee( j one-half million dollars, shall annually receive 1884, 22. two hundred and seventy-five dollars ; every such town whose valuation is more than one-half million dollars and does not exceed one million dollars, shall receive two hundred dollars ; and every such town whose valuation is more than one million dollars and does not exceed two million dollars, shall receive one hundred dollars ; and every such town whose valuation is more than two million dollars and does not exceed three mil- lion dollars, shall receive fifty dollars. The remainder of said half shall be distributed to all towns whose valuation does not exceed three million dollars 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 one-third 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 43.] INCOME APPLIED. 27 than one-sixth 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. SECT. 4. The income of said fund, appropriated to the sup- income, at port of public schools, which has accrued on the thirty-first ^ e apporf day of December in each year, shall be apportioned by the tio ed and secretary and treasurer in the manner provided in the preced- & 8. 36, 3. ing section, and paid over by the treasurer to the treasurers of the several cities and towns on the twenty-fifth day of January thereafter. SECT. 5. No such apportionment and distribution shall be Distribution made to a city or town which has not maintained a school as f Je required by section one of chapter forty-four; or which, if towns, etc. , J J . which do not containing the number of families or householders required by comply with section two of said chapter, has not maintained, for at least 1865, 142, i. thirty-six weeks during the year, exclusive of vacations, a high }gg' ^34' | \' school such as is mentioned therein ; or which has not made the returns required by sections six and eight of chapter forty-six, 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 school-rooms during the school year embraced in the last annual returns, a sum not less than three dollars for each person between the ages of five and fifteen years belonging to such city or town on the first day of May of said school year. How THE INCOME SHALL BE APPLIED. SECT 6. The income of said fund received by the several income re- cities and towns shall be applied by the school committees towns, etc., thereof to the support of the public schools therein ; but said (jjg*!^ C 4.' committees may, if they see fit, appropriate therefrom any sum, not exceeding twenty-five per cent of the same, to the purchase of books of reference, maps, and apparatus for the use of said schools. TODD NORMAL SCHOOL FUND. SECT. 9 The income of the Todd fund shall be paid to the Todd fund, treasurer of the board of education, to be applied by said board {^fJe^ 6 ?.* to specific objects, in connection with the normal schools, not 186 - 83 > 1< provided for by legislative appropriation. See chap. 41, sect. 2. 28 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap, CHAPTER 44. OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. SECTION 1. Each town to have school six months in a year. Branches to bs taught. 2. High school in towns of five hun- dred families. Branches taught. Duration of school. Towns of four thousand inhabitants. 3. High school districts in adjacent towns, how established. 4. Committee for union high schools. 5. to determine location of school- house. 6. Expenses apportioned. 7. Industrial and mechanical drawing to be taught free to persons over fifteen, etc. 8. Industrial schools ; expense of same ; no scholar to be compelled to study a trade, unless, etc. 9. Nautical schools 10. Union schools may be established by two or more towns. 11. how located, managed, supported, etc. 12. Schools for those over twelve years of age. 13. under the superintendence of school committee. 14. Female assistants. 15. Duty of instructors in colleges, etc. 16. of ministers and town officers. 17. Towns to raise money for schools. 18. Funds of corporations for support- ing schools not affected, etc. 19. Forfeiture for neglect to raise money, etc. 20. three-fourths of, to be appropriated to schools. 21. School committee, how chosen. Num- ber ; term of service. Women eligible. 22. Vacancies, how filled. 23. When whole committee decline, new committee how elected. 24. Term of service of person filling vacancy. 25. On election of new board, certain duties of old to continue. 26. Committee, how increased or dimin- ished. 27. records of ; secretary. 28. to contract with teachers, unless, etc. SECTION 29. Instructor to receive and file certifi- cate. When and how paid. 30. may be dismissed. Compensation to cease. 31. Examinations and visits by school committee ; purpose of visits. 32. Bible to be read in schools ; sectarian books excluded. 33. School committee to direct what books shall be used, and prescribe course of studies. 34. may change books by two-thirds vote of whole committee. 35. When change is made, new books to be furnished at expense of town, etc. 36. Committee to procure books, appa- ratus, etc. 37. for certain scholars at expense of town. 38. Expense of books so supplied to be taxed to parents, etc. 39. If parents unable to pay, tax may be omitted. 40. Text-books and stationery may be furnished to pupils by towns, etc., by vote. 41. Duty of committee where school is for benefit of whole town. 42. Compensation of committee. SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.' 43. Superintendent of schools, appoint- ment, duties, etc. 44. Towns may form a district for em- ployment of superintendent. 45. Manner of appointment, salary, etc. SCHOOL-HOUSES. 46. Towns not districted to maintain school -houses, etc. Penalty for neglect. 47. Location of school-houses. 48. Land may be taken for school-house lots ; damages, etc. 49. Owner of land may have jury. Pro- ceedings. Damages and costs . 50. Committee of town not districted to have charge of school-houses. 51. Provisions of chapter to apply to cities, except, etc. 44.] PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE. 29 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. SECTION 1. In every town there shall be kept, for at least Each town to J have school six months in each year, at the expense ot said town, by a six months in teacher or teachers of competent ability and good morals, a Branches sufficient number of schools for the instruction of all the ^ U ht o ,. tr. o oo, 5 1. children who may legally attend public school therein, in 1862, 7. orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, i876,*3, 'i. arithmetic, drawing, the history of the United States, and good behavior. Algebra, vocal music, agriculture, sewing, physi- ology, and hygiene shall be taught, by lectures or otherwise, in all the public schools in which the school committee deem it expedient. PURCHASE AND USE or HAND-TOOLS. This section is amended by chapter 69 of the Acts of 1884 by striking out the words " and hygiene," and inserting instead the words " hygiene and the elementary use of hand- tools," and in any city or town where such tools shall be introduced, they shall be purchased by the school committee at the expense of such city or town, and loaned to such pupils as may be allowed to use them free of charge, subject to such rules and regulations as to care and custody as the school committee may prescribe. PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE. Chapter 332 of the Acts of 1885 provides that " physiology and hygiene, which, in both divisions of the subject, shall include special instruction as to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics on the human system, shall be taught as a regular branch of study to all pupils in all schools sup- ported wholly or in part by public money, except special schools maintained solely for instruction in particular branches, such as drawing, mechanics, art and like studies. Ail acts or parts of acts relating to the qualifications of teachers in the public schools shall apply to the branch of study prescribed in this act, and all penalties now fixed for neglect to provide instruction in the branches of study now prescribed by law shall apply to this branch of study." By the term 4< regular branch," is meant one that is included in the list of those required by law to be taught. Formerly physiology and hygiene were optional studies. By 30 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. the act of 1885 they were introduced among the required branches. " All pupils in all schools," are all pupils in the primary, in- termediate, grammar and high schools of our system. The law requires physiology and hygiene to be taught to all pupils in all schools with special reference to the effects of alcohol on the human system. This branch of learning, is to be treated by school authorities as are all other compulsory topics of study. HIGH SCHOOLS. High schools SECT. 2. Every town may, and every town containing five in towns of five hundred hundred families or householders, according to the latest public tranche's census taken by the authority either of the commonwealth or of Q U | bt 3 ' 8 2 the United States, shall, besides the schools prescribed in the 1868, 226. preceding section, maintain a high school to be kept by a mas- ter of competent ability and good morals, who, in addition to the branches of learning before mentioned, shall give instruc- tion in general history, book-keeping, surveying, geometry, natural philosophy, chemistry, botany, the civil polity of this commonwealth and of the United States, and the Latin Ian- Duration of guage. Such high school shall be kept for the benefit of all Towns of four the inhabitants of the town, ten months at least, exclusive of * vacations, in each year, and at such convenient place or alter- 10 Metros 1 ' nate ly at sucn places in the town as the legal voters at their 11 Cusii. 178. annual meeting determine. And in every town containing four 98 Miss 589 thousand 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. PAYMENT or TUITION IN HIGH SCHOOLS. Chap. 363 of the Acts of 1891 provides :- 1. Any town not required by law to maintain a high school shall pay for the tuition of any child who with the parent or guardian resides in said town and who attends the high school of another town or city, provided the parent or guardian of such child before such attendance obtains the approval of the school committee of the town in which the child and parent or guardian reside. 2. If any town not required by law to maintain a high school neglects or refuses to pay for tuition as provided in the preceding section, such town shall -be liable therefor to the parent or guardian of the child furnished with such tuition, if the parent or guardian has paid the same, or to the town or city furnishiag the same, in an action of contract. 44.] EVENING SCHOOLS. 31 The "master" maybe either male or female. The term " may ? ' applies to both grades of high schools. The law estab- lishing the two grades named in this section was passed in 1826. Fifty-nine towns that have less than 500 families each are maintaining high schools ; 164 cities and towns are required to maintain high schools, 223 cities and towns are maintaining high schools. By the last census the population of the State is 2,238,943 ; the population of the towns supporting high schools is 2,120,279, or 94^ per cent, of the whole population. EVENING SCHOOLS. Chapter 174 of the Acts of 1883 provides : - 1. Every town and city having ten thousand or more inhabitants shall establish and maintain, in addition to the schools required by law to be maintained therein, evening schools for the instruction of persons over twelve years of age in orthography, reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, draw- ing, the history of the United States, and good behavior. Such other branches of learning may be taught in such schools as the school committee of the town shall deem expedient. 2 The school committee of such towns shall have the same superintendence over such evening schools as they have over other schools, and may determine the term or terms of time in each year, and the hours of the evening during which such schools shall be kept, and may make such regulations as to attendance at such schools as they may deem expedient. 3. Nothing contained hi this act shall exempt any person from the requirements of section one of chapter forty-seven of the Public Statutes. ILLITERATE MINORS. Chapter 433 of the Acts of 1887 requires that : 1. Every owner, superintendent or overseer of any manu- facturing, mechanical or mercantile establishment or who employs, or permits to be employed therein, a minor under fourteen years of age who cannot read and write in the English language, except during the vacation of the public schools in the city or town where such minor lives, and every parent or guardian who permits such employment, shall, for every such offence, forfeit not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, for the use of the public schools of such city or town. 2. (As amended by chap. 135 of the Acts of 1889 and chap. 317, Acts of 1891.) Every person who employs, or permits to be employed, a minor fourteen years of age, or over, who can- 32 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. not read and write in the English language, and who resides in a city or town in this Commonwealth wherein public evening schools are maintained, and is not a regular attendant of a day school, or has not attained an attendance of seventy per cent, or more of the yearly session of the evening school, shall, for every such offence, forfeit not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars, for the use of the evening schools of such city or town. 3. (As amended by chapter 48 of the Acts of 1890 ) When- ever it appears that the labor of any minor who would be debarred from employment under section two of this act and amendments thereto is necessary for the support of the family to which said minor belongs, or for his own support, the school committee of said city or town may, in the exercise of their dis- cretion, issue a permit authorizing the employment of such minor within such time or times as they may fix, provided, such minor make application to said school committee, or some per- son duly authorized by said committee, for such a permit before the opening of the yearly session of the evening school of said city or town ; and the provisions of said section two shall not apply to such minor so long as said permit is in force ; provided, also, that if such minor has been prevented by sick- ness or injury from attending said evening school, as provided in said section two as amended by chapter one hundred and thirty-five of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty- nine, the school committee shall issue to such minor the permit provided for in this section, upon the presentation of the fol- lowing blank properly filled and signed : To the School Committee of the : I hereby certify that I have attended from to ; that said was sick or injured with ; and that said was not in suitable physical condition to attend evening school for the term of days. (Signed) Attending Physician. [Dated] The school committee of every city or town in this Com- monwealth wherein public evening schools are maintained .shall furnish blanks described in the foregoing paragraph upon application. 4. Two weeks next before the opening of each term of the evening schools, the school committee shall, by posters posted .in three or more public places of said city or town, give notice of the location of said schools, the date of the commencement of the term, the evenings of the week during which said schools shall be kept, the provisions of section two of this act as to forfeiture for non-compliance with said section, and such reg- ulations as to attendance as they shall deem proper. 44.] HIGH SCHOOLS. 33 EVENING HIGH SCHOOLS. Chapter 236 of the Acts of 1886 provides that : 1. Every city of fifty thousand or more inhabitants shall es- tablish and thereafter annually maintain an evening high school in which shall be taught such branches of learning as the school committee thereof may deem expedient, whenever fifty or more residents, fourteen years of age or over, who desire and, in the opinion of the school committee, are competent to pursue high .school studies, shall petition in writing for an evening high school and certify that they desire to attend such school. 2. The school committee shall have the same superintend- ence over such schools as they have over day schools ; may determine the term or terms of time in each year and the hours of the evening during which such schools shall be kept, and may make such regulations as to attendance thereat as they may deem proper. UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICTS. SECT. 3. Two adjacent towns, having each less than five High school hundred families or householders, may form one high school adjacent in district for establishing such a school as is contemplated in the towns, how established. preceding section, when a majority or the legal voters of each 1848, 279, i. town, in meetings called for that purpose, so determine. 103 Mass. 99. SECT. 4. The school committees of the two towns so united Committee, , , . how chosen. shall elect one person from each ot their respective boards, Powers, .and the two so elected shall form the committee for the man- GJS.^.'H.' agement and control of such school, with all the powers con- ferred upon school committees and prudential committees. SECT. 5. The committee thus formed shall determine the to deter- location of the school-house authorized to be built by the towns ^schoof U D forming the district, or, if the towns do not determine to erect n U8e - a house, shall authorize the location of such school alternately Gr. 8., 3*', 5. in the two towns. SECT. 6. In the erection of a school-house for the perma- Expenses ne4r location of such school, in the support and maintenance 1848^279! 4. of the school, and in all incidental expenses attending the G - 8 ' 38 6 ' same, the proportions to be paid by each town, unless other- wise agreed upon, shall be according to its proportion of the county tax. INDUSTRIAL AND MECHANICAL DRAWING. SECT. 7. Any town may, and every city and town having Industrial and more than ten thousand inhabitants shall, annually make pro- d^wTng'to 1 be vision for giving free instruction in industrial or mechanical tau 8 nt free to persons over drawing to persons over fifteen years of age, in either day or fifteen years evening schools, under the direction of the school committee. 1870^248, 2. 34 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. Industrial schools may be established by towns.etc., under super intendency of school com- mittee. 1872, 86. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. SECT. 8. A town may establish and maintain one or more industrial 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 they shall not expend for any such school an amount exceeding the appropriation specifically made therefor, and shall not compel any scholar to study any trade, art, or occupation without the consent of his parent or guardian ; and attendance upon such school shall not take the place of the attendance upon public schools required by law. Cities and towns may establish nau- 8h 8 re j 5 9 NAUTICAL SCHOOLS. SECT. 9. A town may establish and maintain, upon shore or . . , upon ships or other vessels at the option of the school com- m ittee, one or more schools for training young men or boys in nautical duties ; such schools shall be subject to the provi- sions of the preceding section, except that the school committee may excuse boys attending such nautical schools from attend- ance on other schools. Union schools may be estab- lished by two or more towns. 1868, 278, 1. how man- aged, located, supported, etc 1868, 278, 2. 103 Mass. 99. UNION SCHOOLS. SECT. 10. Two or more towns may, by a vote of a major- ity of the legal voters in each town, unite in establishing union schools for the accommodation of such contiguous portions of each as shall be mutually agreed upon. SECT. 11. The management and control of such schools, the location of the same or of the school-houses therefor, and ihe apportionment of the expenses of erecting such school-houses and of the support and maintenance of said schools, with all expenditures incident to the same, shall be governed by the provisions of sections four, five and six. Schools may be maintained for those over twelve years of age. G. 8. 38, 7. 1869, 305. 10 Allen, 149. Schools to be under super- intendence of committee. G. S.38, 8. SCHOOLS FOR PERSONS OVER TWELVE YEARS OLD. SECT. 12. A town may establish and maintain, in addition to the schools required bylaw to be maintained therein, schools for the education of persons over twelve years of age ; may determine the term or terms of time in each year and the hours of the day or evening during which said school shall be kept; and may appropriate such sums of money as may be necessary for the support thereof. SECT. 13. When a school is so established, the school com- mittee shall have the same superintendence over it as they have over other schools, and shall determine what branches of learn- ing may be taught therein. 44.] MORAL INSTRUCTION. 35 FEMALE ASSISTANTS. SECT. 14. In every public school having an average of fifty Female assist- scholars, the school district or town to which such school be- Jfj^ 38> 9 . longs, shall employ one or more female assistants, unless such district or town votes to dispense with such assistant. It would be well for the schools if the wise provision made by this statute was always observed. Great waste will be produced whenever a larger number of pupils than can be well taught are assigned to one teacher. Forty pupils is the maxi- mum number. MORAL INSTRUCTION. SECT. 15. It shall be the duty of the president, professors, Duty of in- and tutors of the university at Cambridge and of the several co iieges, etc. colleges, of all preceptors and teachers of academies, and of GL s. 38, 127 all other instructors of youth, to exert their best endeavors to GL s. 38, 10. 12 Allen 1 impress on the minds of children and youth committed to their care and instruction the principles of piety and justice and a sacred regard to truth ; love of their country, humanity, and universal benevolence ; sobriety, industry and frugality ; chastity, moderation and temperance ; and those other virtues which are the ornament of human society and the basis upon which a republican constitution is founded ; and it shall be the duty of such instructors to endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear understanding of the tendency of the above-mentioned virtues to preserve and perfect a republican constitution and secure the blessings of liberty as well as to promote their future happiness, and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices. SECT. 16. The resident ministers of the gospel, the select- Dutyofminie- , i . . -, ters an< i town men and the school committees shall exert their influence and officers. use their best endeavors that the youth of their towns shall 101 Maes. 143*. regularly attend the schools established for their instruction. These provisions of the statutes contain an emphatic ex- pression of the will of the people concerning the introduction of the moral element into all our public instruction. By it the teachers of science, as well as of religion, are enjoined to train the young under their care to the practice of every virtue. This provision, sanctioned and enforced by the popular will, has produced a most marked effect upon the spirit of our educa- tional institutions. 36 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. Towns to raise money tor Hchools. G. S. 38, 12. 10 Met. 513. TOWNS TO RAISE MONEY FOR SCHOOLS. SECT. 17. The several towns shall at their annual meet- ings, or at a regular meeting called for the purpose, raise such sums of money for the support of schools as they judge neces- sary ; which sums shall be assessed and collected in like man- ner as other town taxes. School funds of corpora- tions not affected, etc. G. S.38, 13. Forfeiture for neglect to raise money, etc. G. 8. 38, 14. 11 Cush. 178. Forfeiture, three-fourths of, appropri- ated to schools. G-. S. 38, 15. SCHOOL FUNDS OF CORPORATIONS SECT. 18. Nothing contained in this chapter shall affect the right of any corporation established in a town to manage any estate or funds given or obtained for the purpose of supporting schools therein, or in any wise affect such estate or funds. PENALTY FOR REFUSAL OR NEGLECT TO RAISE MONEY. SECT. 19. A town which refuses or neglects to raise money for the support of schools as required by this chapter shall for- feit a sum equal to twice the highest sum ever before voted for the support of schools therein. A town which refuses or neglects to choose a school committee to superintend its schools, or to choose prudential committees in the several dis- tricts, when it is its duty to choose such prudential committees, shall forfeit not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars to be paid into the treasury of the county. SECT. 20. Three-fourths of any forfeiture so paid shall be paid by the county treasurer to the school committee, if any, otherwise to the selectmen of the town from which it is recov- ered, who shall apportion and appropriate the same to the sup- port of the schools of such town in the same manner as if it had been regularly raised by the town for that purpose. By the seventeenth section the towns are required to raise such sums of money for the support of schools as they judge necessary. The town is to judge of the needed expenditure. The annual report of the school committee will furnish the data on which the judgment of the town is to be based. An estimate of the amount of money needed to carry on the schools for the year should be made by the committee and presented to the town at its annual meeting. It would be well to make the estimate in detail as follows : 1. For support of schools, including wages and board of teachers, fuel, care of fires and school-rooms. 2. Repairs. 44. J SCHOOL COMMITTEES. 37 3. Apparatus, books of reference, text books, superintendence, convey- ance of children, etc. 4. Incidentals, as school-room supplies, pails, brooms, crayons, erasers, etc. The towns have authority to raise money for the support of all schools that may properly be called town schools. See decision below. The court are of the opinion, that the provision in the statutes which pro- vides the small amount of schooling which towns are compelled to provide for under a penalty, is not a definition or limit of the public schools which they have authority to provide for by taxation ; but that the provision is to be taken in connection with the broader power given to towns to grant and vote money, as they shall judge necessary, for the support of schools, and also with the whole course of policy and of legislation upon the same sub- ject. This power is to be exercised in good faith, for the support of " town schools, 11 as that term is well known and understood, for the general bene- fit, and not colorably for the promotion of other and different objects. Mctcalf, vol. 10, page 520. In the case of The Commonwealth v. The Inhabitants of Sheffield (11 Cushing, 178), it was held that the offence contemplated by the statutes on which the nineteenth and twentieth sections of this chapter are founded, could be com- mitted only once a year that the calendar year is intended. CONVEYANCE OF PUPILS. Chapter 132 of the Acts of 1869 provides that any town in the Commonwealth may raise by taxation or otherwise, and appropriate money to be expended by the school committee in their discretion, in providing for the conveyance of pupils to and from the public schools. ELECTION AND GENERAL POWERS OF SCHOOL COMMITTEES. SECT. 21 Every town shall, at its annual meeting, or at a School com- meeting appointed and notified by the selectmen for the pur- Siosen', etc* pose and held in the same month in which the annual meeting e^gif occurs, choose by written ballots a school committee, which G - 8. 38, 16. shall have the general charge and superintendence of all the 1879^ 223! public schools in the town. Said committee shall consist of any number of persons divisible by three which said town has decided to elect, one-third thereof to be elected annuallv, and 10 Alien, 149. i ^ >T -, -, 12 Allen, 127. to continue in office three years. No person shall be deemed 101 Mass. 143. to be ineligible to serve upon a school committee by reason of ^5 Mass'. Saj sex. If a town fails or neglects to choose such committee, an 602 \ 116 Mass. 36o. election at a subsequent meeting shall be valid. 38 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. The school law of 1826, chapter 170, section 1, first required towns to elect a school committee. By the statutes of 1827, chapter 143, section 5, every town was required to elect three, five, or seven persons, and towns containing four thousand inhabitants were empowered to choose an additional number not exceeding five. The act of 1857, chapter 270, changed the number to three or some multiple of three, and each member after the first elec- tion was to hold office for three years. By this section the committee have general charge and super- intendence of the schools. The school committee of a town are to determine what is a " sufficient number " of schools for a town to maintain. Chief Justice Shaw uses the following language : There being no specific direction how schools shall be organized ; how many schools shall be kept ; what shall be the qualifications for admission to the schools ; the age at which children may enter ; the age to which they may continue, these must all be regulated by the committee, under their power of general superintendence. The power of general superintendence vests a plenary authority in the committee to arrange, classify, and distribute pupils, in such a manner as they think best adapted to their general proficiency and welfare. If they should judge it expedient to have a grade of schools for children from seven to ten, and another for those from ten to fourteen, it would seem to be within their authority to establish such schools ; so to separate male and female pupils into different schools. In the absence of special legislation on this subject, the law has vested the power in the committee to regulate the system of distribu- tion and classification ; and when this power is reasonably exercised, without being abused or perverted by colorable pretences, the decision of the committee must be deemed conclusive. 5 Gush. 207, 208, 209. It is competent for teachers, with the approval of the school committee, to require pupils to prepare other exercises and to pursue other studies than those named in this section, if they are clearly included in those required, as composition-writ- ing is included in orthography and in grammar. The general school committee of a city or town have power, under the laws of this Commomvealth, in order to maintain the purity and discipline of the public schools, to exclude there- 44.] VACANCIES IN COMMITTEES. 39 from a child whom they deem to be of a licentious and im- moral character, although such character is not manifested by any acts of licentiousness or immorality within the school. 8 Cush. 160. The school committee has authority, not subject to revision if exercised in good faith, to exclude a pupil from a public school for misconduct which injures its discipline and management ; and the expulsion of such a pupil from the school by a part of the committee, unanimously ratified afterwards by the full com- mittee, is not an irregularity in the exercise of the authority, which gives the pupil a right of action against the town. 105 Mass. 475. FILLING VACANCIES IN COMMITTEE. SECT. 22. If a person elected a member of the school com- Vacancies, mittee, after being duly notified of his election in the manner Q.B.M,IT. in which town officers are required to be notified, refuses or neglects to accept said office, or if a member of the committee declines further service, or, from change of residence or other- wise, becomes unable to attend to the duties of the committee, the remaining members shall, in writing, give notice of the fact to the selectmen of the town, or to the mayor and aldermen of the city, and the two boards shall thereupon, after giving public notice of at least one week, proceed to fill such vacancy ; and a majority of the ballots of persons entitled to vote shall be necessary to an election. SECT. 23. If all the persons elected members of the school When whole , committee oommittee, after such notice of their election, refuse or neglect decline, new to accept the office, or having accepted afterwards decline fur- Jow'eieSed. ther service, or become unable to attend to the duties of the GLS.38, 18. committee, the selectmen or the mayor and aldermen shall, .after giving like public notice, elect by ballot a new committee, and the votes of a majority of the entire board of selectmen, or of the mayor and aldermen, shall be necessary to an election. To constitute a valid election, in case of vacancy, the per- son elected must have received a number of votes equal to a majority of all the persons entitled to vote ; that is, if there were in a town five selectmen and five remaining members of the school committee, there would be ten persons entitled to vote ; and six votes would be necessary to an election, even though only eight, or seven, or six votes should be cast. The same rule also applies when, under the authority given in the 40 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. twenty-third section, the mayor and aldermen of a city or the= selectmen of a town proceed to elect an entire board of school committee. An article " to choose all necessary town officers" is notice only of those elections that are provided for by the standing laws. Hence it follows that vacancies occurring after the warrant for the annual election is issued, and before tlie election is held, cannot be filled at that meeting. In such case the vacancy must be filled by the convention provided for in the twenty-second and twenty-third sections of this chapter. The following case w^as once submitted to the department : The annual meeting of a town was held on the fifth of March. Before the election of members of the school committee, the meeting adjourned to the first Monday of April. About the twentieth of March a member of the school committee resigned. On the twenty-seventh of March the remaining members of the committee and the selectmen, after ffivinsj due notice, elected a G O person to fill the vacancy. At the meeting in April, it being an adjournment of the March meeting, and acting under an article in the warrant ' ' to choose all necessary town officers," the town elected a different, person to fill the vacancy. The attorney-general gave an opin- ion that the election by the town was not valid, and that the person elected in convention was entitled to the seat. Term of ser- SECT. 24. The term of service of every member elected in vice of person filling va- pursuance of the provisions of the two preceding sections shall G^sf 'as, 19. end with the municipal or official year in which he is chosen ; and if the vacancy which he was elected to fill was for a* longer period, it shall, at the first annual election after the occurrence of the vacancy, be filled in the manner prescribed for original elections of the school committee. OLD BOARD TO MAKE RETURNS. On election of SECT 25. All the members of the school committee shall new board, . certain duties continue in office for the purpose ot superintending the winter tinue. ( terms of the several schools, and of making and transmitting issf ill ^ 2 ^ e cei *tificate, returns, and report of the committee, notwith- standing the election of any successor at the annual meeting ; but for all other duties, the term of office shall commence im- mediately after election ; except that, in cities where no differ- ent provision has been specifically made, the term of office of members of the school committee shall commence at the time provided in regard to members of the several city councils. 44.] INCREASE OF COMMITTEES. 41 INCREASING OR DIMINISHING COMMITTEE. SECT. 2G. A town may, at its annual meeting, vote to in- Committee, crease or diminish the number of its school committee. Such Jr ^dimShed increase shall be made by adding one or more to each class, to Q " m 8< 38 > 21> hold office according to the tenure of the class to which they are severally chosen. Such diminution shall be made by choosing, annually, such number as will in three years effect it, and a vote to diminish shall remain in force until the dimi- nution under it is accomplished. By this statute a town may increase its school committee by adding an equal number to each of its three classes, and this may be done at any annual meeting named for that purpose. It will, however, require three years to effect a diminution, as members once duly elected cannot be deprived of their offices. During the time required to make the diminution, it may occur that the committee will not always consist of some multiple of three . SECT. 27. The school committee shall appoint a secretary Committee, .. . records of; and keep a permanent record book, in which all its votes, secretary, orders, and proceedings shall by him be recorded. riG^ias^. 365." SECT. 28. The school committee, [unless the town at its an- 145 Ma88 - 555 - to contract nual meeting determines that the duty may be performed by with teachers, the prudential committee], shall select and contract with the G. S. 38, *23. teachers of the public schools; shall require full and satis- * Sfen^M.' factory evidence of the good moral character of all teachers 98 Mass. 587. who may be employed ; and shall ascertain, by personal ex- amination, their qualifications for teaching, and their capacity for the government of schools. (The clause in the above section enclosed in brackets is ren- dered void by chapter 219 of the Acts of 1882, which abolished the school district system.) NORMAL SCHOOL DIPLOMAS IN LIEU OF CERTIFICATES, Chapter 159 of the Acts of 1891 provides that- The diplomas granted by the State normal schools of this Commonwealth to the graduates of such schools may be accepted by the school committees of towns and cities in lieu of the personal examination required by section twenty-eight of chapter forty-four of the Public Statutes. 42 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. TENURE or OFFICE. Chapter 313 of the Acts of 1886 provides that the school committee of any city or town may elect any duly qualified person to serve as a teacher in the public schools of such city or town during the pleasure of such committee : provided, such person has served as a teacher in the public schools of such city or town for a period of not less than one year. SELECTION AND EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS. The duty indicated in the twenty-eighth section is the most important one which the school committee is called to perform. It is necessary that the schools shall be supplied with good teachers ; for, whatever may be done by external agencies, a good school will never exist until it is created by a good teacher. The committee are to find such teachers by examination. The most satisfactory examination will be made by observing a teacher at his work. If this cannot be done, the candidate may be examined by questions, which shall test his ability to teach the branches of learning to be pursued in the schools, also his ability to organize and control a school. Before a teacher is employed, the committee should be thoroughly satis- fied that he has a good moral character, and that he has a good method of teaching morals to his pupils. " The authority and duty of the school committee of a town are not confined to ascertaining by examination the literary qualifications of teachers, and their capacity for the government of schools ; but they are the sole judges of their qualifications in all respects to teach and govern the school for which they are selected." 9 Allen, 94. SALARIES AND APPROPRIATIONS. * ' The school committee have the whole power to examine teachers, and no one can legally be a teacher in any public school, until he has received from the school committee a writ- ten certificate of his qualification. " By this statute, the committee has the power, absolutely and unconditionally, to agree upon the salaries of the teachers. 44.] AUTHORITY OF TEACHEKS. 43 There is no power given to any other men, or body of men, to contract with the teachers, and this power is given by the .statute, and not by the town or city. 1 < The Legislature have imposed on the committee the duty of seeing to it that the public schools are in a condition and of a character best calculated to advance the improvement and promote the good of the pupils. The character of the schools will depend on the character of the teachers, and the character of the teachers will depend on the compensation. The power to fix the compensation is chiefly intrusted to the committee for the full, appropriate and most useful discharge of their duties. This power the Legislature, for the most satisfactory reasons, have expressly given to them. To say that the city is not bound to pay according to the contract of the committee would be in effect to say, that the committee had no power to contract." Bachelder v. City of Salem. 4 Gush. 599. "The power of the school committee to fix -the compensa- tion of the teachers of the schools of a city, and bind the city to pay the same, cannot be controlled by the city council except by voting to close the schools after they have been kept open the time required by law. " The power given to the school committee to contract with teachers necessarily implies and includes the power to deter- mine their salaries. And in so doing they are not restricted to the amount appropriated by the city council. "The school committee are an independent body, intrusted by law with large and important powers and duties ; and, although every discretionary power is liable to abuse, against which no perfect safeguards can be provided, yet we are aware of no substantial reason for supposing that the power of fixing teachers' salaries is more liable to abuse by the school commit- tees than by the city council. At all events, the interpretation of the law to which we now adhere was adopted many years ago [see Bachelder v. Salem, 4 Cush. 603], and the Legisla- ture has not seen fit to change its provisions." 98 Mass. 587. AUTHORITY or TEACHERS OVER PUPILS. Section 1 of chapter 44 of the Public Statutes imposes upon the teachers of the public schools the duty of instructing their pupils in good behavior. 44 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. The Constitution of the State makes it the duty of all insti- tutions of learning to train those committed to them in the practice of every virtue. To attain these ends it is necessary that a wise government over the pupils shall be uniformly and persistently maintained. The teacher is therefore vested with the authority of the parent in the control of the children in their relations as pupils of his school. 1. In the school-room he has exclusive control of his pupils, subject only to the direction of the school committee. 2. He may rightfully exercise the same full control over his pupils at any time while they are on any part of the school premises. 3. While the pupils are on their way to and from the school, the authority of the teacher may be considered as concurrent with that of the parent or guardian. If the pupils in coming to school, or in going from it to their homes, commit an offence against the civil laws, it will be well to leave the offenders in the hands of judicial or parental authority. But if the children quarrel on their way, or are wilfully tardy, or use indecent and profane language, or in any way by their conduct injure the good order and discipline of the school, the teacher may take notice of such conduct by subjecting the offender to such wise and judicious treatment as will have a tendency to prevent a repetition of the offence. In such cases the teacher should exercise great caution not to use any doubtful authority, or any questionable modes of correction. TEACHERS' CERTIFICATES. Teachers to SECT. 29. Every teacher of a town or district school shall, tile certificate; before he opens such school, obtain from the school committee p a h id Da V a certificate in duplicate of his qualifications, one of which G. 8. 38, 24. shall be deposited with the selectmen before any payment is made to such teacher on account of his services ; and upon so filing such certificate, the teacher of any public school shall be entitled to receive, on demand, his wages due at the expiration of any quarter, or term longer or shorter than a quarter, or upon the close of any single term of service, subject to the conditions specified in section fifteen of chapter forty-six. DISMISSAL OF TEACHER. Teachers may SECT. 30. The school committee may, when they think bedis *ed, p rO p er? dismiss any teacher from employment, and such teacher i2'Gra 8 '3 39 5 ' sna ^ receive no compensation for services rendered after such 9 Alien,' 94. dismissal. 44.] BIBLE IN SCHOOLS. 45 No teacher shall be allowed to enter upon the discharge of the duties of his office until he has obtained from the school committee a duplicate certificate of qualifications. He must deposit one copy with the selectmen of the town ; the other he must retain for his own reference. Until this is done the teacher has no authority either to teach or to control a school, nor will he be legally entitled to his wages. The power granted by the thirtieth section is absolute. It will often happen that a committee may be in possession of sufficient reasons to justify the dismissal of a teacher, and yet a wise public policy would avoid a disclosure of them* Experience has proved that this power is not liable to abuse. Committees are reluctant to take upon themselves the responsi- bility of dismissing a teacher, except in extreme cases. WHEN COMMITTEES SHALL VISIT SCHOOLS. SECT. 31. The school committee or some one or more of School com- , , mittees to visit them in each town where there is no superintendent ot schools, school* at shall for the purpose of organizing and making a careful examination of the schools, and of ascertaining that the scholars are properly supplied with books, visit all the public notice to , n -,,* i P - 1 teachers ; pur- schools therein on some clay during the nrst week alter the p0 se of visits. opening of such schools, and on some day during the two S76,'i86, S 2 i. weeks preceding the close of the same, and also, without giving previous notice thereof to the instructors, once in each month ; and they shall at such examinations inquire into the regulation and discipline of the schools and into the habits and proficiency of the scholars. The requirements of this section are so plain as to leave no room for explanation. BIBLE TO BE READ IN THE SCHOOLS. SECT. 32. The school committee shall require the daily Bible to be reading in the public schools of some portion of the Bible, JehooJL See- without written note or oral comment; but they shall not require a scholar whose parent or guardian informs the teacher 1862, 57. in writing that he has conscientious scruples against it, to read 12 Allen,' 127. from any particular version, or to take any personal part in the reading ; nor shall they direct to be purchased or used in the public schools school-books calculated to favor the tenets of any particular sect of Christians. "The school committee of a town may lawfully pass an order that the schools thereof shall be opened each morning 46 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. with reading from the Bible and prayer, and that during the prayer each scholar shall bow the head, unless his parent* request that he shall be excused from doing so : and may law- fully exclude from the school a scholar who refuses to comply with such order, and whose parents refuse to request that he shall be excused from doing so." 12 Allen, 127. It is the settled policy of the State to require the use of the Bible in the public schools, and since the passage of the act of 1855, there have been but few objections made. The duty of the committees is performed if they require the Bible to be read by the teachers as a part of the morning devotional service. The law does not prescribe, as a rule from which there are to be no deviations, that every pupil who may be able to read the Bible shall be required to do so. In this respect a discretion is vested in the committees. No sectarian books are used in the schools. COMMITTEE TO PRESCRIBE COURSE OF STUDIES. Committee to SECT. 33. The school committee shall direct what books books shall be shall be used in the public schools, and shall prescribe, as fal- sehood" P and 1C as * s practicable, a course of studies and exercises to be pur- prescribe sued therein. These exercises may, at the discretion of the studies. committee, include calisthenic, gymnastic, and military drill : I88i|i93,i. provided, that no special instructors shall be employed to teach gymnastic, calisthenic or military drill, except by a two- thirds vote of the committee present and voting thereon. But no pupil shall be required to take part in any military exercise in case he, his parent or guardian, notifies the school committee that he or such parent or guardian has conscientious scruples against such exercise, or believes it would be injurious to the health of said pupil. It is necessary that the schools of every town shall have a definite and well arranged course of studies. The topics introduced into the course should be such as will lead the learner to obtain useful knowledge, and such also as will furnish occasions for that activity of the mind which will produce the best mental development. The topics should be so arranged in the course that they will hold a logical relation to one another, and will be adapted to the wants of the minds of the pupils as their powers are developed. 44.] TEXT-BOOKS. 47 CHANGES OF SCHOOL-BOOKS. SECT. 34. A change may be made in the school-books used Committee in the public schools in a town by a vote of two-thirds of the books by two- whole school committee thereof at a meeting of said com- whole com- f mittee, notice of such intended change having been given at a ^ ! 7 " e |j 2 previous meeting. FREE TEXT-BOOKS. Chapter 103 of the Acts of 1884 provides that the school committee of every city and town shall purchase, at the expense of such city or town, text-books and other school supplies used in the public schools ; and said text-books and supplies shall be loaned to the pupils of said public schools free of charge, subject to such rules and regulations as to care and custody as the school committee may prescribe. Chapter 161 of the Acts of 1885 provides that school com- mittees may procure, at the expense of the city or town, in accordance with appropriations therefor previously made, such apparatus, books of reference, and other means of illustration as they deem necessary for the schools under their supervision. The advantages of the free text-book system are : 1. Economy in time and money. Under the present system the schools may be supplied, on the first day of the term, with all necessary means of study. This prevents the long delays that were formerly experienced in organizing the classes, and enables the teacher to make a better classification of his school. Experience has proved that the expense of books and supplies, by the new method of purchase, is reduced nearly one-half. 2. The new system furnishes a good occasion for training the children to take good care of those things not their own, but which they are allowed to use. 3. It seems, by the returns, to have increased the attend- ance upon the schools more than ten per cent. 4. The public schools of the State are now literally free schools, offering to all, on the same free terms, the advantages of a good public school education. Before the act of 1884 was passed, sixteen towns in the State had voluntarily adopted the free text-book system. In all cases the most satisfactory results followed. 48 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. Duty of com- mittee where school is for benefit of whole town. G.S.38, 33. SECT. 41. In any town containing five hundred families and in which a high school is kept as before provided, the school committee shall perform the duties in relation to such school, the house where it is kept, and the supply of all things neces- sary therefor, which the prudential committee may perform in a school district. PAY OF SCHOOL COMMITTEES. Compensation SECT. 42. Each member of the school committee in cities . s. 38, 34! shall be paid one dollar a day, and in towns two dollars and a half a day, for the time actually employed in discharging the duties of the office, together with such additional compensation as the city or town may allow, except as provided in the fol- lowing section. vr. o. oo, 5 1873, 157. Superintend- ent of schools, appointment, duties, etc. G. 8. 38, 35. 1860, 101. 1870, 117. 1873, 108. 1874, 272. Ill Mass. 87. SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS. SECT. 43. A city by ordinance, and a town by vote, may require the school committee annually to appoint a superintendent, who, under the direction and control of said committee, shall have the care and supervision of the public schools ; or the school committee of any city without such ordinance may appoint a superintendent by a majority vote of the whole board ; the compensation of the superintendent shall not be less than one dollar and fifty cents for each day of actual ser- vice, and shall be determined by tne school committee, and, in cities without such ordinance, by a majority vote of the whole board ; in every city in which such ordinance is in force or in which a superintendent is appointed, and in every town in which a superintendent is appointed, and which does not pro- vide otherwise by vote, the school committee shall receive no compensation. Towns may form a district for employ- ment of super- intendent of schools. 1870, 183, 1. manner of appointment, salary, etc., 1870, 183, 2. UNION OF TOWNS TO EMPLOY SUPERINTENDENT. SECT. 44. Two or more towns may, by a vote of each, form a district for the purpose of employing a superintendent of public schools therein, who shall perform in each town the duties prescribed by law. SECT. 45. Such superintendent shall be annually appointed by a joint committee, composed of the chairman and secretary of the school committee of each of the towns in said district, who shall determine the relative amount of service to be per- formed by him in each town, and shall fix his salary and apportion the amount thereof to be paid by the several towns, and certify such amount to the treasurer of each town. Said joint committee shall, for said purposes, be held to be the agents of each town composing such district. 44.] SUPERINTENDENTS. 49 Chapter 431 of the Acts of 1888 provides as follows : 1. Any two or more towns the valuation of each of which does not exceed two million five hundred thousand dollars, and the aggregate number of schools in all of which is not more than fifty nor less than thirty, may, by vote of the several towns, unite for the purpose of the employment of a superin- tendent of schools under the provisions of this act. 2. When such a union has been effected, the school com- mittees of the towns comprising the union shall form a joint committee, and for the purposes of this act said joint committee shall be held to be the agents of each town comprising the union. Said committee shall meet annually in joint convention in the month of April at a day and place agreed upon by the chairman of the committees of the several towns comprising the union, and shall organize by the choice of a chairman and secretary. They shall choose by ballot a superintendent of schools ; determine the relative amount of service to be per- formed by him in each town ; fix his salary, and apportion the amount thereof to be paid by the several towns, and certify such amount to the treasurer of each town. STATE AID FOR SUPERINTENDENTS. 3. Whenever the chairman and secretary of such joint com- mittee shall certify to the state auditor, under oath, that a union has been effected as herein provided, that the towns, in addition to an amount equal to the average of the total sum paid by the several towns for schools during the three years next pre- ceding, unitedly have raised by taxation and appropriated a sum not less than seven hundred and fifty dollars for the support of a superintendent of schools, and that under the provisions of .this act a superintendent of schools has been employed for one year, a warrant shall be drawn upon the treasurer of the Commonwealth for the payment of one thou- sand dollars, one-half of which amount shall be paid for the salary of such superintendent and the remaining one-half shall be apportioned and distributed on the basis of the average public school attendance of the towns forming such district for the year next preceding, which amount shall be paid for the salaries of teachers employed in the public schools within such district. 4. [As amended by chapter 379, Acts of 1890, and chapter 272, Acts of 1891.] A sum not exceeding thirty-five thousand dollars shall be annually appropriated for the purposes of this act. 5. The provisions of section forty-three of chapter forty- four of the Public Statutes respecting the service of school committees without pay in towns wherein a superintendent is appointed, shall not apply to towns uniting in the employment of a superintendent under the provisions of this act. 50 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. It is the universal testimony of those best able to judge, that the schools of a country are good as their superintendence is good, and poor as their superintendence is inefficient. The cities and large towns of the Commonwealth have provided themselves with school superintendents. The small towns can provide themselves with these agents, under the provisions made in section 44, or under those made by the act of 1888, chapter 431. The experiment has been tried by the formation of districts, under the law of 1870, and under that of 1888 ; it has proved eminently successful. Towns not SECT. 46. Every town not divided into school districts shall districted to maintain etc.Pena?t e y' properly furnished and conveniently located for the accommo- SCHOOL-HOUSES. wn not divided in maintain provide and maintain a sufficient number of school-houses, properly furnished and conveniently located for the accommo- dation of all the children therein entitled to attend the public 1871, 145. schools : and the school committee, unless the town otherwise 145 Mass. 555. ,. directs, shall keep such houses in good order, and shall procure a suitable place for the schools, where there is no school-house, and provide fuel and all other things necessary for the comfort of the scholars therein, at the expense of the town. A town which for one year refuses or neglects to comply with the require- ments of this section shall forfeit not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars to be paid, apportioned, and appropriated, as provided in sections nineteen and twenty. In accordance with the provision of section 46 it is the duty of the school committee of a town to keep the school-houses in a good condition for the convenience, comfort, and health of the children and their teachers. This implies that the school- houses are provided \vith a good site and situation ; that they are furnished with proper heating and ventilation ; that they are constructed so that the rooms shall have an abundance of light falling properly on the eyes of the children, and that they shall be of proper size to accommodate alb who may rightfully occupy them. SANITARY CONDITION OF SCHOOL-HOUSES. Chapter 149 of the Acts of 1888 provides :- 1. Every public building and every school-house shall be kept in a cleanly state and free from effluvia arising from any drain, privy or other nuisance, and shall be provided with a sufficient number of proper water closets, earth closets, or privies for the reasonable use of the persons admitted to such public building or of the pupils attending such school-house 44.] SCHOOL-HOUSES. 51 2. Every public building and every school-house shall be ventilated in such a proper manner that the air shall not be- come so exhausted as to be injurious to the health of the per- sons present therein. The provisions of this section and the preceding section shall be enforced by the inspection depart- ment of the district police force. 3. Whenever it shall appear to an inspector of factories and public buildings that further or different sanitary provisions or means of ventilation are required in any public building or school-house in order to conform to the requirements of this act, and that the same can be provided without incurring un- reasonable expense, such inspector may issue a written order to the proper person or authority directing such sanitary pro- visions or means of ventilation to be provided, and they shall thereupon be provided in accordance with such order by the public authority, corporation or person having charge of, own- ing or leasing such public building or school-house. [Amended by chapter 261, Acts of 1891 by the addition of Amendment the following words] : Any person or corporation aggrieved appeal^frmn, by the order of an inspector issued as above provided, and 1 n r ^.g tor B relating to a public building or a school-house in a city or town 1891, 261. may, within two weeks from the day of the service thereof, or in the case of such an order already issued, within thirty days from the date of the passage of this act, apply in writing to the board of health of such city or town to set aside or amend the same ; and thereupon, after such notice as said board shall order to all parties interested, a hearing shall be given by said board upon such order of the inspector, and said board may either alter such order, annul it in full or affirm the same. The order so amended shall have the same force and effect as the original order. 4. Any school committee, public officer, corporation or per- son neglecting for four weeks after the receipt of an order from an inspector, as provided in the preceding section, to provide the sanitary provisions or means of ventilation required thereby shall be punished by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. 5. The expression " public building " used in this act means any building or premises used as a place of public entertain- ment, instruction, resort or assemblage. The expression ' school-house " means any building or premises in which pub- lic or private instruction is afforded to not less than ten pupils at one time. LOCATION OF SCHOOL-HOUSES. SECT. 47. A town, at a meeting legally called for the pur- Location of ' pose, may determine the location of its school-houses and Q-. s. 38, 37. adopt all necessary measures to purchase and procure land for JJ? MawT/f. 06 " the accommodation thereof. loVroy* "io 35 " 117 Mass. 384, 52 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [Chap. Land may be taken for school-house lots; damages, etc. 1 874, 342, 1. 2 Gray, 414. 10 Gray, 40. 4 Allen, 508. 102 Mass. 512. 117 Mass. 385, Owner of land may have jury. Pro- ceedings. Damages and costs. G. S. 38, 39. 2 Gray, 414. 109 Mass. 225. TAKING LAND FOR SCHOOL-HOUSES, SECT. 48. When land has been designated by a town or by a school district or those acting under its authority, or has been determined upon by the selectmen of a town, as a suitable place for the erection of a school-house and necessary build- ings, or for enlarging a school -house or school-house lot, the selectmen may proceed to select, at their discretion, and to lay out a school-house lot or an enlargement thereof, and to appraise the damages to the owner of such land in the manner provided for laying out town ways and appraising damages sustained thereby ; and upon the approval and adoption by the town of such selection and laying out of such lot, or of any enlargement thereof, the land shall be taken, held, and used for such purpose. But no lot so taken or enlarged shall exceed in the whole eighty square rods, exclusive of the land occupied by the school buildings. SECT. 49. When the owner feels aggrieved by the laying out or enlargement of such lot, or by the award of damages, he may, upon application therefor in writing to the county commissioners within one year thereafter, have the matter of his complaint tried by a jury, and the jury may change the location of such lot or enlargement, and assess damages there- for. The proceedings shall in all respects be conducted in the manner provided in cases of damages by laying out highways. If the damages are increased or the location changed by the jury, the damages and all charges shall be paid by the town ; otherwise the charges arising on such application shall be paid by the applicant. The land so taken shall be held and used for no other purpose than that contemplated by this chapter, and shall revert to the owner, his heirs or assigns, upon the discontinuance there, for one year, of such school as is required by law to be kept by the town. Committee of town not dis- tricted to have charge of school-houses. G. S.38, 40. Provisions of chapter to ap- ply to cities, except, etc. G. S. 38, 41. USE OF SCHOOL-HOUSES. SECT. 50. The school committee of a town in which the school district system does not exist shall have the general charge and superintendence of the school-houses therein, so far as relates to the uses to which the same may be appro- priated. SECT. 51. Except as may be otherwise provided in their respective charters or in acts in amendment thereof, the pro- visions of this chapter, so far as applicable, shall apply to cities. 46.] SCHOOL KEGISTERS. 53 CHAPTER 46. OF SCHOOL KEGISTERS AND RETURNS. SECTION 1. Town clerks to deliver registers, etc., to school committee. 2. If not received. 3. Duties of school committee as to per- sons between five and fifteen. 4. Penalty for withholding information from committee, etc. 5. School committee to certify number of children, sums raised for schools, etc. 6. Registers to be kept ; returns. 7. In returns, twenty days or forty half- days to be counted as one month. SECTION 8. Committee's report; to whom sent; where deposited ; to be printed. 9. When report is not made. 10. When informal, etc. 11. Penalty for neglect or for informal, etc., report. 12. Reports, etc., of board of education, how received, delivered, and for what purpose. In whom property of. 13. Who to sign reports. 14. Penalty on committee for neglect in returns, etc. 15. Registers, how kept. Teachers not to draw pay until return of register. SECTION 1. The clerks of the several cities and towns, upon receiving from the secretary of the board of education the school registers and blank forms of inquiry for school returns, shall deliver them to the school committee of such cities and towns. SECT. 2. If a school committee fails to receive such blank forms of return on or before the last day of March, they shall forthwith notify the secretary of the board of education, who shall transmit such forms as soon as may be. SECT. 3. The school committee shall annually, in the month of May, ascertain or cause to be ascertained the names and ages of all persons between the ages of five and fifteen years belonging to their respective cities and towns on the first day of May, and shall make a record thereof. SECT. 4. Whoever, having under his control a child between the ages of eight and fourteen years, withholds information in his possession sought by a school committee or its agents for the purposes of the preceding section, or falsifies in regard to the same, shall be punished by fine not exceeding twenty dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days. Town clerks to deliver reg- isters, etc., to school com- mittee. O. 8. 40, 1. If not re- ceived. G. S. 40, 2. School com- mittee to make a record of all children be- tween ages of five and fif- teen. 1874, 303, 1. Penalty for withholding information from commit- tee, etc. 1879, 21. FORM OF CERTIFICATE. SECT. 5. The school committee shall annually, on or before the last day of the following April, certify .under oath the numbers so ascertained and recorded, and the sum raised by their city or town for the support of schools during the preced- ing school year, including only wages and board of teachers, fuel for the schools, and care of the fires and school-rooms ; School com. mittee to cer- tify number of children, also sum raised for support of schools. 1874, 303, 2. 54 KEGISTERS AND RETURNS. [Chap. and they shall transmit such certificate to the secretary of the board of education. The form of such certificate shall be as follows, to wit, Cer " We ' tne SC J 10 1 committee of , do certify that on the first day of May, in the year , there were belonging to said town [or city] the number of persons between the ages of five and fifteen ; and we further certify that said town [or city] raised the sum of dollars for the support of public schools for the preceding school year, including only the wages and board of teachers, fuel for the schools, and care of fires and school-rooms, and that said town [or city] maintained, during said year, each of the schools required to be kept by section one of chapter forty-four of the Public Statutes for a period not less than six months ; and we further certify that said town [or city] maintained during said year schools for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the town [or city] , as required by section two of chapter forty-four of the Public Statutes for months and days. > School Committee. , ss. On this day of , personally appeared the above- named school committee of , and made oath that the above certificate by them subscribed is true. Before me, Justice of the Peace. No more important duty is laid upon the school committees than the one prescribed by the fifth section of this chapter. If properly discharged, two results will follow : First, the census will be likely to be full and accurate ; and second, the com- mittees who are charged with the duty of enforcing, through the aid of the truant officers, the laws relating to school attend- ance, will have in their own hands a complete knowledge of the persons and facts, necessary to the proper discharge of their duties. SCHOOL REGISTERS. Registers and SECT. 6. The school committee shall cause the school rem sent- which report shall contain such statements and suo-^estions in where depos- ited ; to be relation to the schools as the committee deem necessary or printed. proper to promote the interests thereof. The committee shall n'o-rayj Lo'. cause said report to be printed, for the use of the inhabitants, 101 Ma88 ' 142- in octavo, pamphlet form, of the size of the annual reports of the board of education, and transmit two copies thereof to the secretary of said board on or before the last day of April, and shall deposit one copy in the office of the clerk of the city or town. SECT. 9. When a school committee fails to make within the When report prescribed time either the returns or the report required of G-. s.40, 7. them by law, the secretary of the board of education shall forthwith notify such committee, or the clerk of the city or town, of such failure ; and the committee or clerk shall imme- diately cause the same to be transmitted to the secretary. See chap. 43, sect. 5 ; chap. 46, sect. 11 ; chap. 46, sect. 14. INCORRECT RETURNS. SECT. 10. If a report or return is found to be informal or When infor- incorrect, the secretary shall forthwith return the same, with a G^S.^O, 8. statement of all deficiencies therein, to the committee for its further action. PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO MAKE RETURNS. SECT. 11. The returns or reports of a city or town so Penalty for returned by the secretary for correction, or which have not ' reached his office within the time prescribed by law, shall be [J p g rt 4 received by him if returned during the month of May ; but in all such cases ten per cent, shall be deducted from the income of the school fund which such city or town would have been otherwise entitled to. If such returns or reports fail to reach his office before the first day of June, then the whole of such city or town's share of the income shall be retained by the treasurer of the commonwealth ; and the amount so retained, as well as the ten per cent, when deducted, shall be added to the principal of the school fund. And such city or town shall in addition thereto forfeit not less than one hundred nor more 56 REGISTERS AND RETURNS. [Chap. Reports, etc., of board of education, how received, delivered, and for what pur- pose. To whom property belongs. G-. S. 40, 10. than two hundred dollars ; but if said returns and reports were duly mailed in season to reach said office within the time required by law, then the city or town from which they were- due shall be exempt from the forfeiture otherwise incurred. DISTRIBUTION OF REPORTS OF BOARD OF EDUCATION. SECT. 12. The clerk of each city and town shall deliver one copy of the reports of the board of education and of its secretary to the secretary of the school committee of the city or town, to be by him preserved for the use of the committee,, and transmitted to his successor in office ; and two additional copies of said reports, for the use of said committee; and shall deliver one copy of said reports to the clerk of each school district, to be by him deposited in the school district library, or, if there is no such library, carefully kept for the use of the prudential committee, teachers, and inhabitants of the district during his continuance in office, and then transmit- ted to his successor; and in case the city or town is not dis- tricted, said reports" shall be delivered to the school committee, and so deposited by them as to be accessible to the several teachers and to the citizens ; and such report shall be deemed to be the property of the city or town, and not of any officer, teacher, or citizen thereof. Special attention is called to the provisions of the twelfth section. WHO MAY SIGN RETURNS. Who to sign SECT. 13. When the school committee of a city or town is G.8.40, 11. not less than thirteen in number, the chairman and secretary thereof may in behalf of the committee, sign the annual school returns and the certificate required by sections five and six. Penalty on Committee for neglect in returns, etc. G.S.40, 12. Registers, how kept. Teachers not to draw pay until return of register. G. S. 40, 13. 2 Allen, 592. PENALTY FOR NEGLECT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE. SECT. 14. A city or town which has forfeited any part of its- portion of the income of the school fund through the failure of the school committee to perform their duties in regard to the school report and school returns may withhold the com- pensation of the committee. TEACHERS TO FAITHFULLY KEEP THE REGISTERS. SECT. 15. [As amended by chapter 99, Acts of 1891.] The several school teachers shall faithfully keep the registers fur- nished to them, and make due return thereof to the school committee, or to such person as they may designate, and no teacher shall be entitled to receive payment for services for the two weeks preceding the close of any single term until the register, properly filled up and completed, is so returned. 47.] SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. 57 Every good teacher will perform all the labor required by the fifteenth section, even though he has no pecuniary interest therein. It is feared that teachers often receive payment for their services when the register has not been " properly filled up and returned." Committees will be justified in exacting a careful and faithful performance of the duty. CHAPTER 47. OF THE ATTENDANCE OF CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOLS. SECTION 1. Every person having control of chil- dren between eight and fourteen years old to cause same to attend school. Penalty for neglect. Excuses for neglect. 2. What private schools may be ap- proved under preceding section. 3. Truant officers and school committee to inquire and prosecute. 4. All children may attend where they reside. 5. School committee to regulate admis- sion, etc., to high school. 6. Children may attend in adjoining SECTION town, and committee pay for instruc- tion. 7. Wards may attend where guardian resides. 8. Children may attend in other towns than place of parents' residence, and parents pay, etc. 9. not to attend unless vaccinated. 10. Race, etc., not to exclude. 11. Teachers and school committee to- state grounds of exclusion. 12. Damages for exclusion, how recov- ered. 13. Interrogatories to committee, etc. CHILDREN BETWEEN EIGHT AND FOURTEEN YEARS MUST ATTEND SCHOOL. [As amended by chap. 464, Acts of 1889, and Every person Every person having under his control a of children ages of eight and fourteen years shall SECTION 1. chap. 384 of 1890.] child between the annually cause such child to attend some public day school in yjjj g anie to the city or town in which he resides, and such attendance shall attend school continue for at least thirty weeks of the school year if the etc. eri schools are kept open that length of time, with an allowance Syf/^ro^gi'. of two weeks' time for absences not excused by the superin- J|J* 2|3, i - tendent of schools or the school committee, and for every neglect of such duty the person offending shall, upon the com- plaint of a school committee or any truant officer, forfeit to the use of the public schools of such city or town a sum not exceeding twenty dollars ; but if such child has attended for a like period of time a private day school approved by the school committee of such city or town, or if such child has been otherwise instructed for a like period of time in the branches of learning required by law to be taught in the public 58 SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. [Chap. schools, or has already acquired the branches of learning required by law to be taught in the public schools, or if his physical or mental condition is such as to render such attend- ance inexpedient or impracticable, such penalty shall not be incurred. Com^ory Chap. 361 of the Acts of 1891 provides that in every city fifteen in and town where opportunity is furnished, in connection with the regular work of the public schools, for gratuitous instruc- tion in the use of tools or in manual training, or for industrial education in any form, every person having under his control a child between the ages of eight and fifteen years shall cause such child to attend the public schools during the same number of weeks in each school year during which attendance is now by law required in the case of children between the ages of eight and fourteen years, and subject to the same exceptions ; and for neglect of such duty the person offending shall be liable to the same forfeiture, to be enforced in the same man- ner and subject to the same exceptions as now provided by law in case of neglect to require the attendance of a child between the ages of eight and fourteen years. By the act of 1642 the selectmen of every town were in- structed to have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neigh bors, to see that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families as not to endeavor to teach, by themselves or others, their children and apprentices so much learning as may enable them to read the English tongue, and a knowledge of the capital laws. Section 1 of this chapter is a reproduction of the act of 1642. It is the policy of the Commonwealth to offer to every child the advantages of a good education. It is supposed that every parent or guardian will voluntarily accept the offer. The nature of our institutions and the relation that every individual holds to them, render universal education a necessity. But if in any case the offer is not accepted, nor the necessity perceived, then the school authorities must take advantage of our compul- sory law. Every child must be in school for at least thirty weeks of the year, from the time he is eight until he reaches the age of fourteen years, and in all towns in which provision is made for * ' instruction in the use of tools or in manual train- ing or for industrial education in any form," he must be in school until he reaches the age of fifteen years. It is not to be assumed, however, that the legal rights of children are limited by the statutes in regard to the time of attendance. The school committees have authority vested in them of admitting pupils 47.] PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 59 to the schools before they are eight and after they are fifteen years of age. But it is the imperative duty of the truant officers of a town, acting under instructions from the school committees, to secure the attendance of all children between the ages of eight and fourteen years upon some approved school for at least thirty weeks in every year. WHEN PRIVATE SCHOOLS MAY BE APPROVED. SECT. 2. [As amended by chap. 464, Acts of 1889 ] For the What private purposes of the preceding section school committees shall be approved approve a private school only when the teaching in all the ceSngwsctJon* studies required by law is in the English language, and when j|7|, 279, i. they are satisfied that such teaching equals in thoroughness and 1889J 404! efficiency the teaching in the public schools in the same locality, and that equal progress is made by the pupils therein, in the studies required by law, with that made during the same time ^^J^yjrM] in the public schools; but they shall not refuse to approve a private school on account of the religious teaching therein. If in any town there are children not in the public schools, it is the duty of the school committee to assure themselves that these children are receiving instruction of the right kind, and equal in value to that given in the public schools. DUTY OF TRUANT OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES. SECT. 3. The truant officers and the school committee of the Truant offi- several cities and towns shall vigilantly inquire into all cases of neglect of the duty prescribed in section one, and- ascertain J? o 8 8 r f gg la " the reasons, if any, therefor ; and such truant officers, or any cation* etc. of them, shall, when so directed by the school committee, of courts and prosecute, in the name of the city or town, any person liable to 1873> 279, 2. the penalty provided for in said section. Police, district, J|^ , j>. and municipal courts, trial justices, and judges of the probate court, shall have jurisdiction within their respective counties of the offences described in section one. WHERE CHILDREN MAY ATTEND SCHOOL. SECT. 4. All children within the commonwealth may attend aueifd^where the public schools in the place in which they have their legal they reside, residence, subject to the regulations prescribed by law. ADMISSION TO HIGH SCHOOL. SECT. 5. The school committee shall determine the number ^ i d h niss h ion 1 to and qualifications of the scholars to be admitted into the high how regu- school. a! e s.'4i, 4. 60 SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. [Chap. WHEN CHILDREN MAY ATTEND ix ADJOINING TOWN. Children may SECT. 6. Children living remote from any public school in joining town, the town in which they reside may be allowed to attend the mittee'pay for public schools in an adjoining town, under such regulations instruction. anc | on sucn terms as the school committees of said towns (jr. S. 41, 5. agree upon and prescribe; and the school committee of the town in which such children reside shall pay the sum agreed upon out of the appropriations of money raised in said town for the support of schools. The right of children living in one town to attend school in an adjoining one, is not a right that can be exercised freely, but is subject to the consent of the committee of the town to which the children belong, based upon an agreement between the committees of the two towns concerned. Nor can a town in its corporate capacity take action in the matter. A custom has prevailed to some extent, of allowing certain individuals named in the warrant, and in the vote of the town, to draw their proportion of school money, and pay the same to an adjoining town. This course is illegal. See 8 Cush. 66, and 12 Pick. 206. MINOR MAY ATTEND WHERE GUARDIAN RESIDES. Wards, where SECT. 7. Any minor under guardianship, whose father has G. s. 41, 6. died, may attend the public schools of the city or town of which his guardian is an inhabitant. Children may SECT. 8. Children may, with the consent of the school COm- attend mother J towns than mittee first obtained, attend school in cities and towns other parents' real- than those in which their parents or guardians reside; but parents'tmy when a child resides in a city or town different from that of etc. the residence of the parent or guardian for the sole purpose of 1876, 'ise' 2.' attending school there, the parent or guardian of such child )3 Mass. 104. ^^ ^ liable to pay such city or town, for tuition, a sum equal to the average expense per scholar for such school for the period during which the child so attends. Towns and cities are not authorized by law to open their schools to children whose parents or guardians reside in another State ; and if they do so, no promise, expressed or implied, of the parents or guardians, to pay for the tuition, can be enforced. PUPILS MUST BE VACCINATED. Children to SECT. 9. The school committee shall not allow a child who be vaccinated. G. 8. 41, 8. has not been duly vaccinated to be admitted to or connected with the public schools. 47.] CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 61 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. Chapter 198 of the Acts of 1885 provides that the school committees shall not allow any pupil to attend the public schools while any member of the household to which such pupil belongs is sick of small-pox, diphtheria or scarlet-fever, or during a period of two weeks after the death, recovery or removal of such sick person ; and any pupil coming from such household shall be required to present, to the teacher of the school the pupil desires to attend, a certificate, from the attend- ing physician or board of health, of the facts necessary to en- title him to admission in accordance with the above regulation. COLOR ETC., NOT TO EXCLUDE. SECT. 10. No person shall be excluded from a public school Color, etc., ,,, , ,, . .. ,,, ,. not to exclude. on account of the race, color, or religious opinions of the appli- GK a 41 9 .cant or scholar. 12 Allen, 127. REASONS TO BE GIVEN EOR EXCLUSION. SECT. 11. Every member of the school committee under Teachers, whose directions a child is excluded from a public school, and grovndiof every teacher of such school from which a child is excluded, CKS"*?"! i . shall, on application by the parent or guardian of such child, .state in writing the grounds and reason of the exclusion. DAMAGES FOR UNLAWFUL EXCLUSION. Damages for exclusion. SECT. 12. A child unlawfully excluded from a public school 33 pj^'^J 1 ' may recover damages therefor in an action of tort, to be 8 Cush.'ieo.' brought in the name of such child by his guardian or next L^He'nfSv. friend, against the city or town by which such school is sup- *}J JfjJJ' J^J- ported. 133 Mass. 103. SECT. 13. The plaintiff in such action may,. by filing inter- interrogate- rogatories for discovery, examine any member of the school Sittee.Ttc!" committee, or any other officer of the defendant city or town G> s< 41 12< as if he were a party to the suit. The reasons for which a child may be excluded absolutely from school, neither are nor can be expressed in the ISLW. Committees are responsible for the exercise of a sound discre- tion. " The school committee of a city or town have power, under the laws of this Commonwealth, in order to maintain the purity .and discipline of the public schools, to exclude therefrom a child whom they deem to be of a licentious and immoral char- 62 EMPLOYMENT LAWS. [Chap. acter, although such character is not manifested by any acts of licentiousness or immorality within the school." 8 Gush. 160. The rule is this : The committees have power to protect the schools from the presence of any one whose influence would be injurious to the whole, and subversive of the purposes man- ifestly contemplated by their establishment. A teacher may suspend a pupil, but he has no authority to expel. After suspension, the case should be referred at once to the school committee for their action. CHAPTER 48. OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN, AND REGULATIONS RESPECT- ING THEM. SCHOOLING AND LIMIT OF LABOR OF CHILDREN EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTO- RIES, ETC. SECTION 7. Penalty for employment of children under fourteen years, while public schools are in session, unless they can read and write. 8. Children under fifteen years not to be employed in circus, etc. Penalties. Proviso as to education of children in music, etc. 9. License not to be granted to public show in which children under fifteen years of age are employed. TRUANT CHILDREN AND ABSENTEES FROM SCHOOL. 10. Towns may make provisions con- cerning habitual truants, etc. 11. Truant officers to be appointed by school committees. 12. Children convicted of being truants, etc., may lie committed for two years to institutions provided therefor. 13. Jurisdiction. 14. County truant schools and union county truant schools, how estab- lished, etc. 15. Towns may assign truant schools or state primary school as places of con- finement of truants, etc. 16- Children committed may be dis- charged. 17. School committees to report whether the reqtiired provisions, etc., 'have been made for truants. CARE AND EDUCATION OF NEGLECTED CHILDREN. SECTION 18. Towns -to make provisions for care etc., of neglected children under six- teen years. 19. to appoint persons to make com- plaints. 20. Children under sixteen years grow- ing up without education, etc., may be committed to institutions, etc. 21. Children may be discharged when parents or others can or will properly take care of them. CARE AND PROTECTION OF DESTITUTE, ABANDONED AND ABUSED CHILDREN. 22. Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children may be ap- pointed guardian of abandoned or neglected children. may receive charge of children un- 23. der etc. fourteen years from parents, 24. may be given custody of deserted > children under five years on com- plaint to court, etc. 25. not obliged to receive any child. 26. Hampden County Children's Aid Association may have like privileges, etc. 27. Powers of the state board of health, etc., not limited by five preceding sections. 48.] EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN. 63 The following law relative to the employment of children forms chapter 348 of the Acts of 1888 : AN ACT IN RELATION TO THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same, as follows : No CHILD UNDER THIRTEEN TO BE EMPLOYED. 1. No child under thirteen years of age shall be employed at any time in any factory, workshop or mercantile establish- ment. No such child shall be employed in any indoor work, performed for wages or other compensation, to whomsoever payable, during the hours when the public schools of the city or town in which he resides are in session, or shall be employed in any manner during such hours unless during the year next preceding such employment he has attended school for at least twenty weeks as required by law. WHEN CHILDREN UNDER FOURTEEN MAY BE EMPLOYED. 2. No child under fourteen years of age shall be employed in any manner before the hour of six o'clock in the morning or after the hour of seven o'clock in the evening. No such child shall be employed in any factory, workshop or mercantile estab- lishment, except during the vacation of the public schools in the city or town where he resides, unless the person or corpora- tion employing him procures and keeps on file a certificate and employment ticket for such child as prescribed by section four of this act, and no such child shall be employed in any indoor work, performed for wages or other compensation, to whom- soever payable, during the hours when the public schools of such city or town are in session, unless as aforesaid, or shall be employed in any manner during such hours unless during the year next preceding such employment he has attended school for at least thirty weeks as required by law, provided, the public schools are in session that number of weeks, which time may be divided so far as the arrangement of school terms will allow into three terms of ten consecutive weeks each, and such employment shall not continue in any case beyond the time when such certificate expires. The chief of the district police, with the approval of the governor, shall have authority to designate any kind or kinds of employment in factories, workshops or mercantile establishments as injuri- ous to the health of children under fourteen years of age employed therein, and after one week's written notice from the said chief to the employer or his superintendent, overseer or . other agent of such designation no such child shall be employed in any such kind or kinds of employment in any factory, work- shop or mercantile establishment. 04 EMPLOYMENT LAWS. [Chap. WHEN CHILDREN UNDER SIXTEEN MAY BE EMPLOYED. 3. No child under sixteen years of age shall be employed in any factory, workshop or mercantile establishment unless the person or corporation employing him procures and keeps on file the certificate required in the case of such child by the following section, and also keeps on file a full and complete list of such children employed therein. FORM OF CERTIFICATE. 4. The certificate of a child under fourteen years of age shall not be signed until he presents to the person authorized to sign the same an employment ticket, as hereinafter pre- scribed, duly filled out and signed. The certificate and the employment ticket shall be separately printed, and shall be in the following forms respectively, and the blanks therein shall be filled out and signed as indicated by the words in brackets : EMPLOYMENT TICKET, LAW OF 1888. When [name of child] , height [feet and inches], complexion [fair or dark] , hair [color] , presents a certificate duly signed, I intend to employ [him or her] . [Signature of intending employer or agent ] [Town or city and state ] AGE .AND SCHOOLING CERTIFICATE, LAW OF 1888. This certifies that I am the [father, mother or guardian] of [name of child], and that [he or she] was born at [name of town or city], in the county of [name of county, if known], and state [or country] of '[name] , on the [day and year of birth], and is now [number of years and months] old. [Signature of father, mother or guardian.] [Town or city and date ] Then personally appeared before me the above named [name of person signing] and made oath that the foregoing certificate by [him or her] signed is true to the best of [his or her] knowledge and belief. I hereby approve the foregoing certifi- cate of [name of child], height [feet and inches], complexion [fair or dark], hair [color], having no sufficient reason to doubt that [he or she] is of the age therein certified. [Signature of person authorized to sign, with official char- acter or authority.] [Town or city and date ] In case the age of the child is under fourteen, the certificate shall continue as follows, after the word " certified " : And I hereby certify that [he or she] can read at sight, and can write legibly, simple sentences in the English language, and that [he or she] has attended the [name] public [or private] day school according to law for [number of weeks, which must be at least twenty] weeks during the year next preceding this date, and that the last twenty weeks of such attendance began [date]. This certificate expires [date, one year later than above date ] [Signature of the person authorized to sign, with official character or authority.] 48.] CERTIFICATES. 65 If attendance has been at a private school, also signature of & teacher of such school, followed bywords, certifying to school attendance. [Town or city and date.] In case a child cannot read and write as above stated, the following may be substituted for the clause beginning " and I hfii'fibv frHf v " throno-h to ami im>lnHinrr tlm Ax/v^W! "l.i hereby certify " through to and including the word " lan- guage 1 ': "and I hereby certify that [he or she] is a regular attendant at the [name] public evening school " ; but in such case the certificate shall only continue in force for as long a time as attendance of such child at such evening school is en- dorsed weekly during the session of such evening school, not exceeding the length of the public school year minus twenty weeks in place of attendance at day school as now provided by law, with a statement from a teacher thereof certifying that his attendance continues regular. If attendance has been at a half-time school, forty weeks of such attendance must be cer- tified to instead of twenty. The foregoing certificate must be filled out in duplicate, and one copy thereof shall be kept on file by the second school committee. Any explanatory matter may be printed with such certificate in the discretion of the .school committee or superintendent of schools. Chapter 299 of the Acts of 1890 provides that all the certifi- cates issued under this section shall contain the words, " This certificate belongs to the person in whose behalf it has been drawn, and it shall be surrendered to (him or her) whenever (he or she) leaves the service of the corporation or employer holding the same ; and any such corporation or employer refus- ing to so deliver the same shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars," and that any corporation or employer holding any age or schooling certificate enumerated in this section and refusing to deliver the same to the person in whose behalf it has been drawn, when such person shall leave the employ of said corporation or employer, shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars. WHO SHALL SIGN CERTIFICATES. 5. In cities and towns having a superintendent of schools, said certificate shall be signed only by such superintendent, or by some person authorized by him in writing ; in other cities and towns it shall be signed by some member or members of the school committee authorized by vote thereof: provided, however, that no member of a school committee, or other person authorized as aforesaid, shall have authority to sign such certificate for any child then in, or about to enter, his own employment, or the employment of a firm of which he is a member, or of a corporation of which he is an officer or employee. The person signing the certificate shall have authority to administer the oath provided for therein, but no fee shall be charged therefor ; such oath may also be admin- istered by any justice of the peace. 66 EMPLOYMENT LAWS. [Chap, WHO MAY SIGN CERTIFICATES OF AGE. 6. The certificate as to the birthplace and age of a child shall be signed by his father if living and a resident of the same city or town ; if not, by his mother ; or if his mother is not living, or if living is not a resident of the same city or town, by his guardian ; if a child has no father, mother or guardian living in the same city or town, his own signature to the certificate may be accepted by the person authorized to approve the same. PROVISIONS AS TO CORRECT AGE. 7. [As amended by chapter 291 of the Acts of 1889.] No child who has been continuously a resident of a city or town since reaching the age of thirteen years shall be entitled to receive a certificate that he has reached the age of fourteen unless or until he has attended school according to law in such city or town for at least twenty weeks since reaching the age of thirteen, unless such child can read at sight and write legibly simple sentences in the English language or is exempted by law from such attendance. Before signing the approval of the certificate of age of a child, the person authorized to sign the same shall refer to the last school census taken under the provisions of section three of chapter forty-six of the Public Statutes, and if the name of such child is found thereon, and there is a material difference between his age as given therein and as given by his parent or guardian in the certificate, allow- ing for lapse of time, or if such child plainly appears to be of materially less age than that so given, then such certificate shall not be signed until a copy of the certificate of birth or of baptism of such child, or a copy of the register of its birth with a town or city clerk, has been produced, or other satis- factory evidence furnished that such child is of the age stated in the certificate. DUTIES OF TRUANT OFFICERS AND FACTORY INSPECTORS. 8. The truant officers may, when so authorized and required by vote of the school committee, visit the factories, workshops and mercantile establishments in their several cities and towns, and ascertain whether any children under the age of fourteen are employed therein contrary to the provisions of this act, and they shall report any cases of such illegal employment to the school committee and to the chief of the district police or the inspector of factories for the district. The inspectors of fac- tories, and the truant officers when authorized as aforesaid, may demand the names of all children under sixteen years of age employed in such factories, workshops and mercantile estab- lishments, and may require that the certificates and lists of such children provided for in this act shall be produced for 48.] DUTIES OF PARENTS. 67 their inspection. Such truant officers shall enquire into the employment otherwise than in such factories, workshops and mercantile establishments, of children under the age of four- teen years, during the hours when the public schools are in session, and may require that the aforesaid certificates of all children under sixteen shall be produced for their inspection ; and any such officer or any inspector of factories, may bring a prosecution against a person or corporation employing any such child, otherwise than as aforesaid, during the hours when the public schools are in session, contrary to the provisions of this act, if such employment still continues one week after written notice from such officer or inspector that such prosecu- tion will be brought, or if more than one such written notice, whether relating to the same child or to any other child, has been given to such employer by a truant officer or inspector of factories at any time within one year. DUTIES OF PARENTS, GUARDIANS AND EMPLOYEES. 9. Every parent or guardian of a child under fourteen years of age who permits any employment of such child con- trary to the provisions of this act, and every owner, superin- tendent or overseer of any factory, workshop or mercantile establishment who employs or permits to be employed therein any child contrary to the provisions of this act, and any other person who employs any child contrary to the provisions of this act, shall for every such offence forfeit not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars for the use of the public schools of the city or town. Every parent, guardian, or person authorized to sign the certificate prescribed by section four of this act, who certifies to any materially false statement therein, shall be punished by fine not exceeding fifty dollars, or by im- prisonment not exceeding thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment A failure to produce to a truant officer or inspector of factories the certificate required by the provisions of this act shall be prima facie evidence of the illegal employ- ment of the child whose certificate is not produced. 10. The expressions " factory " and " workshop " used in this act shall have the meanings defined for them respectively by chapter one hundred and three of the acts of the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty seven. 11. Within one month of the passage of this act the chief of the district police shall cause a printed copy thereof to be transmitted to the school committee of every city and town in the Commonwealth. 12. Sections one to six, inclusive, of chapter forty-eight of the Public Statutes, chapter two hundred and twenty-four of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-three, chapter two hundred and twenty-two of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and section one of chapter 68 EMPLOYMENT LAWS. [Chap. Children un- der fourteen years not to be employed while public schools are in session, unless they can read and write. Penalty. 1878, 257, 4. four hundred and thirty-three of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven are hereby repealed. 13. This act shall take effect on the first day of July in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight. [Approved May 17, 1888]. PENALTY FOR EMPLOYING CHILDREN UNDER FOURTEEN WHO CANNOT READ AND WRITE. SECT. 7. Every owner, superintendent, or overseer in any such establishment, who employs, or permits to be employed therein, a child under fourteen years of age who cannot read and write, while the public schools in the city or town where such child lives are in session, and every parent or guardian who permits such employment, shall for every such offence for- feit not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, for the use of the public schools of such city or town. under fifteen years not to be employed in circus, etc. Penalties. Proviso as to education of children in music, etc. 1877, 172. License not to be granted for public show in which chil- dren under fifteen years are employed. 1874, 279. 1880, 88 CHILDREN UNDER FIFTEEN NOT TO BE EMPLOYED IN CIRCUSES, ETC. SECT. 8. Any person who employs or exhibits, or who sells, apprentices, or gives away for the purpose of employing or exhibiting, a child under fifteen years of age, in dancing, play- ing on musical instruments, singing, walking on a wire or rope, or riding or performing as a gymnast, contortionist, or acrobat, in any circus or theatrical exhibition, or in any public place whatsoever, or who causes, procures, or encourages any such child to engage therein, shall be punished by fine not exceeding two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months : provided, that nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the education of children in vocal and instrumental music, or their employment as musicians in any church, chapel, or school, or school exhibi- tion, or to prevent their taking part in any concert or musical exhibition on the special written permission of the mayor and aldermen of a city or of the selectmen of a town. LICENSES NOT TO BE GRANTED FOR SHOWS WHICH EMPLOY CHILDREN UNDER FIFTEEN. SECT. 9. No license shall be granted for a theatrical exhi- bition or public show in which children under fifteen years of age are employed as acrobats, contortionists, or in any feats of gymnastics or equestrianism, or in which such children belong- ing to the public schools are employed, or allowed to take part as performers on the stage in any capacity, or where, in the opinion of the board authorized to grant licenses, such children are employed in such a manner as to corrupt their morals or impair their physical health ; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the giving of special permission as provided by the preceding section. 48.] TRUANT CHILDREN. 69 TRTJANT CHILDREN AND ABSENTEES FROM SCHOOL. SECT. 10. [As amended by chapter 249 Acts of 1889.] Each town shall make all needful provisions and arrangements ions concern- concerning habitual truants and children between seven and Jruanuuetc! fifteen years of age who may be found wandering about in the J|^> 2J2, 1. streets or public places therein, having no lawful occupation or business, not attending school, and growing up in ignorance, and such children as persistently violate the reasonable rules and regulations of the common schools ; and shall make such by-laws as shall be most conducive to the welfare of such children, and to the good order of such town ; and shall pro- vide suitable places for the confinement, discipline, and instruction of such children : such by-laws may be approved by the judge of the probate court of the county, as well as in the manner provided for the approval of other by-laws by section twenty-one of chapter twenty-seven. FORM OF BY-LAWS. This form of by-laws has been approved by the Board of Education, and is given here simply as a suitable form to be adopted by the towns. BY-LAWS. ARTICLE 1. The town of hereby avails itself of the several provisions of the statutes of this Commonwealth, now in force, relating to habitual truants and absentees from school, and in pursuance of authority conferred thereby adopts the following by-laws. ARTICLE 2. All children between the ages of seven and fifteen years residing in said town, and who may be found wandering about in the streets or public places of said town, having no lawful occupation or busi- ness, not attending school, and growing up in ignorance, shall be committed to for confinement, instruction and discipline. ARTICLE 3. Two or more truant officers shall be appointed annually, whose duty it shall be to inquire into all the violations of the truant laws and of the law relating to compulsory education, and to do all the acts required of them by the laws of the Commonwealth. ARTICLE 4. It shall be the duty of every truant officer, previous to making any complaint under these laws, to notify the truant or absentee frcm school, also his parent or guardian, of the offence committed, and of the penalty therefor, and if the truant officer can obtain satisfactory pledges for the restraint and reformation of the child, he may at his discretion forbear to prosecute, so long as such pledges are faithfully kept. ARTICLE 5. It shall be the duty of the school committee, the teachers of the public schools, and the citizens generally to aid the truant officers as far as possible in the discharge of their duties. 70 TRUANT CHILDREN. [Chap. ARTICLE 6. It shall be the duty of the truant officers to keep a full record of all their official acts, and make an annual report thereof to the school committee, who shall publish the same with their own report. ARTICLE 7. Nothing in these by-laws shall be so construed as to alter or impair the obligation and duty of teachers to enforce punctuality and regularity of attendance, and to preserve good order and discipline. Truant offi- cer to be appointed by school com- mittees. 1873, 262, 2. 1874, 233, 2. SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO APPOINT TRUANT OFFICERS. SECT. 11. The school committee of each town shall appoint and fix the compensation of two or more suitable persons, to be designated truant officers, who shall, under the direction of said committee, inquire into all cases arising under such by- laws, and shall alone be authorized, in case of violation thereof, to make complaint and carry into execution the judgment thereon ; and who may serve all legal processes issued by the courts in pursuance of such by-laws or of sections ten to six- teen inclusive, but who shall not be entitled to receive any fees for such service. Chap. 422 of the Acts of 1889 provides that truant officers in cities and towns are hereby authorized, under the direction of the school committees of their respective cities and towns, to apprehend and take to school without warrant all truants found wandering about in the streets or public places. TRUANTS MAY BE COMMITTED FOR Two YEARS. SECT. 12. [As amended by chap. 249, Acts of 1889.] Any minor convicted under a by-law made under section ten of being an habitual truant, or of wandering about in the streets and public places of a city or town, having no lawful employ- ment or business, not attending school, and growing up in ignorance, or of persistently violating the rules and regula- tions of the common schools, shall be committed to any insti- tution of instruction or suitable situation provided for the pur- pose, under the authority of said section or by-law, for a term not exceeding two years. The following sections, 13 and 14, are substituted for those in the Public Statutes by chap. 309 of the Acts of 1890 : Minors con- victed of being truants, etc., may be committed lor two years to institution provided therefor. 1873, 262, 3. Jurisdiction. 1873, 262, 4. 1890, 309. COUNTY TRUANT SCHOOLS. SECT. 13. Whenever a truant school has been established for any county under the provisions of this chapter, it shall be the place of confinement, discipline and instruction for all truants within the cities or towns of said county, unless said cities or towns have made other provisions therefor; and police, district, or municipal courts, trial justices and probate courts, shall have jurisdiction, within their respective counties, 48.] TRUANT SCHOOLS. 71 of the offences described in sections ten and twelve and all acts in amendment thereof and in addition thereto ; and may com- mit truants to such truant school or union truant school as may be established for their respective counties under the provisions of this chapter. SECT. 14. If three or more towns in any county so require, us Mass. 148. the county commissioners shall establish at the expense of the county, at a convenient place therein, other than the jail or house of correction, a truant school for the confinement, dis- cipline and instruction of minor children convicted under the provisions of sections ten and twelve and all acts in amend- ment thereof and in addition thereto ; and shall make suitable provisions for the government and control and for the appoint- ment of proper teachers and officers thereof. But the county commissioners of two, three or four contiguous counties may, and if three or more cities or towns in each of such counties require, shall, at the expense of said counties, establish for said counties at a convenient place therein a union truant school, to be organized and controlled by the chairman of the county C9mmissioners of said counties in the manner provided for the government and control of county truant schools by county commissioners ; and any county so uniting with another county or counties in the support of a union truant school shall not be required to support a truant school of its own. By section 10, chapter 48, each town is required to make all needful provisions concerning truants. This includes pro- viding a suitable place for their confinement, instruction, etc. By section 14, chapter 48, if three or more towns of any county petition the county commissioners, they shall establish a truant school to which all the towns may send their truant children. Provision is also made for union truant schools to be established by two, three or four counties. It is all-important to the towns that the children who are inclined to truancy should be collected into well-organized schools and kept there the full time fixed by the statute, or until they have reformed. WHAT PLACES OF CONFINEMENT TOWNS MAY ASSIGN. SECT. 15. A town may assign any such truant school, or, Towns may with the assent of the state board of health, lunacy and charity, the state primary school, as the place of confinement, disci- pline, and instruction of children so convicted ; and shall pay truants, etc. for their support therein such sum, not exceeding two dollars i879,'|?v 8 ii. a week for each child, as the county commissioners or the trustees of the state primary* and reform schools respectively .shall determine. * Truants not now admitted to State Primary School. 72 TRUANT LAWS. [Chap. Transfer of Chapter 62 of the Acts of 1892 provides that the school corn- children from town to county mittee ot any city or town in any county or counties where a 1892, D 62 8 , C i? ls * union or county truant school has been or shall hereafter be established, may, with the approval of the court making the original commitment and with the consent of the county com- missioners of the county in which such truant school is established, cause all persons confined in the truant or farm school in such city or town, when such farm school is a truant, school, to be removed to such union or county truant school to complete the term for which they were originally com- mitted, subject however to the provisions of law as to release before the expiration of such term. How CHILDREN COMMITTED MAY BE DISCHARGED. SHted e ma 0l be SECT - 16 - Children so committed may, upon satisfactory discharged. proof of amendment, or for other sufficient cause, be discharged 7. ' ' ' ' from the state primary school by said state board, and from other places of confinement by the judge or justice who com- mitted them. REPORTS RELATIVE TO COMPLIANCE WITH TRUANT LAW. (school cora- poTwhe ther SECT - 17 - The school committees of the several towns shall hlvl'beee annually report to the secretary of the board of education made for whether their towns have made the provisions required by law i878234, e C 2. relating to truants and absentees from school. PENALTY FOR EMPLOYING TRUANTS. Chapter 71 of the Acts of 1885 provides that whoever, after notice from a truant officer to refrain from so doing, offers a reward for service to any child in consequence of which reward such child is induced unlawfully to absent himself from school, or whoever after notice as aforesaid in any manner entices or induces any child to truancy, or whoever knowingly employ* or harbors any unlawful absentee from school, or truant, shall forfeit not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars to the use of the public schools of the city or town in which said offence occurs, to be recovered by complaint. CARE AND EDUCATION OF NEGLECTED CHILDREN. Towns to SECT. 18. Each town may, and every town containing five- for care, thousand or more inhabitants, shall, make all needful provi- sions and arrangements concerning children under sixteen dren under years of ap:e, who, by reason of the neglect, crime, drunken- eixteen years. J J 1866, 283, i. ness, or other vices of parents, or from orphanage, are suffered 1Sfi7 *? & 1 1878^ 217, i. to be growing up without salutary parental control and educa- 48.] COMPLAINTS. 73 tion, or in circumstances exposing them to lead idle and disso- lute lives ; and may also make all such by-laws respecting such children as shall be deemed most conducive to their welfare and to the good order of the city or town. WHO SHALL MAKE COMPLAINTS. SECT. 19. The selectmen of towns containing five thousand Towns to ap- or more inhabitants, and of other towns availing themselves of Fo* makecom* the provisions of sections eighteen to twenty-one, inclusive, isSe^lsa, 2. shall appoint suitable persons to make complaints of violations 1878 > 217 > 2> of by-laws adopted under the preceding section ; and the per- sons so appointed, and the officers and duly appointed agents of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, shall alone be authorized to make such complaints ; and the persons so appointed shall alone be authorized to make complaints under the following section. Chapter 245 of the Acts of 1883 amends the above section by inserting in the eighth line thereof, after the word * < com- plaints," the words "and carry into execution the judgments thereon." CHILDREN GROWING UP WITHOUT EDUCATION MAY BE COMMITTED. SECT. 20. A judge of the superior court, or of a police, dis- Children un- trict, or municipal court, or a trial justice, upon proof that any yea growing: child under sixteen years of age, by reason of orphanage, or "^.j^ 111 of the neglect, crime, drunkenness, or other vice of parents, is etc.. may be , , ., T A T . .... 7. . committed to so growing up, may order such child to such institution of in- institutions, struction, or other place assigned for the purpose, as may be S, 283, 3. provided under section eighteen, by the town in which such child resides, to be there kept, educated, and cared for, for a term not extending beyond the age of twenty-one years for boys, or eighteen years for girls. WHEN SUCH CHILDREN MAY BE DISCHARGED. SECT. 21. When the parents of a child committed under the Children un- preceding section have reformed and are leading orderly and industrious lives, and are in a condition to exercise salutary parental control over such child, and to provide him with cation .etc., proper education and employment, or when, said parents being SSged when dead, any person offers to make such suitable provision for the JgJJJJJJ^ care nurture and education of such child as will conduce to will properly take care of the public welfare, and will give security lor the performance them. of the same satisfactory to the directors, trustees, overseers, or 1866) 283> 4 ' 74 ABANDONED CHILDREN. [Chap. other board having charge of the institution to which such child is committed, they may discharge him to the parents or to such other person. Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children may be appointed guardian of abandoned or neglected children. 1879, 179, 1. . may receive charge of children un- der fourteen years from parents, etc. 1879, 179, 2. may be given custody of deserted children under five years on complaint to court, etc. 1879, 179, 3. Said society not obliged to receive any child. 1879, 179, 4. Hampden County Chil- dren's AidAs- sociation may have like priv- ileges, etc. 1880, 231. Five preced- ing sections not to limit powers of state board of health, etc. 1880, 231. CARE AND PROTECTION OF DESTITUTE, ABANDONED, AND ABUSED CHILDREN. SECT. 22. The judge of the probate court of any county, when it appears that a minor under fourteen years of age resi- dent therein is without a guardian, and is entirely abandoned, or treated with gross and habitual cruelty, by the parent or other person having the care or custody of him, or is illegally deprived of liberty, may appoint as his guardian the Massa- chusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children for such period as seems fit to the judge ; and said society shall thereupon become entitled to the custody of such child to the exclusion of any other person, but shall not be entitled to his property. Said judge may at any time, for good cause, revoke such appointment. SECT. 23. The parents, surviving parent, or guardian of a child under fourteen years of age, if unable to support him, may by an agreement in writing, signed, and fixing the terms of the custody, place him in the charge of said society, which shall thereupon have custody of him as provided in the pre- ceding section. SECT. 24. Upon the complaint of said society that a child under five years of age has been abandoned and deserted in a street or public place, or in a vacant building, a judge of any court, within his jurisdiction, may give the custody of such child for a period not exceeding thirty days to said society ; which shall thereupon give notice thereof, under the direction of said judge, by advertisement in some newspaper published in the county where such child is found ;. and such child, if claimed by its parents, parent or guardian, may be returned to them by said judge. SECT. 25. Nothing in the three preceding sections shall be construed to oblige said society to receive the custody of any child. SECT. 26. In Hampden county the provisions of the four preceding sections shall in all respects be applicable to the Hampden County Children's Aid Association in like manner as to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. SECT. 27. Nothing contained in the five preceding sections shall be deemed to limit the powers of the state board of health, lunacy, and charity. 48.] DISTURBING SCHOOLS. 75 PENALTY FOR DISTURBING SCHOOLS. * ' Whoever wilfully interrupts or disturbs a school or other assembly of people met for a lawful purpose, shall be punished by imprisonment in the jail not exceeding thirty days, or by fine not exceeding fifty dollars." Pub. Stat., sect. 23, chap. 207. This statute includes meetings assembled for the discussion of the subject of temperance ; and also, it seems, political gatherings, meetings for amusement and all public meetings held for lawful purposes. 1 Gray, 476. IMPROPER LITERATURE. Chap. 70 of the Acts of 1890 provides that whoever imports ; prints, publishes, sells, or distributes a book, pamphlet, ballad, printed paper, or other thing containing obscene, indecent, or impure language, or manifestly tending to the corruption of the morals of youth, or an obscene, indecent, or impure print, picture, figure, or description, manifestly tending to the cor- ruption of the morals of youth, or introduces into a family, school, or place of education, or buys, procures, receives, or has in his possession any such book, pamphlet, ballad, printed paper, or other thing, either for the purpose of sale, exhibition, loan, or circulation, or with intent to introduce the same into a family, school, or place of education, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five years, or by imprisonment in the jail not exceeding two years, and by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars nor less than one hun- dred dollars. No LIQUOR TO BE SOLD WITHIN FOUR HUNDRED FEET or SCHOOL BUILDING. " No license of the first, second or third class, under the provisions of chapter one hundred of the Public Statutes, shall be granted for the sale of intoxicating liquors in any building or place on the same street within four hundred feet of any building occupied in whole or in part by a public school." Chap. 220, Acts of 1882. MALICIOUS INJURY TO BUILDINGS. [Pub. Stats , chap. 203.] SECT. 78. Whoever wilfully and maliciously or wantonly and without cause destroys, defaces, mars or injures a school- house, church or other building erected or used for purposes of education or religious instruction, or for the general diffu- 76 INJURY TO BUILDINGS. [June, sion of knowledge, or an outbuilding, fence, well or appur- tenance of such school-house, church or other building, or furniture, apparatus or other property belonging to or con- nected with such school-house, church, or other building, shall be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the jail not exceeding one year. INJURY TO LIBRARIES. SECT. 79. Whoever wilfully and maliciously or wantonly and without cause writes upon, injures, defaces, tears or de- stroys a book, plate, picture, engraving or statute belonging to a law, town, city or other public library, shall be punished by fine of not less than five nor more than fifty dollars, or by im- prisonment in the jail not exceeding six months. DOG TAX FOR SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. [Pub. Stats., chap. 102, sect. 107.] Moneys received by a county treasurer under the provisions of the preceding sections 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. PATRIOTIC EXERCISES. Chapter 111 of the Acts of 1890 provides that in all the pub- lic schools of the Commonwealth the last regular session prior to Memorial Day, or a portion thereof, shall be devoted to- exercises of a patriotic nature. 1892.] NORMAL SCHOOLS. NORMAL SCHOOLS. The several normal schools were established by the following legislative resolves : [Chap. 70, Resolves of 1838.] WHEREAS by a letter from the Honorable Horace Mann, secretary of the board of education, addressed on the twelfth of March current, to the president of the senate and speaker of the house of representatives, it appears, that private munificence * has placed at his disposal the sum of ten thousand dollars to promote the cause of popular education in Massa- chusetts, on condition that the Commonwealth will contribute, from unap- propriated funds, the same amount in aid of the same cause, the two sums to be drawn upon equally, from time to time, as needed, and to be disbursed under the direction of the board of education in qualifying teachers for the common schools ; therefore, Resolved, That his excellency the governor is hereby authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the council, to draw his warrant upon the treasurer of the Commonwealth, in favor of the board of education, for the sum of ten thousand dollars, in such instalments and at such times as said board may request : provided, that said board, in their request shall certify, that the secretary of said board has placed at their disposal an equal amount to that for which such application may be made by them ; both sums to be expended, under the direction of said board, in qualifying teachers for the common schools in Massachusetts. Resolved, That the board of education shall render an annual account of the manner in which said moneys have been by them expended. SALEM NORMAL SCHOOL. [Chap. 49, Resolves of 1853.] Resolved, That the board of education be, and they are hereby authorized to establish a state normal school at some suitable place in the county of Essex, and that the sum of six thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, from the proceeds of the public lands or the school fund, according to the provisions of the act of the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, chapter two hundred and nineteen, to defray the expense of providing a site, of erecting or purchasing a suitable building, and furnishing the necessary appurtenances and apparatus for said school ; * Of Hon. Edmund D wight. 78 NORMAL SCHOOLS. [June, and that the same be expended for that purpose under the direction of the board of education, upon whose requisition the governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrants upon the treasury to the amount aforesaid. Resolved, That the board of education be, and they are hereby authorized to purchase and receive grants of land, in the name of the Commonwealth, and in suitable quantity, for the site of said building and the accommoda- tion of said school ; and that, before selecting said site, they be directed to receive propositions from towns or individuals in said county of Essex, in aid of the object of these resolves, and afterwards to make such selection as will in their opinion best subserve the interests and accommodate the wants of said school. WORCESTER NORMAL SCHOOL. [Chap. 79, Resolves of 1871.] Resolved, That the board of education are hereby authorized and required to establish a state normal school in the city of Worcester, and that the sum of sixty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to defray the expenses of erecting a suitable building and furnishing the necessary appurtenances and apparatus for said school, and that the same be expended under the di- rection of the board of education, upon whose requisition the governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant for the amount aforesaid to be paid from the school fund : provided, that the deficit of income of the school fund occasioned by such payment, shall be deducted from the moiety of the income of said fund applicable to educational purposes, in such manner as not to affect the amount to be apportioned and distributed for the support of public schools. Resolved, That the trustees of the Worcester Lunatic Hospital are hereby authorized and required to convey to the board of education and its succes- sors, in trust for the Commonwealth, a tract of land situated in said city of Worcester, of not more than five acres, to be located by the governor and council, east of a line drawn one hundred and seventy feet east of the easterly line of Mulberry Street, and north of a line drawn five hundred feet south of the southerly line of Prospect Street when extended east as proposed ; and west of the westerly line of Wilmot Street when extended southerly as proposed ; the conveyance of said land to include a right of way thereto from East Central Street, the location whereof shall be deter- mined and fixed by the governor and council, if in their opinion said right of way is necessary and desirable. Resolved, That the city of Worcester is hereby authorized to lay out and extend Prospect Street, from its present easterly terminus to its intersection with the proposed line of the prolongation of Wilmot Street ; also to ex- tend Wilmot Street southerly to the proposed intersection with the exten- sion of Prospect Street, and from that point southerly to East Central Street. Resolved, That the value of said land shall be determined and fixed by the governor and council, and the amount shall be credited by the treasurer of the Commonwealth to the fund created by the provisions of section four, chapter two hundred and thirty-eight of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and seventy. 1892.] NORMAL ART SCHOOL. 79 Resolved, That the city council of the city of Worcester may raise by tax- ation or otherwise, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, and may pay the same to the board of education for the purposes named in these resolves : provided, that these resolves shall not take effect until the city of Worces- ter or the inhabitants thereof shall have paid to the board of education the sum of fifteen thousand dollars to aid in the erection and furnishing of the building for said school. NORMAL ART SCHOOL [Chaps. 47 and 61, Resolves of 1873.] Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury, the sum of seventy-five hundred dollars for the expenses of a state normal art school, the same to be expended under the direction of the board of education. Resolved, That the sergeant-at-arms with the consent and approval of the commissioners on the state house be authorized to assign the rooms on the third floor of the house number thirty-three Pemberton Square to the board of education for the use of the state normal art school. In accordance with the foregoing resolves, normal schools were established as follows : The first at Lexington, which was opened July, 1839, trans- ferred to West Newton, September, 1844 ; and to Framingham in 1853. It receives as pupils only females. The second was opened at Barre, September, 1839 ; was suspended in 1841 ; and recommenced at Westfield, September, 1844, and receives pupils of both sexes. The third was opened at Bridge water, September, 1840, and admits pupils of both sexes. The fourth was established at Salem, and opened September, 1854, and is for females only. The school at Worcester was opened September, 1874. It admits pupils of both sexes. The Normal Art School was opened October, 1873. THE DESIGN OF THE SCHOOLS AND COURSES or STUDY. The Board of Education, by a vote passed May 6, 1880, stated the design of the school and the course of studies for the State normal schools as follows : "The design of the normal schools is strictly professional; that is, to prepare, in the best possible manner, the pupils for the work of organizing, governing and teaching the public schools of the Commonwealth. 80 NORMAL SCHOOLS. [June, "To this end, there must be the most thorough knowledge, first, of the branches of learning required to be taught in the schools ; second, of the best methods of teaching those branches ; and, third, of right mental training. ' ' The time of one course extends through a period of two years, of the other through a period of four years, and is divided into terms of twenty weeks each, with daily sessions of not less than five days each week. " STUDIES. "Two Years' Course. Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, book-keeping. "Physics, astronomy, chemistry. "Physiology, botany, zoology, mineralogy, geology, geog- raphy. "Language, reading, orthography, etymology, grammar, rhetoric, literature, composition. " Penmanship, drawing, vocal music, gymnastics, military drill. "Psychology, science and art of education, school organiza- tion, history of education. "Civil polity of Massachusetts and of the United States, history, school laws of Massachusetts. "Four Years' Course. In addition to the studies named above, the four years' course includes advanced algebra and geometry, trigonometry and surveying. "Advanced chemistry, physics and botany. "Drawing, English literature, general history. "Latin and French required; German and Greek, as the principal and visitors of the school shall decide. " The above is an enumeration of the studies. The order of the studies in the course is determined by the principal of each school, with the approval of the visitors of that school." NORMAL ART SCHOOL. Candidates for admission to the Normal Art School must be above sixteen years of age. An examination in freehand drawing of ornament from copy, and object drawing from the solid, will be held at the begin- 181)2.] STATE SCHOLARSHIPS. 81 ning of each term, of all candidates for admission to class A. To students residing within the State, intending to teach draw- ing in the public schools, tuition is free ; but five dollars per term will be charged for incidentals. Tuition fee, to students from without the State, fifty dollars per term. Students requiring instruction in special studies may enter any class without passing through class A, by payment of a fee of twenty-five dollars per term if residents of Massachusetts, and fifty dollars per term if from other States. All fees are pay- able in advance to the curator at the commencement of each term, and must be so paid. There is no examination for admission for the special students, but permission for entering must be obtained from the principal. The work of class A is devoted to elementary drawing ; of class B, to form, color and industrial design ; of class D, to the constructive arts ; and of class C, to sculpture and design in the round. STATE SCHOLARSHIPS IN THE WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. By the terms of certain grants made by the State to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that institution is required to maintain twenty free scholarships, the pupils to be selected by the Board of Education from the different counties in this Commonwealth, except that none shall be taken from Worcester County. Blank applications for these scholarships may be obtained of the principal of the school or of the secretary of the State Board of Education. STATE SCHOLARSHIPS IN THE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. In consideration of receiving aid from the Commonwealth, it is provided by chapter 103 of the Resolved of the Legislature of 1887 that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology " shall establish and maintain twenty free scholarships, and each sena- torial district in this Commonwealth shall, once in eight years, in such alternate order as the Board of Education shall at the time of the first apportionment determine by lot, be entitled to one scholarship for a period of four years, to be awarded to such candidates as shall be found upon examination to possess the qualifications fixed for the admission of students to said institute, and who shall be selected by the Board of Education j 82 NORMAL SCHOOLS. [June, preference in the award being given to qualified candidates otherwise unable to bear the expense of tuition. In case no candidate appears from a senatorial district, then a candidate may be selected from the State at large to fill such vacancy, who may continue to hold the scholarship annually, until a candidate is presented from the senatorial district unrepresented, who shall then be awarded the scholarship for the balance of the time for which said district would originally have been entitled to its benefit. In case a vacancy occurs in any senatorial dis- trict after an appointment has been made, then a candidate from the same district shall be selected for the balance of the time for which said district is entitled to its benefit, or in the event of no such candidate appearing, from the State at large, upon the conditions previously set forth." The Board of Education has established the following regu- lations in regard to the scholarships provided for above : 1. Group 1. Ten scholarships are established, to be filled at the beginning of the school year 1888-89, and these have been assigned by lot to the following senatorial dis- tricts : 2d Middlesex, 2d Worcester, 2d Plymouth, 1st Bristol, 2d Essex, 4th Essex, 2d Norfolk, 8th Suffolk, 5th Essex, 2d Suffolk. This allows to one student from each of the above-named senatorial dis- tricts free tuition during the school years 1888-89, 1889-90, 1890-91, 1891-92, and again, after an interval of four years, during the school years 1896-97, 1897-98, 1898-99, 1899-1900. Group 2. Ten additional scholarships are established, to be filled at the beginning of the school year 1889-90, and these have been assigned by lot to the following senatorial districts : Berkshire and Hampshire, 1st Plymouth, Cape, 3d Essex, 1st Worcester, 7th Suffolk, 3d Suffolk, 1st Essex, 6th Middlesex, 6th Essex. This allows to one student from each of the above senatorial districts free tuition during the school years 1889-90, 1890-91, 1891-92, 1892-93, and, after an interval of four years, during the school years 1897-98, 1898-99, 1899-1900, 1900-1901. 1892.] STATE SCHOLARSHIPS. 83 Group 3. The scholarships to be filled at the beginning of the school year 1892-93 are assigned by lot to the following senatorial districts : 1st Middlesex, 9th Suffolk, 1st Hampden, 5th Middlesex, 1st Suffolk, Franklin, 3d Bristol, 4th Middlesex, 1st Norfolk, 3d Worcester. This allows to one student from each of the above senatorial districts free tuition during the school years 1892-93, 1893-94, 1894-95, 1895-96, and, after an interval of four years, during the school years 1900-1901, 1901-2, 1902-3, 1903-4. Group 4. The scholarships to be filled at the beginning of the school year 1893-94 are assigned by lot to the following .senatorial districts : 3d Middlesex, 5th Suffolk, 2d Hampden, 7th Middlesex, 4th Suffolk, 4th Worcester, 2d Bristol, 6th Suffolk, Berkshire, Worcester and Hampshire. This allows to one student from each of the above senatorial districts free -tuition during the school years 1893-94, 1894-95, 1895-96, 1896-97, and, after an interval of four years, during the school years 1901-2, 1902-3, 1903-4, 1904-5. Each senatorial district shall be entitled thereafter to one scholarship (for four years) once in eight years, in the same order,above named. 2. In case of a vacancy occurring in the scholarship as- signed to any senatorial district without any properly qualified applicant appearing from that district, the vacancy shall be filled without regard to locality, from the list of applicants registered in the office of the secretary of the State Board of Education. 3. Preference shall be given to qualified candidates other- wise unable to bear the expense of tuition, but preference shall be given, all other things being equal, to students actually in the Institute from the appropriate senatorial districts. 4. A high standard of personal scholarship shall be insisted upon, as a condition of receiving and retaining the benefits of the State scholarships. 84 XORMAL SCHOOLS. [June, '92. 5. Xo assignment of a State scholarship to any individual student shall hold for more than one year, without his re- appointment. A decided preference will be given to the student who has previously held the appointment ; but this preference will not be sufficient to secure the re-appointment of any student who has not maintained a thoroughly respectable standing in his studies, and whose character and deportment are not, in all respects, unexceptionable. 6. Applicants for original appointment to State scholarships must enclose in their applications a certificate of admission to the Institute of Technology, free*from " conditions." 7. Persons desiring information concerning the course of study at the Institute of Technology, times of examination and requirements of admission, should address the secretary of the Institute of Technology, Boston. 8. Persons desiring information regarding vacancies in the State scholarships established under these regulations, and regarding the terms and conditions upon which such vacancies are to be filled, should address the secretary of the State Board of Education, Boston, who will also furnish blank forms for application. INDEX TO SCHOOL LAWS. PAGE Abandoned and abused minors under fourteen years of age, wards of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, . ' 74 Accessions to school fund under law of 1890, , 26 Accounts of normal school boarding-houses under direction of State auditor, . 16 Adjoining towns, conditions for children attending school in 60 High schools, union, may be maintained by, 33 Tuition, payment of, in, . 30, 60 Admission to schools, school committee fix qualifications for, 38 Qualifications for admission to high schools fixed by committee, ... 59 Age, certificate of child's, by whom signed, 66 Conditions for granting, reading and writing 66 Attendance upon school thirty weeks, 63 Child to produce employment ticket, 64 Evidence of, to be sought in records, 66 Failure to produce certificate of, prima facie evidence of illegal employment, 67 Penalty for falsifying concerning, 67 Superintendent or school committee may sign certificate of, . . . . 65 Age of attendance not fixed by law, 58 Compulsory, from eight to fourteen years, 57 Extends to fifteen where industrial education is provided, .... 58 Drawing to be taught to children over fifteen years of age in towns of ten thousand inhabitants, 33 Parents and guardians to cause their children and wards from eight to four- teen or fifteen years to attend school, . . 57 School committees have power to provide for schooling outside of compulsory age, 58 Agents of the Board of Education, appointment and duties of, .... 15 Ages of children, committees to ascertain, 53 Aid by public appropriations not to be granted to sectarian schools, ... 7 By Todd fund to pupils in normal schools, 12 American Institute of Instruction, memorial of, 9 Amount of school fund with increase, 24 Annual report of the Board of Education upon system of public schools, . . 13 Contains abstract of school returns, 13 Detailed report of doings of Board, . 13 Secretary of the Board, with duties imposed, . . . . . . . 13 Annual report of school committee upon condition of schools, .... 55 Form and size of, prescribed, .55 Transmission of, to secretary of Board of Education, 55 Penalty for failure to transmit before May 1, 55 Truant officers', to be published with, 70 Apparatus, books of reference, etc., to be provided by school committees, . . 47 School committees may use portion of school fund for purchase of, . . 27 Apprentices and children, under law of 1642, required to be taught, ... 58 Approval of private school by school committee, 59 Religious instruction no bar to, 59 86 INDEX. PAGE Art School, State Normal, at Boston, 79, 80 Assistant librarian of State library clerk of Board of Education, .... 16 Assistants, female, to be employed when average attendance exceeds fifty scholars, 35 Associations of teachers, provisions for 19-22 County and State, receive aid, 22 Teachers' institutes, arrangements and provisions for, 19 Towns, list of, where held since 1845, 19 Attendance of children upon public schools, 57-62 Age, limits of, not fixed by statute, 58 School committees have power to provide for, outside of compulsory age, . 58 Certificate of physician required to admit children exposed to contagious diseases, 61 Children and apprentices, under law of 1642, required to be taught, . . 5S Between eight and fourteen to be made to attend public day school, . . 57 Age extended to fifteen where industrial education is provided, . . 58 Exceptions to law requiring attendance upon public schools, ... 57 Statutes fix no limits as to age outside of compulsory age, .... 58 "Where they may attend school, 59 Out of town by agreement of school committee, 60 State lines, attendance cannot go beyond 60 Towns not required to keep high schools may pay tuition to other towns, 30 Tuition per scholar from out of town, average for town, .... 60 Color, race or religioH not to exclude from school, 61 Contagious diseases in family preclude from attendance on public school, . 61 Courts having jurisdiction of cases of truancy, 59 Damages may be recovered for unlawful exclusion from school, ... 61 Education, universal, a necessity under our institutions, 58 Exclusion of pupil from school, 39 Cause must be given by committee and teacher, 61 Guardian, residence of, place where minor may attend, . . . . . 60 High school, admission to, decided by school committee, . . . . 59 Manual training or industrial education in towns a condition for extending to fifteen the age of compulsory, 58 Minor under guardianship, attendance of, where guardian resides, ... 60 Parents and guardians to cause children from eight to fourteen or fifteen years of age to attend school 57 Expulsion of child, cause for, may be demanded by, 61 Penalty upon, for non-compliance with law, 57 Time of attendance, schools keeping so long, thirty weeks, .... 57 Penalty upon parents for failure to secure attendance of child, ... 57 Private schools may be approved by school committees for purposes of, . . 59 Religious instruction not a bar to approval of, ...... 59 School committee, every member may be required to testify in case of expulsion, 61 High schools, admission to, determined by, 59 Power of, to admit to school outside of compulsory age, .... 58 Private school instruction, quality of, to be ascertained by school committee, 59 Truant officers act under direction of, 59 Tuition of non-resident pupils, committee fix rate of, 60 Vaccination of all pupils to be insisted upon by, 60 School moneys not to be given by towns to individuals to pay tuition else- where, 60 Schools cannot receive non-resident pupils from other States, .... 60 Suspension of pupil by teacher must be referred to school committee, . . 62 By committee, on the ground of right to guard from misrule, ... 62 Towns adjoining, conditions for children attending school in, . . . . 60 Tuition in such cases to be agreed upon by committees, .... 60 INDEX. 87 PAGE Attendance of children upon public schools concluded. Truant officers and school committee must discover truants and enforce law, . 59 Committee to direct,, 59 Jurisdiction of cases of truancy in what courts, 59 Tuition, payment of, in adjoining towns, 30, 60 Authority of teacher over pupils, ... 43 In coming to and going from school, 44 In school-room, 44 On school premises, 44 Average cost of pupil's tuition determines rate for non-resident pupils, ... 60 Bible, reading of, required in public schools, 45 Blank forms of school registers, duly filled, to be returned by committees to secre- tary of the Board of Education, 54 For applicants to deaf-mute schools and blind, for State aid, .... 16 School returns not being received, committee to notify secretary of the Board, 53 For returns from private schools and other educational institutions, . . 18 Town clerks to deliver registers and, to school committees 53 Boarding-houses connected with normal schools under management of Board of Education, ............. 16 Board of Education, how organized, terms of office, etc., 10 Abstract of school returns compiled by, 13 Agents of Board, appointment and duties of, 15 Persons employed as, list of, 15 Annual report of, upon system of public schools, 13 Blind (see Deaf-mutes and Blind). Clerk of, assistant librarian to act as, 16 Deaf-mutes and blind, institutions for, receiving State aid to report to, . . 16 Blanks for applicants to, to be provided by Board of Education, . . 18 Expenses of, borne by State, 17 Governor, with consent of Board of Education, may provide for, ... 17 Institutions, to which may be sent, -. . . 17 Report of institutions for, to be made to the Board of Education, . . 18 Supervision of institutions for, under the Board of Education, , . . 17 Ten years, time of State provision for, 17 Detailed report of doings of, 13 Educational progress, summary of, 15 Expenses of members paid out of treasury, . 16 Feeble-minded, Massachusetts School for, to report to, 18 Education of, provision for, 18 Report to contain statement of income and expenditures, inmates, etc., . 18 Grants for educational purposes intrusted to, 12 Todd fund in aid of normal students, ......... 12 Members, list of, from organization, 11 Normal schools, management of, by, 16 Boarding-houses connected with, under management of the Board, . . 16 Accounts of, under direction of State auditor, 16 Organization of, term of office of, 10 Private schools and other educational institutions to make returns to, . . 16 Registers and returns, form of, prescribed by, 13 Duty of committees concerning, 13 Town clerk to forward, to school committees, 13 Receipts and expenditures, by towns, of school fund, to be returned to, . . 54 Reports of, to be delivered to secretary of school committee, .... 14 To be sent to town clerk, 14 ' Secretary of, appointment and duties of, 13 General superintendence of schools intrusted to, 14 Issues blank forms of inquiry, Salary of, with travelling expenses, 14 88 INDEX. PAGE Board of Education, secretaries of, list of, from organization of Board, . . 11 Teachers' institutes, to arrange for, 19 To be notified by school committee of failure to receive registers and blanks, 53 Transmission of school committees' report and returns to secretary of, required, 55 Penalty for failure of town regarding, 55 Board of health may overrule order of inspectors of public buildings, ... 51 Books and supplies, provisions concerning, 45, 47 Of reference and apparatus to be provided by school committee, ... 47 School committee may use portion of school fund for purchase of, . . . 27 Sectarian, to be excluded from public schools, 45 Text and other, under supervision of school committee, 45,47 Changes in text-books, conditions for, 47 Boston, State Normal Art School at, 79, 80 Branches to be taught at option of school committees, . 29 Bridgewater Normal School, opening of, 79 Bringing up of children, parents and masters to render account of, ... 5 By-laws made by towns for control of truant children, 69 Complaints under, to be made by truant officers and inspectors of factories, . 70 Calisthenics, military drill and other exercises may be taught in public schools, . 46 Census of school children to be secured by school committee, . . . . 53 Certificate, form of, for transmitting information to secretary of Board of Edu- cation, 54 Child to produce employment ticket before receiving certificate of school attendance, 64 Conditions for granting, reading and writing, 66 Attendance upon school thirty weeks 63 Corporation to keep on file certificate of attendance, 63 Employer to surrender certificate on application by child 65 In factories, open to inspectors and truant officers, 66 Failure to produce, prima facie evidence of illegal employment, ... 67 Not to be signed by employer as school committee, 65 Of child's age, by whom signed, 66 Of physician required to admit child after exposure to contagious disease, . 61 Of teachers' qualifications to be granted by school committee, .... 42 Diploma of normal school in lieu of, 41 Penalty for falsifying concerning age of child, . 67 Superintendent or school committee may sign certificate of attendance, . . 65 Chairman and secretary of school committee, in case of union of towns, to employ superintendent, 48 Changes in text-books directed by school committee, 47 Chief of district police may designate employments injurious 63 Child's age, evidence of, to be sought in records, 66 Children and apprentices, under law of 1642, required to be taught, ... 58 Attendance of, for thirty weeks required, 63 Attending schools in adjoining towns, conditions for, 60 Conveyance of, to school, duty of committee concerning, 37 Distribution of, in schools by school committee, 38 Employment of, and regulations respecting 63-72 Value of certificate of, to school committee, 54 Enumeration of, to be secured by school committee, 54 Exclusion of, from school, ' 39, 61 In-door work of any kind forbidden to, etc., 63 Persistent violators of rules of common schools may be committed to truant school, 69, 70 Truants and absentees from school, 69-72 Under thirteen years old not to be employed at anytime in factory, workshop, etc., 63 Under fourteen years of age not to be employed between seven P.M. and six A.M., 63 Work of all kinds forbidden to children during school hours, etc 63 INDEX. 89 PAGE Circus, children under fifteen years old not to be employed in, .... 68 Penalties attached to employment of children in, 68 Cities and towns subject to like rules regarding use of school-houses, ... 52 Colonial period, laws enacted during, 5, 6 Children to be accounted for to chosen men of the town, . . . . . 5 Color, race or religion not to exclude from public schools, 61 Commissioners of Massachusetts school fund, 25 Committees (see School Committees) . Compensation of school committees per day, . 48 Under superintendent laws of 1854 and 1870, 48 Under union superintendent laws of 1888, 49 Complaints for truancy, under town by-laws, to be made by truant officers and inspectors of factories, 70 Compulsory attendance, age of, eight to fourteen and fifteen, . . . . . 57, 58 Constitution, educational provisions under, 7 Contagious diseases in family preclude from attendance in public schools, . . 61 Contiguous portions of different towns, schools for, 34 Contract with teachers, duties of committees concerning, 41 Convention of school committees of towns uniting to employ superintendent, . 49 To elect superintendent, 49 Copies of school committees' reports to be sent to secretary of Board of Educa- tion and to town clerk, 55 Corporation and workshop forbidden to employ children without a certificate, . 64 May be prosecuted for violation of law, 67 Corporation school fund not affected by town's obligation to raise money for schools, 36 Counties, two or more union truant schools may be established for, ... 71 County teachers' association, State aid for 22 County treasurer to apply forfeiture moneys to support of schools, ... 36 County truant schools established by county commissioners on requisition of three or more towns, ........... 71 Commissioners to control schools, 71 Support of truants in, by towns, cost two dollars per week, . . . . 71 Towns may commit to, 70 Transfer of truants from town to, ' . . 72 Course of studies prescribed by law compulsory and optional with school com- mittee 29 Hand tools, use of, 29 High school, two courses of studies, 30 Industrial and mechanical drawing, 33 Industrial schools, provision for, 3.4 To be prescribed by school committee, 46 Courts having jurisdiction of cases of truancy, ....... 70 Damage may be recovered for unlawful exclusion from school, . . . . 61 Deaf-mutes and blind, institutions for, receiving State aid to report to Board of Education, Detailed report of doings of Board of Education 13 Diploma of normal school in lieu of school committee examinations, . Discharge of truant children by court committing 72 District police to notify school committee of employment laws, .... 67 Chief of, to designate injurious employments, 63 Inspection department of, to enforce law concerning sanitary condition of school-houses ^ Board of health may overrule order of, '51 District system of schools established by law of 1789, Disturbing school, penalty for, <[ 5 Dog tax applied for support of schools and public libraries 76 90 INDEX. PAGE Drawing, industrial and mechanical, may be taught to persons over fifteen in any town, 33 Must be taught to child over fifteen years in towns of ten thousand inhabi- tants, 33 Prescribed study in public schools, 29 Duration of high schools, ten months, 30 Duties of school committee as supervisors of public schools, ..... 29-70 Of truant officers under town by-laws, 69 Educational progress, summary of, 15 Education, Board of (see Board of Education). Education of feeble-minded children, provision for, 18 Education, universal, a necessity under our institutions, 58 Election of school committees, method and time of, 37 Of superintendent of schools, under law of 1888, by ballot, .... 49 Penalty of towns for neglect to elect, 36 Sex no bar to eligibility to office, 37 Employment of children and regulations respecting them, 63-72 Age, certificate of, who may sign, 66 Attendance upon school, reading and writing requisites for obtaining certifi- cates of, 66 Thirty weeks of schooling necessary to gaining certificate of, ... 63 Certificate and employment ticket to be kept by corporations, .... 63 Certificate of age not to be signed till child produces employment ticket, . 64 Superintendent authorized to sign certificate, 65 Certificates in factories open to inspectors and truant officers, .... 66 Children under thirteen years old not to be employed at any time in factory, workshop, etc., 63 In-door work of any kind forbidden, etc., 63 Under fourteen years not to be employed between seven P.M. and six A.M., 63 "Work of all kinds forbidden to certain children during school hours, etc., . 63 Circus, children under fifteen years old not to be employed in, ... 68 Penalties attached to employment of children in, 68 Corporation and workshop forbidden to employ children without certificate, . 64 May be prosecuted for violation of law, 67 District police to notify school committee of employment laws, ... 67 Employer to surrender certificate on application by child, .... 65 May not sign certificate as school committee, 65 Oath provided for in certificate may be administered by signer, ... 65 Employment ticket, form of, 64 Modification in form of, 65 Employments, injurious, designated by chief of district police, ... 63 Evidence of age of child to be sought in records, ..'.... 66 Factory and workshop, definitions of, .67 Failure to produce certificate of age prima facie evidence of illegal employment, 67 Fines and imprisonment for employing children under fifteen in circuses, etc., 68 Music for school or church not within pale of the law 68 In-door work for wages during school hours forbidden, 63 Inspectors of factories and truant officers to examine certificates of children under sixteen years of age, 66 Licenses not to be granted for shows employing children under fifteen years of age, 68 Penalty for employing truant children after due notice, 72 For falsifying concerning children's age, 67 For violation of employment law concerning children under fourteen years old, 68 Upon parents and factory owners for employing children contrary to law, . 67 Prosecutions against persons or corporations made by truant officer or in- spector, 67 INDEX. 91 PAGE Employment of children, reading and writing requisites for employment of children under fourteen years old, 66 Superintendent or school committee to sign certificate of age, .... 65 Truant children, penalty for employing, after notice, .... 72 Truant officers and factory inspectors, duties of, concerning employers, . . 66 Establishment of normal schools, 77,79 Evening schools in towns of ten thousand inhabitants, 31 High, to be maintained by towns of fifty thousand inhabitants, ... 33 Notification of time and place of holding, to be given by school committees, . 31 Supervision of and notice of opening, by school committees, . . . .31-33 Evidence of age of child to be sought in records, 66 Examination of teachers, duty of committees concerning, 42 Exclusion of pupils from public schools, 39 Cause must be given by committee and teacher if required, .... 61 Parent or guardian may bring action against town for 61 Expenses of members of Board of Education, 16 Of teachers' institutes, how paid, 19 Factory and workshop, definitions of, 67 Failure of committee to make returns or to report, . 55 Of employers to produce certificate of age prima facie evidence of illegal employment in, 67 Of towns to elect school committee, penalty for, 36 Feeble-minded, Massachusetts School for 18 Female assistants to be employed when average attendance exceeds fifty pupils, . 35 Fines and imprisonment for employing children under fifteen in circuses, etc., . 68 Forfeiture money of towns to be applied to support of schools, .... 36 Form and size of annual report of school committee, 55 Framingham Normal School opened at Lexington in 1839, 79 Funds, school, laws concerning, 23-27 Commissioners of Massachusetts school fund, 25 Corporations, school funds not affected by town's obligation to raise money for schools, 36 Massachusetts school fund, history of, 8, 23 Todd fund for normal schools applied by Board of Education, ... 27 General charge and supervision of schools by school committee, .... 38 Grammar schools by law of 1647 to be established in towns of one hundred families, 6 Amendment to law in 1683 required two schools in towns of five hundred families, 6 High school provided for in 1826 in place of old, 8 Grants for educational purposes intrusted to Board of Education 12 Greek and Latin omitted in high schools in towns not having four thousand inhabitants, 8 Guardian, residence of, place where minor may attend school, .... 60 Hand tools, purchase and use of, for public schools, 29 High schools, evening, to be maintained in towns of fifty thousand inhabitants, . 33 High schools, union, may be maintained by adjoining towns, .... 33 Admission to, decided by school committee, 59 Course of studies required in towns of five hundred families, .... 30 Additional studies in towns of four thousand inhabitants 30 Evening, in cities of fifty thousand inhabitants, 33 Superintendence by school committee, . 33 Master includes female teacher, . 31 Supervision of, by one member of each committee 33 Tuition, payment of, by towns not required to maintain, 30 History of legislation concerning school committee, 38 Hygiene and physiology to be taught in all public schools 29 92 INDEX. PAGE Improper literature, act providing against disseminating, 75 Income of Massachusetts school fund, distribution of, by law of 1891, ... 26 Influence exerted by 25 In towns, how applied, 27 Investment of the fund, 26 Increasing and decreasing number of school committees, 41 In-door work for wages during sckool hours forbidden, 63 Industrial and mechanical drawing may be taught in any town, .... 33 Must be taught in towns of ten thousand inhabitants, 33 Industrial education in towns a condition for extending to fifteen the age of compul- sory attendance, 58 Industrial schools, town may maintain, 34 Attendance upon, not to excuse from public school attendance, ... 34 Superintendence to be with school committee, 34 Injury to buildings, malicious, 75 To libraries, punishment for, 76 Inspectors of factories and truant officers to examine certificate of children under sixteen years of age, 66 Of public buildings, reports of, may be overruled 51 Penalty for non-compliance with inspectors' order, . . . . . . 51 Public building and school-house denned, .51 Institute of Technology, Boston, 81 Polytechnic, Worcester, 81 Institutes, State scholarships in, 81-84 Institutes, teachers' (see Teachers' Institutes) . Institutions, deaf-mute, blind and feeble-minded, report to Board of Education, . 16 Intoxicating liquors, license for sale of, 75 Jurisdiction of cases of truancy, courts having, 70 Land may be taken for site of school-house, 52 Legislation concerning committees, history of, 38 Legislators and magistrates enjoined to foster public schools 7 Libraries and schools, support of, by dog tax, 76 Injury to libraries, penalty for, 76 License not to be granted for sale of intoxicating liquors within four hundred feet, etc., 75 Licenses not to be granted for shows employing children under fifteen years of age, 68 Liquor, intoxicating, not to be sold within four hundred feet of school-house, . 75 Literature, encouragement of, under constitution, 7 Lord Macaulay's tribute to Massachusetts school legislation, 5 Malicious injury to buildings, penalty for, . 75 Manual training or industrial education in towns a condition for extending to fifteen the age of compulsory attendance, 58 Massachusetts school fund, foundation and history of, 8, 23 Accessions to, under law of 1890 26 Amount of, 24 Conditions upon which towns receive income of, 27 Distribution of income of, law of 1891 26 Income of, how applied in towns, 27 Influence exerted by, 25 Investment of the fund, 26 Paid to treasurers of towns, 27 Receipt and expenditure of, by towns, 54 School committee may use portion for purchase of apparatus, .... 27 Towns must raise three dollars per pupil for support of schools in order to receive, 27 Massachusetts Teachers' Association, aid for 22 Master in high schools includes female teacher, 31 Members of Board of Education, list of, from organization, 11 INDEX. 93 PAGE Memorial of American Institute of Instruction, reference to, 9 Military drill and other exercises may be taught in public schools, ... 46 Minor under guardianship, attendance of, where guardian resides, .... 60 Moneys not to be given by towns to individuals to pay tuition, .... 60 Month for school records equals twenty days 54 Moral instruction, duties of instructors of youth concerning, 35 Narcotics, stimulants and, effects of, 29 Nautical schools, attendance upon, may excuse from public school attendance, . 34 New members of school board, election of, 39, 41 Non-resident pupils, schools cannot receive, from other States, .... 60 Normal schools, establishment of, 77 Art, State Normal, at Boston, 79, 80 Bridgewater, opening of, 79 Design and course of studies of, . 79 Early provision for, 8 Establishment of schools, order of, 79 Framingham, opened at Lexington, 79 Management of, by Board of Education, . 16 Salem, resolve concerning, 77 Westfield, opened at Barre, 79 Worcester, resolve concerning, 78 Notification of time and place of holding evening schools to be given by school committee, 32 Number of school committee to be three or a multiple of three, . . . 37 Number of schools to be kept sufficient for all children of school age, ... 29 Old board of school committees to report schools of their year, .... 40 Ordinances establishing schools .5,6 Organization of board of school committees, 41 Of public schools intrusted to school committees, 38 Owner of land taken for school-house may have recourse to jury, . ... 52 Parents and masters to render account for bringing up of children, ... 5 And guardians to cause their children from eight to fourteen to attend school, 57 Patriotic exercises in public schools, session prior to memorial day, ... 76 Pay of school committees in towns and cities 48 Of teacher depends upon filling and returning register, ..... 56 Not to be received under superintendent laws of 1854 and 1870 unless town votes, 48 To be received under law of 1888 49 Penalty applied to school committee for neglect of duty regarding returns, . . 56 For attempting to corrupt youth by improper literature 75 For employing children in circus, 68 For employing truant children after due notice, 72 For failure to transmit annual report and returns of school committee before May 1 55 For falsifying concerning age of child, 67 For malicious injury to buildings, 75 For non-compliance with inspector's order, 51 For violation of employment law concerning children under fourteen years of age, 68 Of towns neglecting to elect school committees 36 Upon parents and factory owners for employing children contrary to law, . 67 Upon parents and guardians for failure to cause children from eight to fourteen years of age to attend school, , 57 Physiology and hygiene to be taught in all schools, 29 Power of school committee to admit to school outside of compulsory age not limited by law, %fc 58 Printed annuaJ reports f school committee, form a-nd size of page, ... 55 94 INDEX. PAGE Private school instruction, quality of, to be ascertained by school committee, . 59 Private schools and other educational institutions to make returns to Board of Education, ... ......... 16 May be approved by school committees for purposes of employment, . . 59 Public building and school-house defined, 51 Public schools, laws pertaining to, 29, 62 Alcoholic drinks, instruction as to effects of, 29 Attendance upon, duties of ministers and public officers concerning, . . 35 Industrial schools, concerning, 34 Bible, reading of, required in . . . . 45 Scruples against, to be regarded, , 45 Board of health may overrule order of inspectors of public buildings, . . 51 Books, sectarian, to be excluded from, 45 Text, conditions upon which changes are made, 47 Calisthenics, military drill and other exercises may be taught in, . . . 46 Certificate of qualifications required of teacher, 42 Diploma of normal school in lieu of, 41 In duplicate on file, 44 Physicians to exempt child in case of sickness from attending evening school 32 Children, distribution of, at committee's discretion, 38 Towns required to keep sufficient number of schools for all, ... 29 Cities and towns subject to like rules regarding use of school-houses, . . 52 Colonial period, laws enacted during, 5, 6 Children to be accounted for, to chosen men of the town 5 Free public schools, origin of, 6 Grammar schools to be established in towns of one hundred families, . . 65 Amendment to law requiring five hundred families, 6 Lord Macaulay's tribute to Massachusetts school legislation, ... 5 Ordinances establishing schools, . . 5, 6 Parents and masters to render account of bringing up of children, . . 5 Schools, keeping of, made compulsory by law of 1647 6 Towns of fifty householders to maintain schools, 6 Constitution, educational provisions of, 7 Legislators and magistrates enjoined to foster public schools, . ^ . . 7 Literature, encouragement of, 7 Sectarian schools not to be aided by public appropriations, .... 7 Committees (see School Committees). Compensation of school committees per day, 48 Under superintendent laws of 1854 and 1870, 48 Under union superintendent laws of 1888, 49 Convention of school committees to elect superintendent, . . . 49 County treasurer to apply forfeiture moneys to support of schools, . . 36 Course of studies in, compulsory and optional, 29 Hand tools, use of, 2? High schools, two courses prescribed, 30 Industrial and mechanical drawing in day or evening schools, ... 33 Industrial schools, provisions for, 34 To be prescribed by school committees, 46 Drawing, industrial and mechanical, may be taught in any town, ... 33 Must be taught to children over fifteen years of age in towns of ten thou- sand inhabitants, 33 Prescribed study in public schools, 29 Diploma of normal school in lieu of school committee examination, . . 41 Election of superintendent of schools, under law of 1888, by ballot, . . 49 Evening schools in towns of ten thousand inhabitants, 31 High, to be maintained by towns of fifty thousand inhabitants, . . . 33 INDEX. 95 Public schools continued. Evening schools, notification of time and place of holding, to be given by school committees, 32 Supervision of, by school committees 31 Female assistants to be employed when average attendance exceeds fifty pupils, 35 Forfeiture money of towns to be applied to support of schools, . . 35 Hand tools, purchase and use of, for 29 Committee to prescribe rules for use of, 29 High schools required in towns of five hundred families, .... 30 Duration of school ten months, 39 Evening high school, towns of fifty thousand people required to maintain, . 33 Master includes female teacher, 31 Statistics relating to, 31 Studies to be taught in, enumeration of, 30 Supervision of, by school committee, 48 Towns of four thousand inhabitants to teach Greek, French, etc., . . 30 Tuition, payment of, by towns not required to maintain, .... 30 Union of adjacent towns to maintain, 33 Hygiene, physiology and, to be taught in all schools, 29 Increasing or diminishing of school committee, 41 Amplification of statute, " 41 Industrial and mechanical drawing may be taught in any town, ... 33 Must be taught in towns of ten thousand inhabitants, 33 Industrial schools, towns may maintain, 34 Attendance upon, not to excuse from public school attendance, ... 34 Superintendence to be, with school committee, 34 Inspectors of public buildings, reports of, may be overruled, .... 51 Penalty for non-compliance with inspector's order, 51 Public building and school-house defined, 51 Land may be taken for site of school-house . 52 Owner may have recourse to jury if aggrieved, 52 Reverts to owner if school is discontinued for one year, .... 52 legislation, organic, relative to, 7-9 American Institute of Instruction, memorial of, 9 Committees, school, towns required to elect, . . . . . . 8 District system of schools established by law 7 Grammar school provided for 8 High schools to be maintained by towns of five hundred families, . . 8 Greek and Latin omitted in, 8 Normal schools, provision for, 8 Public schools, support of, 7 School districts made corporations, 8 School fund, establishment of, 8 Schools, time of keeping, for year, 7 Studies to be taught by statute, 7 Teachers, memorial of American Institute for better preparation of, . 9 Towns of four thousand inhabitants to teach classics, ..... 8 Military drill and other exercises may be taught in, 46 Moral instruction, duties of instructors of youth concerning, .... 35 Narcotics, stimulants and, effects of, 29 Nautical schools, attendance upon, may excuse from public school attendance, 34 Number to be kept sufficient for all children of school age, .... 29 Old school board to report schools of year, 40 Organization of board of school committee, 41 Secretary and book of records essential to, 41 Owner of land taken for site of school may resort to jury, .... 52 Patriotic exercises by, on session preceding memorial day, .... 76 96 INDEX. Public schools concluded. Pay of school committees in towns and in cities, 48 Not to receive, under superintendent laws of 1854 and 1870 unless town pro- vides, 48 To receive, under law of 1888 49 Penalty for non-compliance with the order of inspectors of public buildings, . 51 For neglect of town to elect a school committee, 36 For refusal of towns to raise money for schools, 36 Persons over twelve years of age, schools additional for, 34 Physiology and hygiene taught in, as a regular branch, . . . . 29 Exposition of the law, 30 Privies in proper condition and in number to meet reasonable wants, . . 50 Public buildings and school-house defined, 51 Pupils, exclusion of, from school, 39, 61 Qualifications, children's, for admission to, determined by school com- mittee, 38 Of teachers, determined by committees, 42 Report of, for school year to be made by old board, 40 Sanitary condition of school-houses, provision for 50 Inspector's reports upon 51 Privies, condition and number of, 50 Ventilation of school-houses, to meet, 51 School committee (see School Committees). Qualifications for admission to public schools determined by school committees, 38 Of teachers, determined by committee 42 Reading and writing requisites for employment of children under fourteen years of age . . . 66 Records of proceedings of school committee to be kept by secretary, ... 41 Refusal of whole board of school committee to serve, 39 Registers, school committee to cause to be kept, .54 School committee nor town, neither has power to excuse from keeping, . . 55 Teachers, duty of, concerning 56 Registers and returns, form of, prescribed by Board of Education, ... 13 Duty of committees concerning, 13 Town clerk to forward to school committee, 13 Regulations concerning proper use of text-books and supplies made by school committees, 47 Religious instruction not a bar to approval of private schools, .... 59 Report, annual, of Board of Education upon system of public schools, . . . 13 Chairman and secretary to sign, if committee consists of thirteen or more, . 56 Of school committee to be made by old board, 40 Truant officers', to be published with school committees', .... 70 Reports of the Board of Education to be sent to town clerks, 14 Of institutions for deaf-mutes, blind and feeble-minded, made to Board of Education, 18 To contain statement of income, expenditures, etc., 18 Of school committees, annually to be forwarded to Board of Education, . . 55 Printed form of, required to conform in size to that of report of Board of Education, 55 Of truant laws, town's compliance with, 72 Property of town, not of individuals, 56 Town clerk to deliver to school committee 56 Returns of school committee consisting of not less than thirteen signed by chair- man and secretary, 56 Of attendance to be compiled by school committee, 54 Reversion of land taken for school-house on discontinuance of school, ... 52 Salem Normal School, resolve concerning, .77 INDEX. 97 PAGE Sanitary conditions of school-houses, provisions for, 50 Inspectors' reports upon, 51 Privies, condition and number of, 50 Ventilation of school-houses to meet, 51 Scholar, tuition out of town for, charged at average of town rate, .... 60 Scholarships, State, in institutes, distribution of, by groups, 81-84 In Institute of Technology at Boston, 81 In Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 81 School committee, election and general powers of, 37 Annually to make report in detail of condition of schools, .... 55 Form and size of report prescribed, 55 Penalty for failure to make, 55 Transmission of, to secretary of Board of Education in April, ... 55 Attendance of children at school, duties concerning, 38, 57-70 Bible, daily reading of, in schools to be required by 45 Blanks for returns not being received, to notify secretary of the Board of Education 53 Books and supplies, provision for, 45-47 Books of reference and apparatus to be provided by, 47 Branches to be taught at option of, 29 Census of school children to be secured by 53 Certificate of enumeration to be transmitted to Board of Education, . . 53 Of teachers' qualifications to be granted by, 42 Diploma of normal schools in lieu of, . . 41 Chairman and secretary of, in case of union of towns, to employ superintend- ent 48 Children, distribution of, in schools by, 38 Convention of committee of towns uniting to employ superintendent, . . 49 Conveyance of children to school, duty of, concerning 37 Course of studies under, 29,30,33,34,35,45,46 Duties as supervisors of schools, 29-72 Contagious diseases and vaccination, 60, 61 Contiguous portions of adjacent towns, union schools for, .... 34 Contracts with teachers, 41 Dismissal of teachers, 44 Employment of children, 63-73 Evening industrial schools 31, 33, 34 Examination, selection and discharge of teachers, ... 41, 42, 44, 45 Exclusion of children from public schools, 39, 44, 61 Industrial, nautical and union schools, 34 Registers and returns, 53, 57 School-houses, 50, 63 Superintendents', 48, 50 Truancy and truant laws, 69, 72 Union high schools for different towns, 33 Visits of committees to schools, 45 Election, method and time of, Penalty of towns for neglect to elect, Sex no bar to eligibility to office, 37 Examination of teachers, duty of, concerning, 42 Expulsion of child from public school by, Evening schools, supervision of, by, . . 31, 33 Failure of towns to elect, penalty for, 36 Forfeiture moneys of town applied by, to schools 36 General charge and supervision of schools by, High school, admission to, determined by, History of legislation concerning, 38 98 INDEX. PAGE School committee, new members of board, election of, 39-41 Increasing or decreasing number of, 41 Number of, to be three or a multiple of three, 37 Old board to make returns for their school year, ...... 40 Organization of the board of, 41 Of the public schools, intrusted to, 38 Pay of, in cities and towns, . ' 48 Where superintendents are employed under laws of 1854 and 1870, . . 48 Exceptions under law of 1888, 49 Withheld on failure to perform certain duties, 56 Penalty of towns neglecting to elect, 36 Power of, to admit to school outside of compulsory age, 58 Private school instruction, quality to be ascertained by, 59 Pupils, exclusion of, from school by, 39 Qualifications of teachers determined by, 42 Refusal of whole board to serve, 39 Regulations concerning proper use of text-books and supplies made by, . 47 Report and returns where number of, is not less than thirteen may be signed by chairman and secretary, 56 Reports of, two in number, annually to be forwarded to Board of Education, 55 One to be deposited with town clerk, 55 Reports relative to town's compliance with truant laws made by, ... 72 Returns of attendance, etc., to be compiled by, 54 Salary of teachers fixed by, 42 School fund, town's portion of income of, to be reported by, .... 54 School-houses, duties of, concerning, 50 School, place for, to be provided by, 50 School registers, to cause to be kept 54 Secretary, duty of, to appoint, Records of proceedings to be kept by, . Sectarian books in schools not to be authorized by, 45 Sex no bar to eligibility to office of, 37 Studies, course of, to be prescribed by Sum of money raised to be certified to by, 53 Superintendence confers large powers upon Superintendent of schools, appointment of, by 48 Supervision, general, of schools by, . . 43 Of evening high schools by, Of industrial schools by, Of union high schools by, Teachers, contract with, vested in, 41 Tenure of office of, determined by, Term of office to be three years, 37 Committees elected to fill vacancies, 40 Text-books, changes in, directed by, Change in, requires two-thirds vote of, Transporting of children to school, duty of, concerning, Truant officers act under direction of, To be chosen and pay fixed by, 70 Tuition of non-resident pupils fixed by, 60 Union schools, duties of, concerning, Vacancies in office of, how filled, Term of service of persons filling office, Valid election, what constitutes, in case of vacancy, 39 Visits to schools, when to be made by 45 School districts made corporations in 1817, 8 School funds (see Funds) . INDEX. 99 PAGE School-houses, sufficient number to be provided, 50 Care of, intrusted to school committee unless town otherwise provides, . . 50 Town, penalty for not providing 50 Definition of, 51 Land may be taken for site of, .52 Location of, by town, 51 Sanitary conditions of, 50 Inspector of public buildings to report condition of, /51 School committee to provide place for school 50 Use of, subject to rules of school committee, . 52 School moneys not to be given by town to individuals to pay tuition, ... 60 School premises under control of teacher, 44 School registers and returns of schools, 53-57 Blank forms duly filled to be returned by committees to secretary of the Board ofEducation, , 54 Board of Education, secretary of, to be notified of failure to receive blanks, . 53 Certificate, form of, for transmitting information to secretary of Board of Education 54 Children, enumeration of, to be secured by school committee 54 Copies of school committee's reports to be sent to secretary of Board of Educa- tion and to town clerk, 55 Failure of committees to make returns or report 55 Incorrect returns from committees to be returned by secretary of Board of Education, 55 Month, for school records, equals twenty days, 54 Pay of teacher depends upon filling and returning register, .... 56 Penalty applied to parents and others for withholding information from school committees, 53 Applied to towns for failure to make returns, 55 Applied to school committees for neglect of duty regarding 56 Printed annual reports required of towns, form and size of page, ... 55 Registers, duty of committees to secure their faithful keeping, ... 54 School committee nor town, neither has power to release from keeping, . 55 Teacher's duty to faithfully keep, and return to committees, ... . 56 Reports of the Board ofEducation to be sent to town clerk, . . . . 14 Property of town, not of individual 56 Town clerk to deliver to school committee, 56 Reports, school committees', size to conform to that of report of Board of Education 55 Copies sent to secretary of Board of Education and deposited with town clerk, 55 Printed form required, 55 Returns of school committee of not less than thirteen signed by chairman and secretary, 56 School committees to ascertain names and ages of children, .... 53 To notify secretary of Board of Education of failure to receive registers and blanks, 53 School fund, receipt and expenditure by towns to be returned to secretary of Board of Education 54 Teachers faithfully to keep registers, . 56 Town clerks to deliver registers and blanks to school committees, . . . 53 To deliver reports of Board of Education to secretary of school com- mittee, S 6 Value to committee of enumeration of children, 54 Schools (see Public Schools). Secretary of school committee, appointment of, 41 Duty of, to keep records, , . *l 100 INDEX. PAGE State boundary lines, limit of provisions for schooling of children, ... 60 Aid for State and county associations, 22 Normal Art School at Boston, 79, 80 Statistics relating to high schools, 31 Statutes fix no limit to school age outside of compulsory age, .... 58 Studies, course of, compulsory and optional 29 Hand tools, use of, authorized in schools, 29 High schools, two courses prescribed for 30 Industrial and mechanical drawing in day and evening schools, ... 33 Industrial schools, provision for, . . . . . . . . . 34 To be laid out for schools by school committees, 46 Supervision, general, by school committee 43 Of evening high schools 33 Of evening schools, 31 Of industrial schools, 34 Of union high schools, 33 Under Board of Education, of institutions for deaf-mutes, etc., ... 17 Suspension of pupil by teacher must be referred to committee, .... 62 Teachers, authority of, over pupils, 43, 44 Contract with, vested with school committee, 41 Enjoined to watchfulness on account of truancy, 70 Examination, selection and discharge of, 41,42,44,45 Registers, faithful keeping of , by 56 Suspension of pupil by, must be referred to school committee, ... 62 Tenure of office of, determined by school committee 42 Teachers' Association, Massachusetts, aid for, 22 County associations, 22 Institutes (see Teachers' Institutes). Teachers' institutes and associations, 19 Board to arrange for, 19 County teachers' associations, aid for, . . 22 Expenses of institutes, how paid 19 Length of sessions and expense, board to regulate, 19 Massachusetts Teachers' Association, aid for, 22 Towns holding institutes since 1845, list of, 19 Technology, Institute of, Boston, 81 Term of office of school committee to be three years, . . . . . . 37 Committees elected to fill vacancies, 40 Text-books, changes in, directed by school committee, 47 Change in, requires two-thirds vote of committee, 47 Todd school fund applied to normal schools, 27 Town clerks to deliver registers and blanks to school committees, .... 53 To deliver reports of Board of Education to secretary of school com- mittee, 56 Town's application of truant laws to be reported by school committee to secretary of Board of Education, 72 Towns of four thousand inhabitants to teach Greek, French, etc., .... 30 Must raise three dollars per pupil for support of schools to receive school fund, 27 To make needful provisions for truant children 69 "Union of adjacent, for union schools, 33,34 What places may assign for truants, 71 Transporting of children to school, duty of school committee concerning, . . 36 Truancy and truant laws, ...... 69-72 Truant children and absentees from school, 69-72 By-laws made by towns for control of, 69 Complaints under, to be made by truant officers and inspectors of factories, 70 INDEX. 101 PAGE Truant children persistently violating rules of common school may be committed to truant school 69, 70 County truant schools established by county commissioners on requisition of three or more towns, 71 Charge for support of truant upon town two dollars per week, ... 71 Commissioners to control said schools, 71 Towns may commit to, 70 Transfer of truants from town to, 72 Discharge of truant children by court committing, . . . . . 72 Duties of truant officers under town by-laws, 69,70 Employment of truant children 72 Jurisdiction of cases of truancy, courts having 70 School committee to report to secretary of Board of Education town's com- pliance with truant laws, . 72 To appoint two or more truant officers, 70 Support of truants in county schools by towns, rate two dollars per week, . 71 Town's application of truant laws to be reported by school committee to secre- tary of Board of Education, 72 Towns to make needful provision for truant children, 69 County truant school, adequate, 70 What places may assign for commitment of truants 71 Transfer of truants to county from town truant schools, 72 Truant officers, duties under town by-laws, 69, 70 Report of, to be published with school committee's annual report, . . 70 Teachers enjoined to watchfulness on account of truancy, .... 70 To make complaints and carry into execution cases of truancy, ... 70 Two or more to be appointed by school committee, 70 Without warrant may apprehend and take to school 70 Two years, term for which truants may be committed, 70 Union truant schools may be established for two or more counties, . . 71 Tuition, payment of, in union high schools, 30, 60 Two years, term for which truants may be committed, 70 Union of adjacent towns to maintain schools, 33, 34 To maintain high schools, 33 To employ superintendents, . 48, 49 Union truant schools may be established for two or more counties, ... 71 Vacancies in office of school committee, how filled, 39 Vaccination of all pupils to be secured by school committee, 60 Valid election of school committees, what constitutes, 39 Value to committee of enumeration of children, 54 Ventilation of school-houses to meet sanitary conditions, 51 Visits of school committees to schools for purposes of inspection 45 Westfield Normal School opened at Barre, 79 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 81 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. 191834 MAR 5 HEC'D LD MAR 1 5 70 -2PW LD 21-100m-7,'33