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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3494 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 668 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Alice Hanlon Peisch |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to the training of school committee members. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Alice Hanlon Peisch14th Norfolk1/17/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3494 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 668 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Peisch of Wellesley, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 668) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Alice Hanlon Peisch relative to the training of school committee members. Education. |
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| 20 | 20 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 21 | 21 | | _______________ |
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| 22 | 22 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | An Act relative to the training of school committee members. |
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| 26 | 26 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 27 | 27 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 28 | 28 | | 1 Section 36A of the chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official |
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| 29 | 29 | | 2Edition, is hereby amended by striking section 36A and replacing it with the following section: - |
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| 30 | 30 | | 3 Section 36A. School committee members, within three months after their initial election |
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| 31 | 31 | | 4or appointment, shall complete at least 8 hours of orientation concerning the responsibilities of |
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| 32 | 32 | | 5their office at no cost to individual school committee members. The orientation shall include but |
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| 33 | 33 | | 6not be limited to a review of school finance, Chapter 70 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the |
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| 34 | 34 | | 7statewide education goals and academic standards as described in Section 1D of of Chapter 69 |
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| 35 | 35 | | 8the General Laws, the open meeting law, public records law, conflict of interest law, special |
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| 36 | 36 | | 9education law, collective bargaining, school leadership standards and evaluations and the roles |
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| 37 | 37 | | 10and responsibilities of school committee members. The orientation shall be developed by the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 11Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. and may be provided by the |
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| 39 | 39 | | 12Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Inc. or any other entity approved by the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 13commissioner of education. The Association and any other entity providing such orientation 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 14shall offer every year at least 3 orientation sessions at no required cost to eligible school |
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| 42 | 42 | | 15committees. A certificate shall be awarded to each participant upon completion of the orientation |
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| 43 | 43 | | 16and notice thereof shall be filed with the clerk of the city or town where the school committee |
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| 44 | 44 | | 17member resides. Failure to comply with the orientation outlined in this section will disqualify the |
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| 45 | 45 | | 18school committee member from participating in any formal business before the committee. |
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