Chap. 0498 An Act relating to the education of deaf and blind pupils.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 26, as most recently amended by section 6A of chapter 673 of the acts of 1951, and inserting in place thereof the following section: - Section 26. The department may, upon the request of the parents or guardians and with the approval of the governor, send such deaf and such blind persons as it considers proper subjects for education, for a term not exceeding twelve years to the American School, at Hartford, for the Deaf, in the state of Connecticut, to the Clarke School for the Deaf at Northampton, to the Horace Mann School at Boston, to the Beverly School for the Deaf at Beverly, to the Boston School for the Deaf at Randolph, to any other school for the deaf or school affording remedial treatment for the deaf in the commonwealth, as the parents or guardians may prefer; provided, that said schools shall offer in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth years an educational offering equivalent to that in the secondary schools of the commonwealth, as determined by the department; or to the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, as the case may be, or any other school within or without the commonwealth which can give instruction to the blind and, upon like request and with like approval, it may continue for a longer term the instruction of meritorious pupils recommended by the principal or other chief officer of the school which they attend. With the approval of the governor the department may, at the expense of the commonwealth, make such provision for the care and education of children who are both deaf and blind as it may deem expedient. No such pupil shall be withdrawn from such institutions or schools except with the consent of the authorities thereof or of the department; and the expenses of the instruction and support of such pupils therein, actually rendered or furnished, including their necessary traveling expenses, whether daily or otherwise, but not exceeding ordinary and reasonable compensation therefor, shall be paid by the commonwealth; but the parents or guardians of such children, who are able wholly or in part to provide for their support and care, to the extent of their ability may be required by the department to reimburse the commonwealth therefor.
Section 2. Said chapter 69 is hereby further amended by striking out section 28, as appearing in the Tercentenary Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following: -
G. L. (Ter. Ed.), 69, § 28, amended.
Section 28. The department may, in co-operation with the school committee, establish in towns having ten or more deaf pupils resident therein or in towns accessible thereto, special day classes for deaf pupils. Such classes, when established, shall be conducted by the school committee, subject to the approval of the department. In connection with said classes, there shall be provided instruction in hp-reading. The town shall be reimbursed by the commonwealth for the reasonable cost of maintenance of such classes, including the necessary traveling expenses of the pupils.
Approved June 26, 1952.