Rules and Regulations of the School Committee — 1927



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CHAPTER VIII.
PRINCIPALS.


Rule 1. When there is a vacancy in the principalship of any day or evening school, the Superintendent shall report the matter to the committee under whose jurisdiction or in whose district the school may come. This committee shall instruct the Superintendent to recommend three duly Qualified candidates for the vacant position. From these three the district committee shall choose one, who shall be declared elected when favored by a majority vote of the full Board, but no person shall be elected who is not recommended by the Superintendent.

Rule 2. All principals without exception, after having been elected annually for three successive years, shall thereafter continue in office during the pleasure of the Committee.

Rule 3. Except as otherwise indicated, principals shall be subject to the rules which apply to teachers as well as to all special regulations relating to the duties of their office.

Rule 4. Principals shall have general supervision of the educational interests of their schools and general charge of the school buildings, grounds, and property.

Rule 5. Principals shall see that the school plant is kept in a neat and cleanly condition at all times. They shall order all building and janitors' supplies and report to the Superintendent or Schoolhouse Agent all necessary repairs. They shall see that the janitor performs his duties satisfactorily and shall report to the Superintendent or Schoolhouse Agent any neglect of duty.

Rule 6. Principals shall make the work in their schools conform with the rules of the Board, with the accepted course of study, and with the plans of the Superintendent. They shall inform their teachers as to the details of methods of instruction and discipline, supervise their work, coordinate the work of the school, and report to the Superintendent such eases of incompetency, insubordination or neglect of duty on the part of the teachers as they themselves may not be able to remedy.

Rule 7. Principals shall devote themselves primarily to the best interests of their pupils. They shall receive all requests for admission to their schools, and shall admit and assign each pupil properly to his class. With due authorization from the Board and the Superintendent, they shall take charge of all matters relating to promotion and organization in their buildings. They shall consider the qualifications of pupils entering from private schools or from schools outside the city, and shall place them in grades where they may work to the best advantage. They shall not admit a pupil in violation of the laws concerning vaccination, nor shall they admit a tuition pupil or pupil from another school district who does not present the proper credentials from the Superintendent.

Rule 8. They shall order all books and supplies through the office of the Superintendent on the proper requisition blanks and snail properly record and economically use the supplies and affix the school label to the books. They shall use blanks indicated by the Superintendent and shall furnish to the Board or Superintendent any statistics or returns that may be required.

Rule 9. No course of study, new subject or text-book not on the adopted list shall be introduced in any school except by permission of the Committee on Text Books and the Superintendent, subject to the approval of the full Board.

Rule 10. Principals are authorized to suspend, and shall, in duty, suspend pupils from school for reasons of opposition to school authority, neglect of duty, disobedience, bad conduct and example, and misbehavior tending to the injury of the school. In every case of suspension principals shall immediately notify in writing the parents or guardian of the pupil as well as the Superintendent.

Rule 11. Principals shall instruct both pupils and teachers in the regular dismissal and bi-weekly fire drills, and shall take personal charge of the same.

Rule 12. The principal of the High School shall prepare special records of the standing of all first year pupils, listed according to the grammar school from which they entered. These lists, showing the average of each pupil in all studies taken, shall be presented to the Superintendent the end of every ten weeks. The Superintendent shall submit these reports to a special committee composed of the three chairmen of the district committees and the chairman of the High School Committee, the entire work to be reviewed by the full Board.

Rule 13. The principal of the High School shall admit no pupils into the school unless their names appear on a certified promotion list signed by the Superintendent or unless they bear special certificate of entrance issued by the Superintendent in person.

Rule 14. The principal or the High School shall preserve in his office all papers relating to the examination of candidates for admission to the High School; and he shall keep a record of the names, ages, dates of admission and withdrawal and the length of time pupils remain in the school. He shall list the graduates of the school class by class, and shall in a general way follow up and report on the work of those who enter higher institutions of learning.

Rule 15. The principal of the High School shall see that no student society or organization of any kind which is directly connected with the High School and the members of which are High School students shall be formed without the consent and written approval of the School Committee. He shall see that the records and accounts of all student societies and organizations at the High School are properly kept and open at any time to inspection by members of the School Board and Superintendent. Reports of the various school muds shall be made to the School Board annually in June. All payments from these funds shall be made by check, He shall see that a member or the High School Committee chosen by that Committee is ex-officio a member of all High School societies and organizations and likewise a member of the executive committee, the council and the finance committee of the Holyoke High School Athletic Association.

Rule 16. The principal of the High School shall require the teachers or that school to be in their classrooms during fixed hours on certain afternoons for the purpose of assisting such pupils as may be required to return or may voluntarily return.

Rule 17. In general, principals will be held reasonably responsible for the condition of their buildings and grounds, for the efficiency of their teachers and the progress of their pupils.






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