EXTRACTS FROM CITY CHARTER
RELATING TO THE
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Section 29. The management and control of the public schools of
said city shall be vested in a School Committee, consisting of nine persons,
two of whom shall be chosen from the city at large, and one by and from the voters
of each ward. At the annual municipal election held in the year eighteen hundred
and ninety-six there shall be elected one member of the School Committee from
each of the following wards namely:—Wards two, four and six to serve for the
term of three years, beginning with the first Monday in January next ensuing; at
the annual municipal election held in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven
there shall be elected one member of the School Committee from the city at large
and one member of the School Committee from each of the following wards, namely:—
Wards one and three; and at the annual municipal election held in the year
eighteen hundred and ninety-eight there shall be elected one member of the School
Committee at large and one from each of the following wards, namely: —Wards five
and seven; and at each annual municipal election thereafter there shall be
elected three members of the School Committee who shall hold their offices for
the term of three years beginning with the first Monday in January next succeeding
such elections, as successors of those whose terms of office expire on said first
Monday in January. Each of the present members of the School Committee shall
continue to hold his office for the term of three years beginning with the first
Monday in January next after his election.
Section 30. In case of a vacancy in or non-election to the office
of a member of the School Committee the Mayor shall call a joint convention of the
Board of Aldermen and of the School Committee, and such vacancy shall, by vote of
a majority of all members of the two bodies, be filled by the election of a member
according as the vacancy or non-election exists, to serve until the end of the
municipal year in which the order calling the next annual municipal election shall
be passed; at such election the further vacancy, if any, shall be filled for the
remainder of the unexpired term, in the same manner as the member whose office is
vacant was elected. The School Committee shall meet on the first Tuesday
following the first Monday in January in each municipal year and shall at such
meeting, or as soon thereafter as may be, choose by ballot (voting must now be by
roll call, a chairman from among its members, and the votes of a majority of all
the members of the School Committee shall be required in order to elect. The Mayor
may be present at all sessions of the School Committee, and when present he may
participate in the discussions and may preside, but shall have no right to vote.
The Committee shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its members
and shall determine the rules of its proceedings. A majority of the whole number
provided to be elected shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business,
but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time.
Section 31. The School Committee may elect a superintendent of
schools, who shall also be its secretary, and may appoint such subordinate
officers and assistants as it may deem necessary for the proper discharge of its
duties and the conduct of its business, shall define their terms of service and
fix their compensation, and may remove and discharge them at pleasure.
Section 32. The School Committee shall exercise the powers and
discharge the duties imposed by law upon school committees. All orders,
resolutions or votes of the School Committee, except those fixing salaries, which involve the expenditure of money, shall be presented
to the Mayor for his approval, ad thereupon the same proceedings shall be had by
the Mayor and School Committee as are provided in section twenty-four of this act
to be had by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen; but nothing in this act contained
shall affect the powers and duties of the Committee in relation to votes cast at
elections. The School Committee shall in the month of January in each year submit
to the Mayor an estimate in detail of the amount deemed by it necessary to expend
for its purposes during the current financial year, and the Mayor shall transmit
the same with the estimates of the department to the Board of Aldermen, and shall
recommend such appropriation as he shall deem necessary.
Section 33. The School Committee shall be the original judges of the
expediency and necessity of having additional or improved accommodations for any
public school within the limits of the city; and whenever in their opinion a
schoolhouse is required or material alterations are needed they shall send a
communication to the Board of Aldermen, stating the locality and the nature of
the further provisions for schools which are needed.
Section 5. The municipal election shall take place annually on the
first Tuesday of December, and the municipal year shall begin at 10 o'clock in
the morning on the first Monday of January next following, and continue until
10 o'clock in the morning on the first Monday of January next following.
Section 16. The Board of Aldermen shall appropriate annually, in the
month of March or in the month of April, the amount necessary to meet the
expenditures of the city for the current municipal year. It shall take care that
no money is paid from the treasury unless granted and appropriated.
Section 18. The Board of Aldermen shall not authorize the erection of
a schoolhouse, or of any addition thereto, nor pass any appropriation for such
purposes, until the location and plans of the same have been approved by vote of
the School Committee, and such approval has been certified in writing to the
Board of Aldermen by the secretary of said Committee.
Section 24. Every ordinance, order, resolution or vote of the Board
of Aldermen, except such as relates to its own Internal affairs, to its own
officers or employees, shall be presented to the Mayor. If he approve hereof he
shall signify his approval by signing the same, but if not he shall return the
same with his objections to the Board of Aldermen, who hall enter the objections
of the Mayor, at length upon its records, and proceed to reconsider said ordinance,
order, resolution or vote, and If after such reconsideration two-thirds of the
Board of Aldermen, notwithstanding such objections, vote to pass the same, it
shall be in force. In all cases the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays. If
such ordinance, order, resolution or vote shall not be returned within ten days
after it shall have been presented to the Mayor the same shall be in force. He may except from his approval of any ordinance, order resolution or vote, of which he has the power of veto any portion involving a distinct item of expenditure; and in such case instead of returning the original he shall transmit a copy of such portion not approved, which portion shall be reconsidered in the manner and with the effect above provided. The veto power of the Mayor shall not extend to elections.
Section 37. The Board of Public Works shall have cognizance, direction and control: (a) Of the construction, location, repair, care and lighting of streets. ways and sidewalks; (b) of the construction, alteration, repair and care of public buildings;
(c) of the construction, alteration, repair and care of main drains or common
sewers; (d) of the construction, alteration, repair, care and maintenance of
public bridges; (e) of the care, superintendence and management of the public
grounds, except public parks, belonging to said city, and of the shade and
ornamental trees growing therein. The said Board may require that no person or
corporation authorized by the Board of Aldermen to dig up any public street or
sidewalk in said City shall begin such digging before furnishing to such Board
of Public Works security satisfactory to them to restore such streets or sidewalks
to their former Condition. The said Board of Public Works, except as herein
otherwise provided, shall have exclusively the powers and he subject to the
liabilities and penalties imposed by law upon road commissioners of towns.
Section 45. No person shall be eligible to any of the offices of the
city government except superintendent of schools, unless he is a citizen and has
been a resident of the city for at least two years.
Section 52. All contracts made by any department of the city shall,
when the amount involved is five hundred dollars or more, be in writing, and no
such contract shall he deemed to have been made or executed until the approval of
the Mayor is affixed thereto. All such contracts shall be accompanied by a bond,
with sureties satisfactory to the board or committee having the matter in charge,
or by a deposit of money; and such bonds or other security shall be
deposited with the City Auditor until the contract has been carried out in all
respects; and no such contract shall be altered except by a written agreement of the
contractor, the sureties on his or their bons, and the officer making the contract, with
the approval of the Mayor affixed thereto.
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