Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 16-2 - School Committees and Superintendents [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]
Section 16-2-9.1. - Code of basic management principles and ethical school standards.

§ 16-2-9.1. Code of basic management principles and ethical school standards.
(a) School committees shall adopt the following code of basic management principles and ethical school standards:
The (District) does hereby establish a code of basic principles and ethical standards for school committee members acting individually and collectively as boards of education in the management of the public schools of (City or Town) .
The school committee in accepts the obligation to operate the public schools in accordance with the fundamental principles and standards of school management, which principles include but are not limited to the following:
(1) Formulate written policy for the administration of schools to be reviewed regularly and revised as necessary.
(2) Exercise legislative, policy-making, planning and appraising functions and delegate administrative functions in the operation of schools.
(3) Recognize their critical responsibility for selecting the superintendent, defining his or her responsibilities, and evaluating his or her performance regularly without directly engaging in administrative processes.
(4) Accept and encourage a variety of opinions from and communication with all parts of the community.
(5) Make public relevant institutional information in order to promote communication and understanding between the school system and the community.
(6) Act on legislative and policy-making matters only after examining pertinent facts and considering the superintendent’s recommendations.
(7) Conduct meetings with planned and published agendas.
(8) Encourage and promote professional growth of school staff so that quality of instruction and support services may continually be improved.
(9) Establish and maintain procedural steps for resolving complaints and criticisms of school affairs.
(10) Act only through public meetings since individual board members have no authority to bind the board.
(11) Recognize that the first and greatest concern must be the educational welfare of the students attending the public schools.
(12) Work with other committee members to establish effective board policies and to delegate authority for the administration of the schools to the superintendent.
(13) Avoid being placed in a position of conflict of interest, and refrain from using the committee position for personal gain.
(14) Attend all regularly scheduled committee meetings as possible, and become informed concerning the issues to be considered at those meetings.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit or interfere with the rights of teachers and other school employees to collectively bargain pursuant to chapters 9.3 and 9.4 of title 28 or to allow any school committee or superintendent to abrogate any agreement reached by collective bargaining.
History of Section.P.L. 1988, ch. 642, § 2.

Structure Rhode Island General Laws

Rhode Island General Laws

Title 16 - Education

Chapter 16-2 - School Committees and Superintendents [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]

Section 16-2-1. - Cities included as towns.

Section 16-2-2. - City and town schools required — School year — Location — Kindergartens.

Section 16-2-3. - Emergency reduction of school year.

Section 16-2-4. - Repealed.

Section 16-2-5. - Composition of city or town school committees — Election and terms of members — Vacancies.

Section 16-2-5.1. - Professional development.

Section 16-2-6. - Chairperson and clerk of city or town committee.

Section 16-2-7. - Distribution of documents and blanks by clerk.

Section 16-2-8. - Regular meetings of committee.

Section 16-2-9. - General powers and duties of school committees. [Effective until January 1, 2023.]

Section 16-2-9.1. - Code of basic management principles and ethical school standards.

Section 16-2-9.2. - Joint purchasing agreements.

Section 16-2-9.3. - The advisory council on school finances.

Section 16-2-9.4. - School district accounting compliance.

Section 16-2-9.5. - Other post-employment benefits — OPEB trusts.

Section 16-2-9.6. - Joint purchasing agreements for technology and IT infrastructure.

Section 16-2-10. - Certification of superintendents.

Section 16-2-11. - General powers and duties of superintendent.

Section 16-2-11.1. - General powers and duties of school principals.

Section 16-2-12. - Joint superintendent employed by two or more cities or towns.

Section 16-2-13. - Joint committee — Annual convention — Superintendent — Dissolution.

Section 16-2-14. - Repealed.

Section 16-2-15. - Location of schools — Control of property.

Section 16-2-15.1. - Pawtucket school committee — Abandonment, closing, reopening, or acquisition of school buildings — Public hearings.

Section 16-2-16. - Rules and regulations — Curriculum.

Section 16-2-17. - Right to a safe school.

Section 16-2-17.1. - In school suspensions.

Section 16-2-18. - Selection of teachers and superintendent — General control of schools — Expenses.

Section 16-2-18.1. - Criminal records review.

Section 16-2-18.2. - Prior criminal records checks.

Section 16-2-18.3. - Rules and regulations.

Section 16-2-18.4. - Criminal records review for volunteers.

Section 16-2-18.5. - Prior criminal records checks for school volunteers.

Section 16-2-19. - Children attending in adjoining cities or towns.

Section 16-2-20. - Visitation and examination of schools.

Section 16-2-21. - Pre-budget consultation — Annual reports — Appropriation requests — Budgets.

Section 16-2-21.1. - Repealed.

Section 16-2-21.2. - Three-year budget forecasting process.

Section 16-2-21.3. - Meetings with city and town councils.

Section 16-2-21.4. - School budgets — Compliance with certain requirements.

Section 16-2-21.5. - Notification of state school aid to school districts.

Section 16-2-21.6. - Collective bargaining fiscal impact statements.

Section 16-2-22. - Repealed.

Section 16-2-23. - Expenditures pending annual appropriation.

Section 16-2-24. - Survey of city or town schools.

Section 16-2-25. - Distribution of powers in Providence and Cranston.

Section 16-2-26. - Special statutes prevailing.

Section 16-2-27. - Eligibility for attendance — Kindergarten.

Section 16-2-28. - Eligibility for attendance — First grade.

Section 16-2-28.1. - Regulations.

Section 16-2-28.2. - Kindergarten multiple sessions.

Section 16-2-29. - Repealed.

Section 16-2-30. - School lunch programs.

Section 16-2-31. - School crossing guard equipment.

Section 16-2-32. - Policy manual for school committee.

Section 16-2-33. - City of Woonsocket — Compensation to school committee members.

Section 16-2-33.1. - City of Woonsocket — School dress code.

Section 16-2-33.2. - City of Central Falls — School dress code.

Section 16-2-34. - Central Falls School District board of trustees.

Section 16-2-35. - The Middletown public schools sponsorship program.

Section 16-2-36. - Orientation.