Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XII Chapter 71
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 14B (2026)

Regional school districts; formation; procedure

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 14B. The said regional district planning board may recommend that there shall be established a regional school district which may include all the towns represented by its membership, or alternatively, any specified combination of such towns. If the said regional district planning board so recommends, it shall submit a proposed agreement or agreements setting forth as to each alternative recommendation, if such be made, the following:—

(a) The number, composition, method of selection, and terms of office of the members of the regional district school committee.

(b) The town or towns in which, or the general area within the regional school district where, the regional district school or schools are to be located.

(c) The type of regional district school or schools. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the type of regional school may, if it is so stated in the agreement, consist of a vocational school or schools offering such kinds of education as may be provided by towns under the provisions of chapter seventy-four; and any other type of regional school may, if it is so stated in the agreement, offer said kinds of education. A town may simultaneously be a member of a vocational regional school district and any other type of regional school district provided, however, that when a vocational school district is in operation, no member town of such district, and no other type of regional school district of which such a town is a member shall, without the approval of the commissioner of education, offer the same kinds of education as offered by said vocational school district.

(d) The method of apportioning the expenses of the regional school district, and the method of apportioning the costs of school construction, including any interest and retirement of principal of any bonds or other obligations issued by the district among the several towns comprising the district, and the time and manner of payment of the shares of the several towns of any such expense.

(e) The method by which school transportation shall be provided, and if such transportation is to be furnished by the district, the manner in which the expenses shall be borne by the several towns.

(f) the terms by which any city or town may be admitted to or separated from the regional school district; provided, however, that in the case of admission such terms shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of section sixteen of chapter six hundred and forty-five of the acts of nineteen hundred and forty-eight.

(g) The method by which the agreement may be amended.

(h) The detailed procedure for the preparation and adoption of an annual budget.

(i) Any other matters, not incompatible with law, which the said board may deem advisable.

Copies of such agreement shall be submitted to the department of education, and subject to its approval, to the several towns for their acceptance.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1960–2023 · leading case: Town of Holden v. Wachusett Reg'l Sch. Dist. Comm., 840 N.E.2d 37 (Mass. 2005).
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Town of Holden v. Wachusett Reg'l Sch. Dist. Comm., 840 N.E.2d 37 (Mass. 2005). · cites it 11× “The *658 Wachusett agreement was first approved by the member towns, the Department of Education (department), and the Emergency Finance Board in 1951, pursuant to G. L. c. 71, § 14B. That statute provides for the establishment of regional school districts and agreements to…”
McMann v. State Ethics Comm'n, 590 N.E.2d 693 (Mass. App. Ct. 1992). · cites it 2× “The obvious purpose of an RSD is to provide for cooperative action by municipalities to build and maintain school systems where it would be an undue burden upon each of the individual municipalities to act separately. Rep. A.G., Pub. Doc.”
Opinion of the Justices to the Senate, 436 N.E.2d 935 (Mass. 1982). “G. L. c. 71, § 14B. As Burton reveals, Haverhill accepted the recommendation of its school district planning board that it enter into an agreement creating the regional school committee, and providing that the members of that committee be appointed by the local school committees…”
Muldoon v. Whittier Reg'l Sch. Comm., 389 N.E.2d 1013 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). “Whittier is a regional vocational high school established under the provisions of G. L. c. 71, §§ 14B and 15, serving eleven cities and towns in northeastern Massachusetts; these communities together have thirteen representatives on the regional school committee.”
Donnelly v. Dover-Sherborn Reg'l Sch. Dist., 170 N.E.2d 694 (Mass. 1960). “71, §§16-161, see G. L. c. 71, § 14B (f); Bruoato v. Lawrence, 338 Mass.”
Town of Alford v. S. Berkshire Reg'l Sch. Dist., 308 N.E.2d 791 (Mass. App. Ct. 1974). “This bill for declaratory and injunctive relief was brought by the town of Alford, one of five member towns of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District (district), to adjudge their rights under an agreement executed and adopted pursuant to G. L. c. 71, §§ 14B and 15 (both…”
Town of Sturbridge v. Tantasqua Reg'l Sch. Dist., 22 Mass. L. Rptr. 68 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006). · cites it 4× “Specifically, Sturbridge alleges breach of contract and breach of implied duty of good faith and fair dealing in relation to a Regional School District Agreement (“District Agreement”) adopted in 1952 by all the Member Towns, pursuant to G.L.c. 71, §14B. The District Agreement…”
Town of Holden v. Wachusett Reg'l Sch. Dist. Comm., 16 Mass. L. Rptr. 112 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2003). “An Agreement establishing the District was approved by the five member towns, by the Emergency Finance Board, and by the Department of Education in 1951, pursuant to G.L.c. 71, §14B. The Agreement contains a procedure for amendment in Section 14.”
Pitta v. Medeiros (D. Mass. 2023). “The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District (the “District”) is organized under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 14B. (Id. ¶ 9).”
Ciaramitaro v. Superintendent of Schs. of Saugus, 406 Mass. 867 (Mass. 1990). · cites it 2× “In fact, G. L. c. 71, § 14B (c), precludes member towns from offering vocational education programs by providing that “when a vocational school district is in operation, no member town of such district .”
Plymouth Cnty. Bus Transp., Inc. v. Greater New Bedford Reg'l Vocational Technical High Sch. Comm., 11 Mass. App. Ct. 551 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). “The agreement creating the district specified that it would provide school transportation to the new regional high school, as required by G. L. c. 71, §§ 14B and 16C. SERTA services the cities of New Bedford and Fall River, and the towns of Westport, Acushnet, Dartmouth,…”
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 14B(c) — 1 case
Ciaramitaro v. Superintendent of Schs. of Saugus, 406 Mass. 867 (Mass. 1990). “In fact, G. L. c. 71, § 14B (c), precludes member towns from offering vocational education programs by providing that “when a vocational school district is in operation, no member town of such district .”
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 14B(d) — 1 case
Town of Sturbridge v. Tantasqua Reg'l Sch. Dist., 22 Mass. L. Rptr. 68 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006). “Specifically, Sturbridge alleges breach of contract and breach of implied duty of good faith and fair dealing in relation to a Regional School District Agreement (“District Agreement”) adopted in 1952 by all the Member Towns, pursuant to G.L.c. 71, §14B. The District Agreement…”
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