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

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 68 (2026)

Duties of towns to maintain schools; transportation of children; school building committee representation

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 68. Every town shall provide and maintain a sufficient number of schoolhouses, properly furnished and conveniently situated for the accommodation of all children therein entitled to attend the public schools. If the distance between a child's residence and the school he is entitled to attend exceeds two miles and the nearest school bus stop is more than one mile from such residence, and the school committee declines to furnish transportation, the department, upon appeal of the parent or guardian of the child, may require the town to furnish transportation for children in grades kindergarten through six for a part or for all of the distance between said child's residence and the school. If said distance exceeds three miles, and the distance between the child's residence and a school in an adjoining town giving substantially equivalent instruction is less than three miles, and the school committee declines to pay for tuition in such nearer school, and for transportation in case the distance thereto exceeds two miles, the department, upon like appeal, may require the town of residence to pay for tuition in such nearer school for children in grades kindergarten through six, and if necessary provide for transportation for a part or for the whole of said distance to, such nearer school for children in said grades. Nothing contained in the preceding two sentences shall be construed to limit the obligation of regional school districts to provide transportation for all school children in grades kindergarten through twelve, pursuant to the provisions in section sixteen C of this chapter. No school committee shall be compelled to furnish transportation on a private way. In the case of transportation provided to students that is not required by this section or by any other general or special law, a school committee may assess fees to the transported student up to an amount sufficient to cover the costs incurred by the district; provided, however, that no student eligible for free or reduced lunch, under the federal school lunch program, shall be required to pay the fee; and provided further, that a school committee may choose to exempt families at other income levels as it may determine. The school committee, unless the town otherwise directs, shall have general charge and superintendence of the schoolhouses, shall keep them in good order, and shall, at the expense of the town, procure a suitable place for the schools, if there is no schoolhouse, and provide fuel and all other things necessary for the comfort of the pupils. Each school shall comply with the requirements regarding pesticide applications as set forth in sections 6C to 6I, inclusive, of chapter 132B. Whenever a town shall undertake to provide a schoolhouse, the town shall appoint at least one member of the school committee, or its designee, to serve on the agency, board or committee to which the planning and construction or other acquisition of such schoolhouse is delegated.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases, 1959–2002 · leading case: Attorney Gen. v. Sch. Comm. of Essex, 439 N.E.2d 770 (Mass. 1982).
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Attorney Gen. v. Sch. Comm. of Essex, 439 N.E.2d 770 (Mass. 1982). · cites it 6× “The Attorney General argues that the school committee is required, pursuant to G. L. c. 71, § 68, to provide transportation to all students who live more than two miles from the school that they are entitled to attend.”
McDuffy v. Sec'y of the Exec. Off. of Educ., 615 N.E.2d 516 (Mass. 1993). · cites it 2× “" G.L.c. 71, § 68. Two or more towns or cities may join together to form a regional school district to meet these responsibilities.”
Murphy v. Sch. Comm. of Brimfield, 389 N.E.2d 399 (Mass. 1979). · cites it 4× “See G.L.c. 71, § 68, as amended. [9] On these facts then private school students attending school in Kingston were entitled to transportation to the extent that they satisfied the same criteria apparently met by those students who received transportation to Bourne, e.”
Sch. Comm. of Springfield v. Bd. of Educ., 287 N.E.2d 438 (Mass. 1972). “” As a prior Attorney General accurately observed, this ancient law (See St. 1859, c. 252, § 4) “states a continuing [State] policy .”
Massachusetts Bay Transp. Auth. v. Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co., 205 N.E.2d 346 (Mass. 1965). “See G. L. c. 71, §§ 68, 70; New Bedford v. New Bedford, Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket S.”
Richard D. Kimball Co. v. City of Medford, 166 N.E.2d 708 (Mass. 1960). “…mayor is first obtained. This section shall not require such approval for the making of ordinary repairs.” 1 See now G. L. c. 71, § 68.”
Sch. Comm. of Lexington v. Comm'r of Educ., 492 N.E.2d 736 (Mass. 1986). · cites it 2× “766, § 12 (in conjunction with G.L.c. 71, § 68), in Essex, to require a particular level of obligation on cities and towns to provide transportation for private school pupils.”
Commonwealth v. Paige, 768 N.E.2d 572 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). “…and is placed under the jurisdiction, general charge, or superintendence of various municipal departments. See, e.g., G. L. c. 71, § 68.”
Coombs v. Bd. of Selectmen, 528 N.E.2d 136 (Mass. App. Ct. 1988). “The selectmen of Deerfield are concerned that development will ultimately necessitate major expenditure to pave the road for the use of cars, school buses (see G. L. c. 71, § 68), fire trucks, and the like.”
Garon v. Dudley-Charlton Reg'l Sch. Comm., 633 N.E.2d 1051 (Mass. App. Ct. 1994). · cites it 4× “In ruling that the statute was constitutional, the court, among other things, discussed the interplay between G. L. c. 71, § 68, and G. L. c. 76, § 1, noting that G.”
O'Connell v. Sch. Comm. of Gloucester, 158 N.E.2d 868 (Mass. 1959). “679, 687-688 , this court in construing G. L. c. 71, § 68, held that the duty to maintain schoolhouses imposed upon school committees included by necessary implication the power to employ janitors and custodians.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.