Section 2. Every person in control of a child described in section one shall cause him to attend school as therein required, and, if he fails so to do for seven day sessions or fourteen half day sessions within any period of six months, he shall, on complaint by a supervisor of attendance, be punished by a fine of not more than twenty dollars. No physical or mental condition capable of correction, or rendering the child a fit subject for special instruction at public charge in institutions other than public day schools, shall avail as a defence unless it appears that the defendant has employed all reasonable measures for the correction of the condition and the suitable instruction of the child. The Boston juvenile court shall have jurisdiction within the territorial limits described in section fifty-seven of chapter two hundred and eighteen of complaints hereunder. The Worcester juvenile court shall have jurisdiction, concurrent with the central district court of Worcester, of complaints hereunder. The Springfield juvenile court shall have jurisdiction, concurrent with the district court of Springfield, of complaints hereunder. The Bristol county juvenile court shall have jurisdiction, concurrent with all of the district courts of Bristol county, of complaints hereunder, and the presiding judge of said court shall establish hearing dates on a circuit basis to be held in such respective courts. Complaints hereunder brought in other district courts shall be heard in the juvenile sessions thereof.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
9
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1929–2025 · leading case:
Attorney Gen. v. Bailey, 436 N.E.2d 139 (Mass. 1982).
Attorney Gen. v. Bailey, 436 N.E.2d 139 (Mass. 1982).
· cites it 3× “G. L. c. 76, § 2. For inducing a child to absent himself from school, a parent may be fined $200.”
Care & Prot. of Charles, 504 N.E.2d 592 (Mass. 1987).
· cites it 3× “1 Although the parents instructed their children in their “home school,” the school committee of Canton, on October 15, 1985, initiated truancy proceedings in Stoughton District Court, asserting a violation of G. L. c. 76, § 2. On October 16, 1985, a petition for care and…”
Brunelle v. Lynn Pub. Schs., 433 Mass. 179 (Mass. 2001).
· cites it 3× “Consequently, the school committee disapproved both the Pustells’ and the Brunelles’ home education plans 2 and, shortly thereafter, initiated a criminal complaint against the Brunelles in the Lynn Division of the District Court Department, pursuant to G. L. c. 76, §§ 2 (failure…”
New Life Baptist Church Academy v. Town of East Longmeadow, 666 F. Supp. 293 (D. Mass. 1987).
· cites it 2× “M.G.L. c. 76, § 2. 2 The parties have stipulated that this truancy statute has been enforced against fundamentalist Christian parents who have failed to comply with the compulsory education requirements of M.”
Bd. of Educ. v. Sch. Comm. of Quincy, 612 N.E.2d 666 (Mass. 1993).
“G. L. c. 76, §§ 2, 4. It also authorizes the attendance of nonresidents and considers the financial responsibility for such attendance.”
Braintree Baptist Temple v. Holbrook Pub. Schs., 616 F. Supp. 81 (D. Mass. 1984).
“” Mass.Gen.Laws ch. 76, § 2 mandates that “[e]very person in control of a child described in the preceding section shall cause him to attend school as therein required and if he fails so to do for seven day sessions or fourteen half day sessions within any period of six months,…”
Commonwealth v. Green, 168 N.E. 101 (Mass. 1929).
“G. L. c. 76, § 2, provides that every person in control of a child described in the preceding section shall cause him to attend school as therein required; and if he fails to do so for seven day sessions or fourteen one half day sessions within any period of six months he shall…”
New Life Baptist Church Academy v. Town of East Longmeadow, 885 F.2d 940 (1st Cir. 1989).
“If children between the ages set by the state Department of Education do not attend a public school or an “approved” private school (or receive official permission to work or to be educated in some other setting), the state may prosecute their parents under Mass.Gen.L. ch. 76, §…”
Adoption of Bryan. (Mass. App. Ct. 2025).
“In addition, between late 2020 and April 15, 2021, Bryan was absent from school twenty times, late forty-nine times, and the school staff subsequently filed a complaint under G. L. c. 76, § 2, against the mother in the Juvenile Court due to Bryan's "chronic absenteeism.”
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.