R.I. Gen. Laws
Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-38-6 (2026)

Restrictions on commercial activity and fundraising in public schools

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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(a) No public school official or public school employee shall, for any purpose, solicit or exact from any pupil in any public school any contribution or gift of money or any article of value, or any pledge to contribute any money or article of value. No public school teacher shall accept payment for tutoring directly from the parents of a student under his or her instruction. If a teacher is to be assigned and compensated as a tutor for a student under his or her instruction, the assignment and compensation must be through the school department pursuant to policies and procedures adopted by the school committee. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit a teacher from tutoring a student who is not concurrently under his or her instruction in the public school and receiving compensation for the tutoring from the parents of the student.

(b) No commercial goods or services shall be sold to students in the public schools or on public school property, nor shall any commercial materials (flyers, literature, advertisements, commercial materials, or solicitations) be sent home with students from the public school, except as authorized pursuant to policies and procedures adopted by the local school committee, that shall, at a minimum, address the following:

(1) The conduct and financial accountability of public school employees and public school officials engaged in commercial activities for the benefit of public schools;

(2) The use of schoolchildren to deliver commercial materials to parents.

(c) Any approved fundraising activity shall be conducted on a voluntary basis and in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the school committee, that shall, at a minimum, address the following:

(1) The conduct and financial accountability of public school employees and public school officials engaged in fundraising activities for the benefit of public schools;

(2) The specific circumstances, if any, for door-to-door solicitations and door-to-door sales by public school students for fundraising;

(3) The use of schoolchildren to deliver fundraising materials to parents.

(d) When creating a school budget pursuant to § 16-2-9(a)(9), school committees may budget funds for field trips, provided that:

(1) The field trips meet Rhode Island’s basic education program regulations; and

(2) All students have the same ability to attend the field trips.

(e) To supplement budgeted funds, fundraising for field trips is permissible, provided that:

(1) The fundraising activity complies with subsection (c) of this section;

(2) Students are not required to meet individual fundraising targets as a condition of attendance on the trip; and

(3) Parents or guardians be allowed to donate toward the cost of the trip.

(f) The commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall provide technical assistance to assist the school committees of the several towns and cities in the formulation of the local policies and procedures mandated by this section.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1964–1967 · leading case: Demers v. Shehab, 224 A.2d 380 (R.I. 1966).
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Demers v. Shehab, 224 A.2d 380 (R.I. 1966). “It was not the protection of his status as “citizen and1 taxpayer” or an intention to make secure his economic well-being or a desire to save his reputation or character from sully ¡that motivated the legislature to' enact § 16-38-6.”
Langton v. Demers, 230 A.2d 870 (R.I. 1967). “1956, §16-38-6. The administrator, as a result of an audit made of the taxpayer’s records, assessed a deficiency determination against him for the period from November 1962 through July 1966.”
Demers v. Collins, 201 A.2d 477 (R.I. 1964). · cites it 2× “1956, §16-38-6. This statute, in pertinent part, reads: “Excepting the sale of school lunches under rules and regulations prescribed by the school committee of the town or city, no article shall be sold or offered for sale to public school pupils or teachers on any public school…”
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.