[Text of section added by 2014, 173, Sec. 1. See also, Section 95 added by 2014, 284, Sec. 12, below.]

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 71 sec. 95

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.

Section 95. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

”Federal military reservation”, the Joint Base Cape Cod and Hanscom Air Force Base.

”Federal military reservation students”, children who are dependents of military or other federal personnel who reside on a federal military reservation and who attend public schools in any district.

”Reimbursement aid”, funds from the commonwealth paid to municipalities to defray costs incurred by a municipality for federal military reservation students; provided, however, that reimbursement aid shall supplement funds already received by municipalities for the costs of educating federal military reservation students, including federal impact aid under 20 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq., and state aid under chapter 70.

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the commonwealth shall pay reimbursement aid to qualifying municipalities. The total amount of reimbursement aid paid to qualifying municipalities shall be at least $1,300,000. The minimum payment made to a municipality for federal military reservation students shall equal the amount paid to the municipality in fiscal year 2014. Any increase in funding shall be disbursed through a ratio established by the department. The ratio shall be based on the proportionate amount of reimbursement aid paid to the municipality in fiscal year 2014.

Chapter 71: Section 95. Suicide awareness and prevention training

[Text of section added by 2014, 284, Sec. 12. See also, Section 95 added by 2014, 173, Sec. 1, above.]

Section 95. (a) The department, subject to appropriation, shall adopt rules to require that all public school districts and commonwealth charter schools provide at least 2 hours of suicide awareness and prevention training every 3 years to all licensed school personnel. A new hire shall obtain the training within 6 months of being hired. The training shall be provided within the framework of existing in-service training programs offered by the department or as part of required professional development activities.

(b) The department shall, in consultation with the department of public health and suicide prevention experts, develop a list of approved training materials to fulfill the requirements of this section. Approved materials shall include training on how to identify appropriate mental health services both within the school and the larger community, and when and how to refer students and their families to those services.

(c) No person shall have a cause of action for loss or damage caused by an act or omission resulting from the implementation of this section or resulting from the training or lack of training required by this section.

(d) The training or lack of training required by this section shall not be construed to impose a specific duty of care.

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