Physical Restraint Policy
The Lawrence Public Schools is committed to the use of de-escalation techniques as a means of resolving difficult situations; however, there are situations where these techniques may not be effective in resolving the situation and there will be a need for further intervention, such as physical escort or physical restraint.
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Safe Schools Policy
The Lawrence Public Schools shall maintain a safe and nurturing educational environment where students and others can meet and recreate without fear. The Lawrence Public Schools will not tolerate violence or injury to staff or students, nor will weapons (as defined in Weapons in Schools Policy) be tolerated at any school activity or on any school district property. The Lawrence Public Schools Committee policies pertaining to school safety and student discipline shall be fairly and firmly enforced, criminal misconduct shall be reported to the proper law enforcement authority, and school district staff shall cooperate with any subsequent criminal prosecution. The provisions of M.G.L. 71:37H & 71:37L, prohibiting firearms on school property shall be strictly enforced.
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School Admissions
All school-age children legally residing in the City of Lawrence, shall be entitled to attend Lawrence public schools free of tuition, as will certain children who do not reside in the City of Lawrence, but who are admitted under specific district policies relating to homeless students, students in foster care, or other students who may qualify under active district policies. This policy outlines requirements and rights.
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School Assignment Policy
School assignment within Lawrence Public Schools, preschool through grade 8, are made based on neighborhood residence, using an index of street addresses and associating them to a proximity school. While the goal is to have students attend the schools closest to their homes, in some cases adjustments are made to respond to school or program capacity.
View Street Address Index
View Feeder School List
- Frost Elementary and Frost Middle (link to schools on the website)
- Guilmette Elementary and Guilmette Middle
- Parthum Elementary and Parthum Middle
- South Lawrence East Elementary and SPARK Academy
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School Leadership Team Policy
The district’s governing body believes that the school is the key unit for educational improvement and change and that successful school improvement is best accomplished through a school-based decision-making process. By involving those directly affected by any action or decision of the School Leadership Team in the process of determining that action or decision, it helps to strengthen the commitment of those decisions by those most affected by its implementation.
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Section 508 Policy
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. The law (29 U.S.C § 794 (d)) applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508, agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others.
The U.S. Access Board is responsible for developing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) accessibility standards to incorporate into regulations that govern Federal procurement practices. On January 18, 2017, the Access Board issued a final rule that updated accessibility requirements covered by Section 508, and refreshed guidelines for telecommunications equipment subject to Section 255 of the Communications Act. The final rule went into effect on January 18, 2018.
The rule updated and reorganized the Section 508 Standards and Section 255 Guidelines in response to market trends and innovations in technology. The refresh also harmonized these requirements with other guidelines and standards both in the U.S. and abroad, including standards issued by the European Commission, and with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0), a globally recognized voluntary consensus standard for web content and ICT.
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Social Media Use Policy
Lawrence Public Schools (LPS) values, school, classroom, parent, student and community voice and engagement. To that end, LPS supports, as one of many tools for communication, the responsible use of social media. District employees who engage in work-related or personal use of social media are responsible to read, understand and adhere to this policy.
For the purposes of this policy, social media shall be defined as any online-based tools and applications used to share and distribute information, including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.™
This policy provides guidance for professional and personal use, including training and community participant guidelines. Additionally, LPS staff and student Code of Conduct, Non-Discrimination, and Acceptable Use policies apply to all social media activity, as do student and staff confidentiality laws and guidelines.
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Student Involvement in Decision Making Policy
The Student Involvement in Decision Making Policy promotes student voice and leadership by providing guidance to both schools and students on governing opportunities at the school and district level, while effectively ensuring inclusion of the district's high school students on district level governing bodies.
- View Student Involvement in Decision Making Policy English
- View Student Involvement in Decision Making Policy Spanish
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Student Rights and the Code of Conduct
According to the General Laws of Massachusetts and Department of Education regulations, each school and school district is required to adopt a set of rules that ensures a safe school climate for effective learning. This handbook not only meets this requirement but also highlights our commitment to providing all students with a welcoming and supportive learning community, where our youth are encouraged and supported to develop their full potential – academically, socially and emotionally.
- Student Rights and Code of Conduct Handbook SY23-24 English
- Student Rights and Code of Conduct Handbook SY23-24 Spanish
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Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy
It is the policy of the Lawrence Public School (the "District") to maintain an environment that is free from all forms of discrimination and harassment, including all forms of sex-based harassment. The District does not discriminate on the basis of sex in any of its educational programs or activities. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and its regulations requires The District to not discriminate in such a manner. This requirement not to discriminate extends to admission and employment. Inquiries regarding Title IX and its regulations should be addressed to the District's Title IX Coordinator:
Lizbeth Gonzalez, Executive Director of Human Capital
237 Essex Street, Lawrence, MA. 01840
978-722-8262
Inquiries may also be made externally to:
Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Boston Office
U.S. Department of Education
5 Post Office Square, 8th floor
Boston, MA 02109-3921
Telephone: (617)289-0111
Facsimile: (617) 289-0150
Email:
Web: http://www.ed.gov/ocr
- ACA Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy English
- ACA Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy Spanish
- ACA-R Title IX Grievance Procedure English
- ACA-R Title IX Grievance Procedure Spanish
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Tobacco-Free Schools Policy
The Lawrence School Committee endorses the philosophy that every student, staff person and visitor to a School Department facility ought to have the right to breath clean air. Scientists have now identified passive smoking, the smoke that nonsmokers involuntarily inhale, as a contributing factor in the leading causes of avoidable fatal illness, such as heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, and chronic pulmonary disease. Passive smoking kills more people per year than all other carcinogens currently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency combined.
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Transportation Policy
The major purpose of school transportation is to get students who live an unreasonable walking distance from home to school and back in an efficient, safe, and economical manner. Other purposes include the provision of transportation for academic field trips in direct support of the curriculum, and transportation for the support of the co-curricular program (e.g., athletics, music, drama, and the like.)
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Uniform Policy
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Variance Policy
The school assignment policy for Lawrence Public Schools is based on neighborhood schools, assigning students to the schools closest to their homes, with minimal exceptions for substantially separate specialized learning programs, or when a school reaches maximum capacity for any grade. While our district schools deliver instructional services to meet the diverse needs of students in our neighborhoods, this policy provides an orderly and thoughtful process for variances to the assignment policy to address transition grade, sibling, or proximity from home issues.
Variance applications will be accepted from May 1 through June 14, for the following school year and can be emailed to
- PK-K Enrollment and Variance Process for SY24-25 Letter to Parents Bilingual
- View Variance Policy English
- View Variance Policy Spanish
- Variance Form Bilingual
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Weather Delays and Early Dismissals Policies
- 2-Hour Delayed Opening for Students
- Early Dismissal for Students
- Arlington Complex
- Breen
- Bruce
- Frost Complex
- Guilmette Complex
- Hennessey
- High School Learning Center
- Lawlor
- Lawrence Family Public Academy
- Lawrence High School Campus
- Leahy
- Leonard
- Oliver Elementary
- Oliver Middle
- Parthum Complex
- RISE
- Rollins
- School for Exceptional Studies Annex
- School for Exceptional Studies NCEC
- South Lawrence East Elementary
- Spark
- Tarbox
- Wetherbee
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Web Accessibility Policy
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. The law (29 U.S.C § 794 (d)) applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508, agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others. The following grievance process is intended to provide for the prompt and equitable resolution of complaints regarding the website involving discrimination or access on the basis of disability.
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Website Privacy Policy
This privacy policy applies only to the use of this website. As you navigate this website, you may see links that, when clicked, will take you to other websites operated by other state agencies and, in certain rare instances, websites that are external to Lawrence Public Schools. These other websites have individual privacy policies tailored to the interactions available through those sites. We strongly suggest that you read the privacy policies for each website that you visit through any link appearing on this site.
At this website, we do our best to protect your privacy to the maximum extent possible. However, because some of the information that we receive through this website is subject to the Public Records Law, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66, Section 10, we cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that you provide to us through this site may be made available to members of the public under that law. This policy informs you of the information that we collect from you at this site and what we do with it. Based on this information, you can make an informed choice about your use of this site.
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Wellness Policy
The Lawrence School Committee supports lifelong healthy eating habits and positive physical activity for all students and staff in the Lawrence Public Schools. The School Committee is committed to addressing the increasing rates of diet-related health consequences among these groups ensuring that the Lawrence Public Schools takes a comprehensive approach to reviewing and incorporating changes in policy, curriculum and operating procedures to promote healthy lifestyles and appropriate nutritional practices for all students. In doing so, the Lawrence Public Schools recognizes the important relationship between wellness and academic success. Using Section 204 of Public Law 111-296: Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act and the recommendations of the Massachusetts Department of Education, the following approach will guide our efforts.
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Wireless Access Policy
Due to the increasing demands for wireless access to LPS network, this policy acts as an addendum to the General Acceptable Use Policy by including specific information regarding the use of wireless networking and Internet access. Please note that many items listed here may already be in the General Acceptable Use Policy for the redundant purposes. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to let us know. This policy is designed to protect wireless users and to prevent inappropriate use of wireless network access that may expose LPS to multiple risks including viruses, network attacks and various administrative and legal issues.
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Wireless Usage
It is the intention of the IS&T Department of Lawrence Public Schools to provide a high level of reliability and security when using the wireless network. Wireless Access Points provide shared bandwidth and so as the number of users increases the available bandwidth per user decreases. As such, please show consideration for other users and refrain from running high bandwidth applications and operations such as downloading large music files and video from the Internet. Network reliability is determined by the level of user traffic and accessibility. Wireless networking is to be considered supplemental access to the LPS network. Wired access is still the preferred way for connectivity.
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Wireless Usage Policies
It is the intention of the IS&T Department of Lawrence Public Schools to provide a high level of reliability and security when using the wireless network. Wireless Access Points provide shared bandwidth and so as the number of users increases the available bandwidth per user decreases. As such, please show consideration for other users and refrain from running high bandwidth applications and operations such as downloading large music files and video from the Internet. Network reliability is determined by the level of user traffic and accessibility. Wireless networking is to be considered supplemental access to the LPS network. Wired access is still the preferred way for connectivity.
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