Massachusetts
State Law - Massachusetts is a "May" State
School districts may create a policy allowing students to be released for religious study, or they may choose not to
coordinate with released-time programs and require the students' legal guardians facilitate the process.
Read more about "May" and "Shall" state laws
Full Law Text Link to State Law
Absences may also be permitted for religious education at such times as the school committee may establish; provided, that no public funds shall be appropriated or expended for such education or for transportation incidental thereto; and provided, further, that such time shall be no more than one hour each week.
Notes
(NONE)
Press/News/Media
District Stats
Step 0
138
48%
48%
Steps 1-3
146
51%
51%
Steps 4-6
5
2%
2%
Steps 7-9
0
0%
0%
Step 10
0
0%
0%
All Districts
| District | Current Step | Signatures |
|---|---|---|
| Agawam | Step 6 | 192 |
| Brockton | Step 6 | 78 |
| Lynn | Step 6 | 137 |
| Burlington | Step 4 | 61 |
| Stoneham | Step 4 | 63 |
| Abington | Step 1 | 2 |
| Acton-Boxborough | Step 1 | 1 |
| Acushnet | Step 1 | 2 |
| Amherst | Step 1 | 1 |
| Amherst-Pelham | Step 1 | 1 |
| Andover | Step 1 | 2 |
| Ashburnham-Westminster | Step 1 | 2 |
| Attleboro | Step 1 | 2 |
| Avon | Step 1 | 1 |
| Ayer Shirley School District | Step 1 | 1 |
| Barnstable | Step 1 | 1 |
| Bedford | Step 1 | 1 |
| Belchertown | Step 1 | 2 |
| Bellingham | Step 1 | 1 |
| Beverly | Step 1 | 5 |
| Billerica | Step 1 | 3 |
| Blackstone-Millville | Step 1 | 3 |
| Boston | Step 1 | 11 |
| Bourne | Step 1 | 1 |
| Braintree | Step 1 | 2 |
| Bridgewater-Raynham | Step 1 | 1 |
| Brimfield | Step 1 | 1 |
| Brookline | Step 1 | 1 |
| Canton | Step 1 | 1 |
| Carver | Step 1 | 4 |
| Central Berkshire | Step 1 | 2 |
| Chelmsford | Step 1 | 8 |
| Chicopee | Step 1 | 6 |
| Danvers | Step 1 | 13 |
| Dennis-Yarmouth | Step 1 | 1 |
| Dighton-Rehoboth | Step 1 | 4 |
| Douglas | Step 1 | 1 |
| Dracut | Step 1 | 1 |
| Dudley-Charlton Reg | Step 1 | 8 |
| East Bridgewater | Step 1 | 3 |
| Easton | Step 1 | 1 |
| Edgartown | Step 1 | 1 |
| Everett | Step 1 | 3 |
| Fairhaven | Step 1 | 1 |
| Fall River | Step 1 | 6 |
| Falmouth | Step 1 | 1 |
| Fitchburg | Step 1 | 7 |
| Foxborough | Step 1 | 2 |
| Framingham | Step 1 | 10 |
| Franklin | Step 1 | 3 |
| Freetown-Lakeville | Step 1 | 1 |
| Gardner | Step 1 | 2 |
| Gill-Montague | Step 1 | 1 |
| Gloucester | Step 1 | 2 |
| Granby | Step 1 | 1 |
| Greenfield | Step 1 | 1 |
| Groton-Dunstable | Step 1 | 1 |
| Halifax | Step 1 | 3 |
| Hampden-Wilbraham | Step 1 | 15 |
| Hampshire | Step 1 | 2 |
| Hanover | Step 1 | 1 |
| Haverhill | Step 1 | 3 |
| Hingham | Step 1 | 1 |
| Holbrook | Step 1 | 1 |
| Holliston | Step 1 | 1 |
| Holyoke | Step 1 | 4 |
| Hopkinton | Step 1 | 2 |
| Kingston | Step 1 | 1 |
| Lawrence | Step 1 | 2 |
| Lee | Step 1 | 2 |
| Leicester | Step 1 | 1 |
| Leominster | Step 1 | 4 |
| Lexington | Step 1 | 5 |
| Lincoln | Step 1 | 2 |
| Lincoln-Sudbury | Step 1 | 1 |
| Malden | Step 1 | 1 |
| Marlborough | Step 1 | 2 |
| Marshfield | Step 1 | 2 |
| Medfield | Step 1 | 1 |
| Medford | Step 1 | 6 |
| Mendon-Upton | Step 1 | 1 |
| Middleborough | Step 1 | 1 |
| Milford | Step 1 | 3 |
| Millis | Step 1 | 2 |
| Milton | Step 1 | 1 |
| Monomoy Regional School District | Step 1 | 1 |
| Nantucket | Step 1 | 2 |
| Nashoba | Step 1 | 1 |
| Natick | Step 1 | 1 |
| New Bedford | Step 1 | 5 |
| Newburyport | Step 1 | 2 |
| North Adams | Step 1 | 3 |
| North Attleborough | Step 1 | 2 |
| North Middlesex | Step 1 | 7 |
| North Reading | Step 1 | 1 |
| Northbridge | Step 1 | 1 |
| Norton | Step 1 | 3 |
| Norwood | Step 1 | 1 |
| Oxford | Step 1 | 18 |
| Palmer | Step 1 | 1 |
| Peabody | Step 1 | 3 |
| Pembroke | Step 1 | 2 |
| Pentucket | Step 1 | 1 |
| Pittsfield | Step 1 | 39 |
| Plymouth | Step 1 | 8 |
| Quabbin | Step 1 | 4 |
| Quincy | Step 1 | 9 |
| Ralph C Mahar | Step 1 | 1 |
| Randolph | Step 1 | 1 |
| Reading | Step 1 | 2 |
| Revere | Step 1 | 2 |
| Salem | Step 1 | 1 |
| Sandwich | Step 1 | 1 |
| Saugus | Step 1 | 1 |
| Scituate | Step 1 | 2 |
| Seekonk | Step 1 | 2 |
| Silver Lake | Step 1 | 2 |
| Somerville | Step 1 | 1 |
| South Hadley | Step 1 | 3 |
| Southampton | Step 1 | 2 |
| Southbridge | Step 1 | 2 |
| Southern Berkshire | Step 1 | 2 |
| Spencer-E Brookfield | Step 1 | 2 |
| Springfield | Step 1 | 2 |
| Stoughton | Step 1 | 1 |
| Sturbridge | Step 1 | 1 |
| Sudbury | Step 1 | 1 |
| Sutton | Step 1 | 2 |
| Swansea | Step 1 | 2 |
| Taunton | Step 1 | 5 |
| Tewksbury | Step 1 | 1 |
| Tisbury | Step 1 | 1 |
| Triton | Step 1 | 3 |
| Uxbridge | Step 1 | 1 |
| Wachusett | Step 1 | 4 |
| Wakefield | Step 1 | 2 |
| Waltham | Step 1 | 5 |
| Wareham | Step 1 | 5 |
| Wayland | Step 1 | 2 |
| West Springfield | Step 1 | 2 |
| Westborough | Step 1 | 1 |
| Westfield | Step 1 | 5 |
| Westford | Step 1 | 1 |
| Westwood | Step 1 | 1 |
| Whitman-Hanson | Step 1 | 1 |
| Wilmington | Step 1 | 3 |
| Winchendon | Step 1 | 1 |
| Winchester | Step 1 | 4 |
| Winthrop | Step 1 | 1 |
| Woburn | Step 1 | 19 |
| Worcester | Step 1 | 7 |
| Adams-Cheshire | Step 0 | 0 |
| Amesbury | Step 0 | 0 |
| Arlington | Step 0 | 0 |
| Ashland | Step 0 | 0 |
| Athol-Royalston | Step 0 | 0 |
| Auburn | Step 0 | 0 |
| Belmont | Step 0 | 0 |
| Berkley | Step 0 | 0 |
| Berkshire Hills | Step 0 | 0 |
| Berlin-Boylston | Step 0 | 0 |
| Boxford | Step 0 | 0 |
| Brewster | Step 0 | 0 |
| Brookfield | Step 0 | 0 |
| Cambridge | Step 0 | 0 |
| Carlisle | Step 0 | 0 |
| Chelsea | Step 0 | 0 |
| Chesterfield-Goshen | Step 0 | 0 |
| Clarksburg | Step 0 | 0 |
| Clinton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Cohasset | Step 0 | 0 |
| Concord | Step 0 | 0 |
| Concord-Carlisle | Step 0 | 0 |
| Conway | Step 0 | 0 |
| Dartmouth | Step 0 | 0 |
| Dedham | Step 0 | 0 |
| Deerfield | Step 0 | 0 |
| Dover | Step 0 | 0 |
| Dover-Sherborn | Step 0 | 0 |
| Duxbury | Step 0 | 0 |
| East Longmeadow | Step 0 | 0 |
| Eastham | Step 0 | 0 |
| Easthampton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Erving | Step 0 | 0 |
| Farmington River Reg | Step 0 | 0 |
| Florida | Step 0 | 0 |
| Gateway | Step 0 | 0 |
| Georgetown | Step 0 | 0 |
| Gosnold | Step 0 | 0 |
| Grafton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Hadley | Step 0 | 0 |
| Hamilton-Wenham | Step 0 | 0 |
| Hancock | Step 0 | 0 |
| Harvard | Step 0 | 0 |
| Hatfield | Step 0 | 0 |
| Hawlemont | Step 0 | 0 |
| Holland | Step 0 | 0 |
| Hopedale | Step 0 | 0 |
| Hudson | Step 0 | 0 |
| Hull | Step 0 | 0 |
| Ipswich | Step 0 | 0 |
| King Philip | Step 0 | 0 |
| Lenox | Step 0 | 0 |
| Leverett | Step 0 | 0 |
| Littleton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Longmeadow | Step 0 | 0 |
| Lowell | Step 0 | 0 |
| Ludlow | Step 0 | 0 |
| Lunenburg | Step 0 | 0 |
| Lynnfield | Step 0 | 0 |
| Manchester Essex Regional | Step 0 | 0 |
| Mansfield | Step 0 | 0 |
| Marblehead | Step 0 | 0 |
| Marion | Step 0 | 0 |
| Martha'S Vineyard | Step 0 | 0 |
| Masconomet | Step 0 | 0 |
| Mashpee | Step 0 | 0 |
| Mattapoisett | Step 0 | 0 |
| Maynard | Step 0 | 0 |
| Medway | Step 0 | 0 |
| Melrose | Step 0 | 0 |
| Methuen | Step 0 | 0 |
| Middleton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Millbury | Step 0 | 0 |
| Mohawk Trail | Step 0 | 0 |
| Monson | Step 0 | 0 |
| Mount Greylock | Step 0 | 0 |
| Nahant | Step 0 | 0 |
| Narragansett | Step 0 | 0 |
| Nauset | Step 0 | 0 |
| Needham | Step 0 | 0 |
| New Salem-Wendell | Step 0 | 0 |
| Newton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Norfolk | Step 0 | 0 |
| North Andover | Step 0 | 0 |
| North Brookfield | Step 0 | 0 |
| Northampton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Northboro-Southboro | Step 0 | 0 |
| Northborough | Step 0 | 0 |
| Norwell | Step 0 | 0 |
| Oak Bluffs | Step 0 | 0 |
| Old Rochester | Step 0 | 0 |
| Orange | Step 0 | 0 |
| Orleans | Step 0 | 0 |
| Pelham | Step 0 | 0 |
| Petersham | Step 0 | 0 |
| Pioneer Valley | Step 0 | 0 |
| Plainville | Step 0 | 0 |
| Plympton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Provincetown | Step 0 | 0 |
| Quaboag Regional | Step 0 | 0 |
| Richmond | Step 0 | 0 |
| Rochester | Step 0 | 0 |
| Rockland | Step 0 | 0 |
| Rockport | Step 0 | 0 |
| Rowe | Step 0 | 0 |
| Savoy | Step 0 | 0 |
| Sharon | Step 0 | 0 |
| Sherborn | Step 0 | 0 |
| Shrewsbury | Step 0 | 0 |
| Shutesbury | Step 0 | 0 |
| Somerset | Step 0 | 0 |
| Somerset Berkley Regional School District | Step 0 | 0 |
| Southborough | Step 0 | 0 |
| Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District | Step 0 | 0 |
| Sunderland | Step 0 | 0 |
| Swampscott | Step 0 | 0 |
| Tantasqua | Step 0 | 0 |
| Topsfield | Step 0 | 0 |
| Truro | Step 0 | 0 |
| Tyngsborough | Step 0 | 0 |
| Up-Island Regional | Step 0 | 0 |
| Wales | Step 0 | 0 |
| Walpole | Step 0 | 0 |
| Ware | Step 0 | 0 |
| Watertown | Step 0 | 0 |
| Webster | Step 0 | 0 |
| Wellesley | Step 0 | 0 |
| Wellfleet | Step 0 | 0 |
| West Boylston | Step 0 | 0 |
| West Bridgewater | Step 0 | 0 |
| Westhampton | Step 0 | 0 |
| Weston | Step 0 | 0 |
| Westport | Step 0 | 0 |
| Weymouth | Step 0 | 0 |
| Whately | Step 0 | 0 |
| Williamsburg | Step 0 | 0 |
| Worthington | Step 0 | 0 |
| Wrentham | Step 0 | 0 |
