§ 16-23-2 - Loan of textbooks. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 16-23-2

   § 16-23-2  Loan of textbooks. – (a) The school committee of every community as it is defined in § 16-7-16shall furnish upon request, at the expense of the community, textbooks to allstudents in grades K-12 in the fields of mathematics, science, modern foreignlanguages, English/language arts and history/social studies, appearing on thelist of textbooks published by the commissioner of elementary and secondaryeducation as provided in § 16-23-3, to all pupils of elementary andsecondary school grades resident in the community, the textbooks to be loanedto the pupils free of charge, subject to any rules and regulations as to careand custody that the school committee may prescribe. For loan purposes,non-public schools may not change a textbook assignment in a field more oftenthan once in a three (3) year period as required of public schools inaccordance with the provisions of § 16-23-1. Nothing in this section shallbe construed as forbidding non-public schools from requiring the use of anytextbook, consistent with the provisions of this chapter, that does not adhereto said limitation, provided that the textbook is furnished to the studentthrough a means other than the school committee of the student's city or townof residence.

   (b) Every school committee shall also furnish at the expenseof the community all other textbooks and school supplies used in the publicschools of the community, the other textbooks and supplies to be loaned to thepupils of the public schools free of charge, subject to any rules andregulations as to care and custody that the school committee may prescribe.School books removed from school use may be distributed to pupils, and anytextbook may become the property of a pupil who has completed the use of it inschool, subject to rules and regulations prescribed by the school committee.

   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to forbidrequiring or accepting from a pupil a deposit of a reasonable amount of moneyas a guaranty for the return of school property other than the books andsupplies required in this section to be loaned free of charge, provided thatthe school committee shall make suitable rules and regulations for thesafekeeping and return of deposits; and, provided, further, that inestablishing schedules for deposits, the school committee should includeprovision for waiver of deposit due to financial hardship.