206 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 256 



of less than 500 families may maintain a high school, but if not, the town must 

 provide tuition, and transportation up to 40 cents per day, for all pupils who 

 desire to attend high school and who are properly certified by the town school 

 committtee. Where the distance to a school within the town is greater than 

 two miles the town must furnish transportation to pupils. Towns are also re- 

 quired to provide a school physician and a nurse, except that towns with a valu- 

 ation of less than $1,000,000 may be exempt from the requirement of a school 

 nurse. Where three or more towns form a superintendency union, the State 

 specifies the minimum salary to be paid the superintendent, furthermore, only 

 teachers and superintendents who are approved by the State Department of 

 Education may be employed by the town school committee. 



In connection with the granting of State aid for education, it has already 

 been pointed out that grants from the Income Tax Fund are in proportion to 

 salaries paid, thereby inducing the towns to pay higher salaries to teachers. 

 Reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Fund is made only to towns in 

 which the school tax is $5.00 or more per $1000 valuation, and the grant is in 

 proportion to the size of the tax. Reimbursement for high school tuition and 

 transportation for pupils attending school in other towns is proportional to the 

 school tax. These are several encouragements offered the towns to develop their 

 school system which involve increasing local taxes. 



The legal requirements for town expenditures on highways are principally 

 in connection with State highways. Before the era of automobile registration 

 fees it was customary to build State highways from bond issues. One-fourth 

 of the cost of highways financed in this manner was assessed against the county 

 in which the road was built. The amount so assessed was paid within six years 

 with interest at 6 per cent. Since the counties have no important sources of 

 revenue other than the county tax levied on the towns, it followed that the 

 towns formerly paid one-fourth the cost of State highways financed by loans. 

 This liability is diminishing since most State highways are now being built 

 from motor vehicle fees. 



The cost of maintaining State highways is high, and one-half of the amount 

 spent for the maintenance and repair of State highways is assessed against the 

 town in which the repairs are made. On the other hand, the burden of this re- 

 quirement has been minimized by two provisions: (1) The maximum amount 

 which can be assessed under this section is proportional to the valuation of the 

 town as follows: 



Town Valuation Maximum Assessment per Mile 



Less than $1,000,000 $ 50.00 



1,000,000 - 2,000,000 100.00 



2,000,1500 - 5,000,000 200.00 



Over 5,000,000 $500 in any year, total 



of $2000 



(2) If the assessments are burdensome the selectmen of the town may petition 

 the State highway department for exemption, and if such exemption is granted 

 the State bears the entire cost. 



Towns are of course required by law to keep all town roads in repair so 

 that they are reasonably safe for travel, and a further incentive for good roads 

 is given by making the towns liable for damages, either property or personal, 

 sustained on roads not in good repair. All roads not State highways but con- 

 structed in whole or in part with money furnished by the State must be kept 

 in repair by the towns in which they are located; and in case the town does 



