OVERVIEW

This point datalayer shows the locations of schools in Massachusetts. Schools appearing in this layer are those attended by students in pre-kindergarten through high school. Categories of schools include public, private, charter, collaborative programs, and approved special education. This data was originally developed by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) GIS Program based on database information provided by the Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE). The update published in April 2008 was based on listings MassGIS obtained from the DOE as of December 28, 2007.

The layer is stored in ArcSDE and distributed as SCHOOLS_PT.

Only schools located in Massachusetts are included in this layer. The DOE also provides a listing of out-of-state schools open to Massachusetts' residents, particularly for those with special learning requirements. Please see http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/outofstate.asp for details.

For the original layer, a development dataset was generated by address-matching DOE data by the MassDEP GIS Group. Whenever possible, development locations were manually refined using 1:5,000 black and white or color digital ortho imagery or 1:25,000 USGS digital topographic imagery. Internet map sources (Yahoo.com, Mapquest.com), street atlas information and MassGIS Open Space data were also used to refine development locations. In some cases schools were contacted by phone to verify their locations. MassGIS completed all subsequent updates by comparing DOE database files to the existing layer. Closed schools were removed and new locations were address-matched and refined using ortho imagery, Web site information, and/or by contacting the school itself.

The Schools datalayer's point attribute table has the following items:

SCHID		Unique identifier assigned by combining the DOE system and school codes
NAME		School name as provided by DOE
ADDRESS		School's mailing address, as provided by DOE
TOWN_MAIL		School's city or town (in mailing address, as provided by DOE)
TOWN		School's city or town (physical location, based on MassGIS' TOWNS_POLY layer)
ZIPCODE		School's ZIP Code, as provided by DOE
PHONE		School's main phone number, as provided by DOE
FAX		School's fax number, as provided by DOE
PRINCIPAL		Name of the superintendent or principal of the school
GRADES		Grades offered at the school
TYPE		Identifies school type:  PUB - Public  PRI - Private  COP - Collaborative Program  CHA - Charter  SPE - Approved Special Education

DOE defines the five categories of schools as follows:

Public Public schools operate under the supervision of an elected or appointed school committee and a superintendent. The majority of public school districts serve a single city or town, and are considered a department of the municipal government. Two or more municipalities can also join together to form a regional school district, which is considered a separate and independent unit of local government. A regional school district can offer all grades (preK-12), just certain grades (for example, just elementary grades or just high school), or just certain types of instruction (for example, vocational and technical programs). Private Private schools, including parochial schools, operate independently of state or regional authority. However some aspects of these programs, such as those involving students with disabilities, are subject to regulation under state law. Collaborative Programs Collaborative programs exist to aid member districts in assessing their individual and collective needs and to demonstrate, through model programs, the efficiency of a collaborative venture. Educational collaboratives provide services to both local and regional school systems. Services include special education programs, management support, cooperative purchasing, student transportation, research, technology development, implementation of health and safety initiatives, professional development, teacher licensure programs and coordinating job alike groups across districts. Charter Schools Charter Schools were established by the 1993 Education Reform Act as found in chapter 71 of the Massachusetts General Laws, section 89. These schools are public schools that operate under five-year charters granted by the Board of Education. Each charter school is an independent charter school governed by a board of trustees. Charter schools were established to encourage innovative educational practices, provide parents and students greater choice in public education, and to provide models for replication in other public schools. Two main types of charter schools exist in Massachusetts. A Commonwealth charter school is a public school that operates independent of any school committee. For each student enrolled, a Commonwealth charter school receives a sum from the state equal to the average cost per student in the school district in which that student resides. The state then deducts the same amount from the sending district's state aid. School districts receive additional funds that fully or partially reimburse them for funds provided to Commonwealth charter schools. The second type of charter schools, Horace Mann charter schools, are public schools or part of a public school that operate under a charter that must receive the approval of the local school committee and the local collective bargaining agent. Horace Mann charter schools are funded directly from the school district in which the school is located. Approved Private Special Educational Schools These schools, established as Massachusetts Chapter 766 Approved In-State Schools and Programs that Serve Publicly Funded Special Education Students, are private institutions serving students with disabilities when it has been determined that their needs cannot be accommodated locally. The right for some public school students with disabilities to attend these schools was established by Chapter 766 of the Acts of 1972. The laws governing placement and tuition in these programs are now encompassed in Chapter 71B of the Massachusetts General Laws. Approved Special Educational Schools are monitored by the Department of Education's Program Quality Assurance Services Unit (781) 338-3700.

RELATED TABLES

The Location Documentation Table SCHOOLS_PT_M_LDT contains standard feature-level DEP data documentation fields for each point in the dataset. See the page "DEP Location Documentation Standards for GIS Data" for details.

MAINTENANCE

MassGIS maintains this datalayer.

With the October 2004 update, the related SCHOOLS_PT_DOE table was deleted, with most of its attributes added to the point attribute table. In the same update, the TYPE item was expanded to include categories beyond 'public' and 'private'. As part of the November 2006 update, the SCHOOLS_PT_OOS (out-of-state schools) table was dropped. With the April 2008 update, the collaborative (COL) type was replaced with collaborative programs (COP).

Other updates will be made annually based on database information from the DOE.

Also see the Public School Districts and Colleges and Universities datalayers.

Last Updated 4/10/2008
EOEA Disclaimer | Privacy Policy