Policies

School Committee Policies

The Policy Manual of the Public Schools of Brookline is available electronically (opens in new tab). If there is any conflict between existing written policy and state or federal law, the applicable law will prevail.

The official version of Brookline’s Policy Manual is maintained at the Office of the School Committee. In the event of a conflict between an electronic version and the official version, the official version will prevail.

If you have questions about the accuracy of any policy or need help finding a specific policy, please contact Betsy Fitzpatrick, Assistant to the School Committee, at 617-730-2430.

• Proposed drafts of School Committee policies under review (opens in new tab)
• Download the policy manual by section below.

If you are unsure where to find a specific policy, open the Policy Manual index (opens in new tab) and search (Ctrl + F) using keywords.

Public Schools of Brookline Policy Manual (by section)

• Policy manual index (opens in new tab)
• Section A: Foundations and basic commitments (opens in new tab)
• Section B: Board governance and operations (opens in new tab)
• Section C: General school administration (opens in new tab)
• Section D: Fiscal management (opens in new tab)
• Section E: Support services (opens in new tab)
• Section F: Facilities development (opens in new tab)
• Section G: Personnel (opens in new tab)
• Section H: Negotiations (opens in new tab)
• Section I: Instruction (opens in new tab)
• Section J: Students (opens in new tab)
• Section K: School and community relations (opens in new tab)

Frequently Requested Policies

• Personal electronic devices policy (April 10, 2025) (opens in new tab)
• Student code of conduct (April 11, 2024) (opens in new tab)
• Kindergarten entrance age policy (November 15, 2010) (opens in new tab)
• Homework guidelines (February 28, 1989) (opens in new tab)
• School admissions policy (November 10, 2021) (opens in new tab)
• Wellness policy (February 1, 2024) (opens in new tab)

Policies Voted: 2025–2026

• Student Civil Rights and Non-Discrimination Policy (April 30, 2026)(opens in new tab)
• Curriculum and Instructional Materials (April 16, 2026)
• Middle school career technical education pathway exploration policy (March 26, 2026) (opens in new tab)
• Administration of medications policy (March 26, 2026) (opens in new tab)
• Time-out practices inclusive of physical restraint policy (March 26, 2026) (opens in new tab)
• Section D: Fiscal management (March 19, 2026) (opens in new tab)
• High school graduation requirements and competency determination policies (December 18, 2025) (opens in new tab)

Policies Voted: 2024–2025

• External surveillance camera policy (June 12, 2025) (opens in new tab)
• Personal electronic device policy (April 10, 2025) (opens in new tab)

Policies Voted: 2023–2024

• Student code of conduct (April 11, 2024) (opens in new tab)
• Substance use prevention and education policy (February 8, 2024) (opens in new tab)
• Wellness policy (February 1, 2024) (opens in new tab)

Policies Voted: 2022–2023

• Equity policy: staff recruitment and retention (April 27, 2023) (opens in new tab)
• Staff COVID-19 vaccination policy (revision) (December 8, 2022) (opens in new tab)
• Policy on face coverings (November 10, 2022) (opens in new tab)
• Sustainability policy (October 27, 2022) (opens in new tab)

Policies Voted: 2021–2022

• Pesticide policy (April 7, 2022) (opens in new tab)
• Physical restraint policy (April 7, 2022) (opens in new tab)
• Adequacy standards for school facilities (December 2, 2021) (opens in new tab)
• School admissions policy (November 10, 2021) (opens in new tab)
• Staff COVID-19 vaccination policy (revision) (October 21, 2021) (opens in new tab)
• Face coverings policy (August 17, 2021) (opens in new tab)