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School counsel warns MASC fundraising language could curb student-led activities
Summary
Legal counsel advised the North Middlesex policy subcommittee that recent MASC sample changes to JJE, focused on raffles and competitions, implement Massachusetts law on minors and gambling and could unintentionally prohibit common student fundraising such as competitions unless the district tailors the language and defines "game of chance."
School counsel John told the North Middlesex policy subcommittee that recent model-policy changes circulated by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) aim to align local rules with state law restricting minors’ involvement in gambling-related activities and that the updates could affect routine student fundraising.
"What they're really doing is putting in these policies what is basic Massachusetts law," John said, explaining MASC updated three policies last fall to address activities that could involve students in lotteries, raffles or similar games of chance. He emphasized that the legal limits turn on the specific facts of each fundraising event.
The committee raised multiple examples of district fundraising…
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