MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                          937

Assembly shall be expended under the supervision and control of the
State Department of Education. For the purposes of this program,
a handicapped child shall be one with a physical impairment or men-
tal retardation OR MENTAL IMPAIRMENT which, in the judgment
of the Department, makes a special educational and training program
necessary or desirable to help the child attain a scholastic achievement
as near normal as feasible. The Department of Education shall adopt
standards and promulgate rules and regulations based thereon, for
the nonmedical examination, classification, and education of such
handicapped children, for the qualifications of teachers, for curricu-
lum and equipment, and generally for the supervision and operation
of the program herein provided for.

103.    Maryland School for the Deaf; Maryland School for the Blind.

In accordance with provisions of Section 11 of this Article, the
Maryland School for the Deaf and the Maryland School for the Blind
shall keep the State Board of Education fully informed regarding
the educational program and administrative policies of the schools
under their jurisdiction.

It shall be the responsibility of the Maryland State Department
of Education, the city and county public school systems, the Mary-
land School for the Deaf, and the Maryland School for the Blind to
work cooperatively to meet the educational needs of deaf, hard-of-
hearing, blind, and partially-sighted children.

During the fiscal year 1970 1971 and thereafter, teachers and other
professional personnel at the Maryland School for the Deaf and the
Maryland School for the Blind shall be paid an annual salary not
less than that received by public school teachers and professional
personnel of similar training and experience in the political sub-
divisions in which the school is located.

104.    Deaf and blind children—In general.

Every child between six and eighteen years of age, who by reason
of any partial or total deafness or partial or total blindness is un-
able to progress satisfactorily in ordinary public or private schools,
shall attend some school or classes for the deaf or blind, or during
the scholastic year, unless it can be shown that the child is elsewhere
receiving regularly thorough instruction during the said period in
studies usually taught in the said public schools to children of the
same age; provided, that the superintendent or principal of any
school for the deaf or blind, or person or persons duly authorized by
such superintendent or principal, may excuse cases of necessary
absence among its enrolled pupils; and provided, further, that the
provisions of this section shall not apply to a child whose physical
condition is such as to render its instruction, as above described, in-
expedient or impracticable. Every person having under his or her
control such a child between six and eighteen years of age shall
cause such a child to attend