SHREWSBURY, Massachusetts – Under Massachusetts state law, all school districts must have a public forum on whether or not to allow school choice students to enter the district from other towns.  That will take place on March 16th, at the regular school committee meeting in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room at Shrewsbury Town Hall.

As many will recall, last year was the first time ever that the committee voted  to allow school choice, on a (4-1 vote), and they opened up twenty slots in 9th grade at SHS.   After the decision, there was quite a stir in town from a variety of sources, some of whom felt they had not had enough of a voice on the decision.   For those people, especially, I’m just letting you know that this is your chance to come to the meeting, or speak out on the issue.  You also have the ability to comment by sending an email to schoolcommittee@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us, which will all be reviewed at the meeting.

As they always do on the ballot questions, I try to lay out the pro and con positions.

The pro-school choice people, say that it brings in some money, $5k per student, and that the money can then be used in many different ways.  During a tough budget year, any and all money comes in handy.  They also indicate that because of the economy of scale, these students don’t add to the actual cost of running the district, and that students who’s parents are willing to drive them all the way to Shrewsbury each day are clearly committed to education.

The anti-school choice people say that the number one priority time and time again is class size.  If we have less 9th grade students this year, that’s s good thing.  They cite towns in which school choice money has become like a drug, and they have grown to now accepting hundreds of students from outside their district, who in turn have displaced their own students from sports teams, AP classes, and other opportunities. They feel that the small amount of funds generated are not worth starting down this path, and that as the population bulge passes, we should allow our student numbers to decline back, along with our expenses.

Whichever position you hold, this will be your only chance this year to speak out on the matter, so you may want to block that day in your schedule and come out to speak your mind.