After some discussion the School Committee chose not to participate in School Choice.

Although Vice Chairman Thomas Hamilton felt that it may be a way to bring in revenue, other members were against the idea.

High School Principal Paul Vieira said the high school couldn’t afford to take on extra students.

  “We haven’t added anything into our budget in a long time,” said Hamilton. “We need to take control of our budget, create options and look around every corner.”

To accept a School Choice student the school district is accepting the student from the grade they enter into until they graduate.

If a district accepts a School Choice student there is a $5,000 fee that they receive.

“Typically the money is used to fund the next school year’s budget,” explained Ralph Dumas, business manager. “It’s all about incremental cost,” said Dumas.

School Committee member Nancy Smith said, “I morally have a problem with offering students something we feel we can’t give the students now.”

“In my eyes it’s no different from someone moving into town,” said Hamilton.

There is no way of knowing the background of a student in this program.

“We don’t know anything about behavioral records or transcripts,” said Assistant Superintendent Susan Cote. “They sign up rather than apply.”

Principal Vieira said he knows a principal whose school participates in school choice and it works for them.

The district’s principals said that adding more students would only strain classroom resources.

“Where we wouldn’t be adding teachers I wouldn’t recommend it,” said middle school Principal Stan Piltch.

The high school would have the physical space for School Choice students, but crowding issues exist there as well.

“We have a lot of students that didn’t schedule into electives,” said Principal Paul Vieira. “We currently don’t have enough seats for our East Bridgewater students to take electives.”

There are about 200 students that were unable to take an elective. For social studies electives there were 86 students who could not get in, 60 students were unable to take a business course and 40 unable to take an art class.

“I just can’t add anymore students to an overtaxed system,” said Smith. The high school projects sections of English and History will be full with 30 students. Business and Technology will be at max with 25 students and 24 students and this is because these are the number of computers offered.