School Committee votes against school choice, continuing to opt out of statewide program

The School Committee voted unanimously at its April 8 meeting to opt out of Massachusetts’ school choice program, which would allow nonresident students to enroll in Waltham Public Schools. 

The committee, which has voted the same way since at least 2012, is one of 147 school districts in the commonwealth that doesn’t allow nonresidents to attend. 

Some 173 districts across the state opt in to the program, allowing students from outside the geographical boundaries of their district to attend their schools. The program has been an option for families since 1991.

Only one person, Attleboro resident Joey Ford, spoke at the committee’s meeting. Ford, a special education advocate and founder of Parent Data Force, spoke in favor of school choice, saying, “There’s a lot of special education students that really take use of being able to switch to a different district.”

Under the school choice program, a student’s home district is responsible for paying the tuition at the student’s new district. 

Even though WPS opts out of accepting students from other districts, Waltham’s own students are able to enroll at participating out-of-district schools.