Town looks at school choice
The Plainville School Committee has decided to look into adopting school choice as a way to bring students and revenue into the system from neighboring communities.
The committee decided last week to establish a separate panel to investigate the potential merits and drawbacks of opening school district doors beginning in the 2005-2006 school year. The announcement comes two months after students moved into the new $12 million Wood School, which gives the town more classrooms than it needs.
Under school choice, a state program in which communities can participate, a school can take in out-of-town students and get tuition from the community from which they come. Nearly 140 districts in the state are participating in the program this school year, according to the state Department of Education website.
"I think we have an excellent educational program to offer the public," said Patrick Francomano, vice chairman of the School Committee. "And if we have the space and can realize income for the school and the town, it seems that it's in everybody's best interest to pursue it."
He and School Committee chairman Clinton Crocker agreed that it needs a thorough investigation, however, before they are convinced it's a worthwhile endeavor. Crocker said he wanted to make sure there were no hidden financial consequences.
The Plainville School Department has extra space in its kindergarten-Grade 6 system, which consists of the Wood School and the Jackson School next door, which is also new. The town belongs to the King Philip Regional District at the middle and high school levels.
Plainville maintains small class sizes, with fewer than 21 students per class on average, according to Superintendent Mike Malone.
"If you have a little extra space, you could add a couple of students and not really affect your program much," he said. "The key is I want to study whether it will put a strain on our services."
School boards have until June 1 each year to decide whether they want to continue in the program, but once a child is in a school system, the student is allowed to stay there until he or she finishes the uppermost grade -- in Plainville's case, the sixth. Local officials may decide how many new students they can accept and in which grades.
Malone estimated Plainville could take on perhaps a few dozen students, who would help make up for those that Plainville loses to charter schools.
Before making a decision, Plainville officials will want to visit other towns that have adopted school choice, he said.
They won't have to go far. Several towns in the area are in the program, including Franklin, Medway, Milford, and Attleboro.
Franklin is in its first year of the program, which has brought in 15 students, said Superintendent David A. Crisafulli.
"We're being cautious," he said. "We realize it can be a strain on other systems. Because of our increasing population, we have been careful not to overdo it."
But it's going well so far, said Crisafulli, who said he expected it to continue and grow to 30 to 50 students -- to offset the 30 to 40 students that Franklin loses to other districts that have school choice.
Parents choose a school outside the community in which they live for many reasons, he explained. For example, they might want to have their child closer to their workplace, he said, and often specific programs will draw them: Franklin has full-day kindergarten, which is not offered everywhere.
Plainville also has programs to market. It offers full-day kindergarten, for example, and a foreign-language program through which Spanish is offered in all grades, officials said.
Lisa Kocian can be reached at 508-820-4231 or lkocian@globe.com
