Deadline for Choice applications is Friday, February 27, 2009
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 76, Section 12B was enacted in 1991 to allow parents to send their children to public schools in communities other than the one in which they reside.
If you are interested in applying for School Choice in the Manchester Essex Regional School District, the School Choice Application From will be able to download as of Decembe, 2008. This form will only be accepted between the dates of January 1, 2009 through February 27, 2009.
Application Form:
School Choice Policies The Manchester Essex Regional School District currently participates in accepting out of district students from all communities outside of the Manchester Essex region in Grades K through 12. MERSD will determine the grade level and the number of openings that will be available for the following fall. School Choice students are accepted for the fall only. Please Note: intra-district placement is not an option for Manchester and Essex residents.
School Choice Lottery Applications are available in January & February, with a deadline receiving date of Monday, March 2, 2009. Selection must be free from any type of discrimination. Because the number of applications received usually exceeds the number of slots available, a lottery system is used to insure fairness in the random selection process. Once received, each application is assigned a number to be used in that lottery system. On the day of the lottery, numbers are randomly drawn. A Wait List is established in the order chosen for those students not drawn for acceptance. Should a lottery winner not accept the School Choice space, the Wait List is used to award
acceptance for the next student on that list.
Siblings The state recognizes the difficulty parents have if siblings are separated in different school districts. Thus, in 1994 an amendment to the school choice law was enacted, “Any sibling of a student already enrolled in the receiving district shall receive priority for admission to said district.” Once those preferences are honored, the remaining openings must be filled through a random selection process. If the number of siblings applying for a certain grade level exceeds the number of slots available, then a sibling lottery will take place and no other applicants will be considered.
Yearly Application Process Once a non-resident student has be admitted under the school choice program, the student has the right to remain in that district until graduation from high school unless there is a lack of funding of the program. This right exists even if the school district decides that it will no longer participate in the school choice program. If an applicant is not chosen in the lottery system, a new application must be submitted for the following school year during the application process time frame.
School Choice Transportation Transportation for School Choice students is to be provided by their parents/guardians. |
