Wayland School Committee votes to decline participation in state school choice program
Summary
At its May 14 meeting the Wayland School Committee voted to decline participation in Massachusetts' school choice program under MGL c.76 §12b, citing financial risk to local taxpayers and a June 1 opt-out deadline.
The Wayland School Committee voted May 14 to decline participation in the stateschool choice program under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 76, section 12b.
Committee members cited the Education Reform Act of 1993 and the statutory June 1 opt-out deadline in announcing the resolution. The committeeapproved a resolution saying Waylandwould not accept nonresident students under the program for 2025-26.
The committeeexplained that Waylandper-pupil expenditures exceed the statemaximum allowable reimbursement, which would require Wayland taxpayers to subsidize each choice student. The resolution added that once the district accepts a choice pupil it must keep that pupil through graduation, creating a potential long-term revenue risk if enrollment patterns change.
The motion was seconded and adopted; the transcript records the vote as "All in favor? Aye." and "Any opposed? None." The committee closed the public hearing on school choice after the vote.
The committeedirected no additional action in the meeting minutes beyond passage of the resolution and closing the hearing. Staff did not provide a recorded roll-call vote or individual tallies in the public transcript for this item.
Why this matters: under MGL c.76 §12b a district may opt out of the statechoice program by a vote before the statutory deadline; decisions about participation affect local budgets and student assignments.
