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Winchester School Committee unanimously opts out of state school choice for 2025–26
Summary
The Winchester School Committee voted unanimously to opt out of the Massachusetts School Choice program for the 2025–26 school year, citing limited space and uncertain near-term enrollment as the primary reason, following a required public hearing and recommendation from Superintendent Dr. Hackett.
The Winchester School Committee voted unanimously to opt out of the Massachusetts School Choice program for the 2025–26 school year after a brief public hearing and on the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. Hackett.
The vote came after Dr. Hackett told the committee that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requires each district to take annual action on school choice and that Winchester has not participated, to her knowledge. “The primary and somewhat only reason that you can vote to not allow for school choice is based on space constraints,” Dr. Hackett said, recommending the district not open to nonresident students next year because the district does not yet have the predictable capacity to accept additional students.
School choice allows nonresident students to attend a district for the state per-pupil amount, Dr. Hackett said, but districts can limit participation by grade level or cap the number of seats. She noted that Winchester is opening a new elementary school in the coming year and that enrollment at the middle and high school is at its highest since before the pandemic, which informed her recommendation.
No members of the public elevated or spoke during the hearing. A motion to accept Dr. Hackett’s recommendation to opt out was made and seconded; the committee recorded unanimous “aye” votes from Miss Munyarji, Miss Bergstrom, Dr. Matthews and the chair.
After the vote the committee closed the public hearing and continued with its regular agenda.
