CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Adams Cheshire Regional School District will look into why students school choice out of the district.
Interim Superintendent Robert Putnam told the School Committee Monday that 327 Adams-Cheshire students this year will attend other schools such as McCann Technical, Berkshire Arts and Technology Public Charter and St. Stanislaus Kostka schools.
He said McCann has enrolled 177 students, 53 of which are freshmen. BArT has enrolled 76 students and St. Stans has enrolled 74 students.
Putnam said that the numbers are consistent with the past years even though student population has steadily declined.
"I was trying to see how these numbers have changed over time, and…if you look at our kids who have been going to McCann since 2010 the numbers have remained fairly constant," he said.
"BArT for the past few years have been in the 70s and St. Stans has been similar. I think each of these schools fill out a particular niche, and the kids that are going to St. Stans are going to go there."
He added that 54 students from outside of the district have choiced into the Adams Cheshire Regional School District but more usually choice out. He said he believes near 90 students have choiced out of the district and have joined others such as North Adams, Mount Greylock Regional School District and Pittsfield.
"The choice out students number is interesting, and I am thinking about looking into it more carefully because I’d like to know why students choice out to other districts," Putnam said. "I am trying to figure out a way to reach out to them."
Putnam added that the district's overall enrollment on Oct. 1 is about the same as it was in September with a total of 1,318. But last year at the time enrollment was 1,361.
Putnam said this represents 243 students in Cheshire elementary, 451 in CT Plunkett and 624 at Hoosac Valley.
School Committee member Paul Butler suggested the committee adopt a resolution in regards to question 2 on the ballot this November, which would raise the cap on the number of charter schools in the state.
"I would like to have a resolution supporting the no side of that," Butler said. "I would like to have the committee weigh in on it."
More than 150 school committee across the state has adopted such a resolution claiming that the funding formula for charter schools pulls funding from the traditional public schools.
School Committee member Darlene Rodowicz suggested that the district uses the question as a learning experience for some Hoosac Valley math students by asking them to see if charter schools are really cost neutral.
"Since the proponents say that it doesn’t take any money away from our district, which I beg the differ, I would like to see if some of our finest math students could figure it out for the community," she said.
"I think it is a great practical lesson as well. Sometimes math is very abstract but when you put it into the real world I think it would be very meaningful to see how it works."
Putnam agreed and said he would suggest it to the Hoosac Valley principal.
