Last month, we released a report entitled District Consolidation and the Threat to School Choice: 15 Reorganization Plans to Watch. In it, as the title makes clear, we identified a handful of communities where school choice is now available, but where it may be threatened by ongoing district consolidation efforts.
There is good new out today regarding one of the consolidation proposals we highlighted. According to a report in the Morning Sentinel, under the consolidation plan for the towns of Wiscasset, Alna, Westport Island, Whitefield, Windsor, Chelsea, Palermo and Somerville,
“...school choice applies to students from kindergarten
through grade 12 in Alna and Westport Island; to high-school students
only in Chelsea, Palermo, Somerville, Whitefield and Windsor; and to no
Wiscasset student.“
In other words, school choice options will remain in place where they have traditionally been, as long as the plan in its current form is passed by voters in the eight towns. There is apparently some rumbling in Wiscasset about how high a share they will pay for the new regional district, among other concerns.
Assuming the plan does eventually pass, will Wiscasset parents remain happy with fact that every other high schooler in the district has school choice but them? School choice is not out of the woods yet, but good to see a plan being put forward that actually preserves choice.