Charter Amendment - Regionalization
The state has a requirement that a Charter Public School enroll at least 80% of students from the district that it is chartered to serve. Over the past few years, MCCPS has not met that 80% threshold. This is due in part to an increase in students from other districts, Swampscott in particular that filled available seats in the upper grades. Our current 4th grade does meet the 80% bar. It is also due to the overall declining number of students from Marblehead.
The DESE gave us five years to develop a solution to this enrollment issue whereby we need to meet the 80% rule by 2025.
Our first solution was to explore options to expand the number of students from Marblehead. However, when looking at enrollment projections from the district, the declining number that led to an adjustment in the size of the new school being built was an indicator that this would not be a long term solution.
Therefore, we decided to pursue regionalization. We asked for an amendment to our Charter to become a regional Charter Public School District to include Marblehead, Swampscott, and Nahant. Today the Board of Ed voted to approve the Commissioner's recommendation that this amendment be approved. As a result, the condition on our Charter has been removed.
What does this mean? It means that beginning with this week's enrollment lottery, students from Marblehead, Swampscott, and Nahant all have equal priority status.
Change to Status of Lynn
Unfortunately, DESE has informed us that Lynn is now an "at cap" district. As a result, we must skip students from Lynn when placing students from the waitlist. All students from Lynn who applied for next year and are not siblings of current students will therefore be waitlisted.