PEABODY — Starting this fall, Peabody schools will be open to a limited number of out-of-town-students — but so far nobody is interested.
The city has received "exactly zero" applications from out-of-town students since the Peabody School Committee voted in May to allow school-choice students into the district, said Dave Keniston, the school business manager.
Applications were due July 15, and a lottery drawing was scheduled for July 18.
"I think we may have been a little early" to advertise, Keniston said. "We're going to re-advertise, and we might change the focus of the advertising."
The district advertised on television and in local newspapers. The ads had information on which grades and schools were accepting school-choice students and also detailed application deadlines and where more information could be found.
The lack of interest is concerning because school officials were counting on an estimated $120,000 in tuition revenue from choice students and built that into the budget. If no students are found, another revenue source is needed or further cuts to the school budget will be unavoidable.
"This is the first year we've done it, so there is nothing to gauge it by, or whether there was something wrong with the ad," said Beverley Ann Griffin Dunne, a School Committee member. "We obviously need to do something else."
At a meeting last night, the School Committee expressed concern that the seats won't be filled and the expected revenue would not come. Interim Superintendent Herb Levine mollified some of the committee's financial fears but admitted that he had doubts there would be many applications from out-of-town-students looking to relocate to Peabody schools.
"I think you should be worried in the sense that I don't know if new advertising will generate any more enthusiasm than initial advertising generated," Levine said. "It's tough in the summer; people are away and thinking of other things. I don't hold out a lot of hope of getting a flood of applicants for those seats."
The lost revenue, however, could possibly be found from siphoning off other line items over the course of the year, he said.
"There are so many line items in the budget, and they go up and down as we go through the year," he said. "I'm not sure we should be totally worried about $120,000. If we get to a situation where I am concerned, I will take the appropriate steps through the School Committee, but at this point in time, I'm not overly concerned."
By state law, the committee must vote every year on whether to adopt school choice, and the committee has always voted no. This year, however, the lure of more revenue and a dip in enrollment in some grades made opening Peabody schools a more attractive option. The committee voted reluctantly in May to allow a total of 24 students from outside the district to attend grades two through five at McCarthy or West elementary schools.
There is no state-imposed deadline for enrolling school-choice students, so it could happen as late as the middle of the school year if needed, Keniston said.
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
