Whitman-Hanson School Committee Votes to Continue School Choice
Decision comes amid budget uncertainties and potential staff cuts
HANSON - May 21 - The Whitman-Hanson School Committee votes 8-2 to keep the district open for school choice in the 2025-2026 academic year, despite ongoing budget concerns that could potentially lead to staff reductions.
Superintendent Jeff Szymaniak explains that school choice allows students from any Massachusetts community to attend Whitman-Hanson schools, with the sending district paying $5,000 per regular education student.
"The way school choice works in the benefit for our district, if five or six or seven or all these students that are coming in, the 76 students, I'm retaining 5,000 per, I can add staff," Szymaniak says.
Currently, 76 students from outside the district attend Whitman-Hanson schools through school choice, while 50 Whitman-Hanson students attend schools in other districts.
The decision to remain open for school choice comes as the district faces significant budget challenges. Szymaniak notes that the district is discussing the possibility of cutting 24 positions following failed override votes in both member towns.
Committee member Hillary Kniffen, who voted against continuing school choice, expresses concern about adding students when class sizes could increase due to potential staff cuts.
"My major concern this year is we do not have a budget and right now on the table, we are talking about cutting 24 positions in this district if the towns do not approve a budget," Kniffen says. "Class sizes of 30, 32, and then we have a couple of school choice kids thrown into that mix."
Szymaniak assures the committee that he has discretion over how many school choice students to accept and where to place them. He recommends accepting six students district-wide for kindergarten through fifth grade, five students each for grades six through eight, and 20 students each for grades nine through 11. The district does not accept school choice students for 12th grade.
"We try to keep class sizes around 19 to 20 in elementary," Szymaniak says.
Several committee members question whether accepting school choice students makes financial sense, given that the district receives $5,000 per student but spends approximately $17,500 per student.
Whitman Select Board member Justin Evans addresses this concern during public comment, explaining that the $17,500 figure includes fixed costs like buildings and utilities.
"If you're just adding students, a couple in each classroom, it's marginal increases of $5,000 without adding that additional cost throughout the district," Evans says. "It's not a $12,000 swing."
Hanson resident Spencer Payson urges the committee to vote yes on school choice to benefit children like his son, who has autism and is struggling in his current school district.
"Out of all the public school systems we've explored local, we've found Whitman-Hanson has one of the best special education programs on the entire South Shore," Payson says.
Committee Chair Beth Stafford notes that the superintendent has the authority to limit school choice acceptances based on available space, even if the district remains open to school choice.
"Just because we say, oh, six, doesn't mean, you know, something happens with budget. A circumstance could change," Stafford says.
Szymaniak confirms that applications for school choice are due by June 30, and he will notify families of their acceptance status by that date. He hopes the district's budget situation will be clearer by then.
The committee also addressed several other items during the meeting:
- The committee reorganized, electing Beth Stafford as chair, Hillary Kniffen as vice chair, Steve Bois as secretary, Rosemary Hill as treasurer, and Stephanie Blackman as assistant treasurer.
- Szymaniak announced that 16 students from the class of 2025 have committed to becoming educators and participated in a signing day ceremony.
- The superintendent noted that the district currently has more than 60 alumni working in various positions throughout the district.
The school choice vote highlights the ongoing budget challenges facing the district. Szymaniak mentions that the district is one of only two nearby currently facing similar budget predicaments, with Bridgewater-Raynham being the other.
*editor’s note: my friends do an AI newsletter for BR at the Bridgewater Raynham substack. Their upcoming override mirrors that of many South Shore towns.
Committee member Stephanie Blackman suggests that the district's special programs could attract school choice students.
"With the new programs that we started with Pathways and with the robotics, I think that these are things that we need to make sure the public is aware of, because those are definite benefits that we are offering," Blackman says.
The committee's next scheduled meeting is June 4, where they will discuss subcommittee assignments and potentially assess a new budget to Whitman and Hanson.
Disclosure: South Shore News founder Justin Evans is a current member of the Whitman Select Board, and spoke in this public hearing on School Choice.