AMHERST — Amherst’s elementary schools will continue to accept school-choice children from out of town this fall, though the administration is expected to limit most of this enrollment to kindergarten students.

Even with some concerns about the philosophy of school choice, the Amherst School Committee this week voted unanimously to maintain school choice.

Committee member Peter Demling said the $5,000 per student that comes to the district allows the schools to provide services and to “top off” classes that otherwise may not have enough students.

But Demling said he does have trepidation about continuing school choice and the impact on some of the districts that are sending more students than they receive, pointing to the concerns raised by the Mohawk Trail Regional School’s superintendent during a Joint Committee on Ways and Means hearing held at the University of Massachusetts this week, where she described the costs associated with marketing the schools and other efforts to keep students from leaving.

Committee member Jennifer Shiao said she would like to see the administration focus on learning from families and students why they might be leaving, both via choice and to charter schools.

What the future holds for Amherst public schools and efforts to bring in new students is a concern, said member Irv Rhodes. “We’re in an environment where there really is competition,” Rhodes said.

Superintendent Michael Morris said that how school choice is done has shifted over last few years, with kindergartners representing about 95% of those joining the schools.

“We’ve found that students who have a six or seven year relationship with the schools, it’s better for the schools and for the families and child to build that relationship over time,” Morris told the committee.

Roughly 8% of students between the elementary schools and the Amherst-Pelham regional schools choice in and the district benefits from them in a variety of ways, including their different experiences, on top of the financial benefits.

“They benefit from the diversity our community has, and they add to the diversity our community has,” Morris said.

Morris said he makes efforts to only fill existing seats so that he is not putting any additional costs on the budget. “We’ve been much more cautious in the past few years,” Morris said.

He is also cognizant that with a new elementary school project looming, enrollment has to match what the school can accommodate, which is about 150 students per grade level.

The school choice vote came on the same evening where committee members heard from parents concerned about education in Amherst, with the Amherst Pelham Education Association contract remaining unsettled, and likely reductions in classroom teachers and paraeducators in next year’s budget.

“Members of this committee or others may try to blame the situation on the lack of state funding, or the lack of contributions from our local institutions of higher learning,” said Amber Cano-Martin, a parent of two elementary school children. “For sure, we should all do everything we can to advocate for increased funding from those sources. But at its core, this assertion is an attempt to deflect attention from the fact that the budget priorities of our town, again, a town whose product is education, do not reflect the values we profess.”

“I moved here primarily for the good public schools and I am deeply disappointed to not see the educational values adequately reflected in the budget,” wrote Emily Chandler, a parent of two Wildwood students. “Please find a way to give teachers what they are asking for.”

School Committee Chairwoman Allison McDonald said the requests from the union would add millions to the budget that isn’t available. She also blamed the situation that will require some positions to be eliminated on the aid received from the state.

“It is right to be upset about the state of funding for our public schools. Be upset,” McDonald said. “And add your energy and voices to push for changes at the state level, because that’s where change can have a meaningful and lasting impact on our schools.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>