Published in the June 28, 2017 edition

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD – Wakefield will not be allowing students from other towns to attend Wakefield Public Schools in the 2017-2018 School year.
The School Committee last night held its required annual school choice public hearing but no one from the public came to testify for or against becoming a school choice district.
The Massachusetts school choice program allows students to attend school in any district in the state. Participation is limited to 2percent of all public school students. School districts can choose not to participate but must opt out on an annual basis. No racial or ethnic criteria limit a student’s choice of schools or districts.
In the absence of any public testimony, School Committee chairman Rob Tiro turned to School Superintendent Dr. Kim Smith for her recommendation.
Smith noted that Wakefield has never opted to become a school choice district and recommended against becoming one for the 2017-2018 school year. She said that the decision was based on enrollment and available seats in classrooms.
She said that Wakefield’s class sizes were just about right and therefore she would recommend against Wakefield participating in the school choice program.
The School Committee agreed and voted unanimously not to become a school choice district.
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The School Committee officially set its schedule of user fees and tuition charges for the 2017-2018 school year. In its FY 2018 budget passed by Town Meeting, the School Committee reduced most user fees by 20 to 25 percent.
Last night the committee voted to reduce the user fees for high school athletics, Marching Band, Winter Percussion and Winter Color Guard from $275 last year to $215 for the coming school year. (An additional ice hockey assessment was reduced from $250 to $125.) The family cap on the aforementioned user fees was reduced from $825 to $645.
The School Committee also voted reductions in fees for middle school student activities. Drama Club was reduced from $50 to $40 and the Science Olympiad fee was cut from $100 to $80.
Reductions were also approved for High School extracurricular clubs for science, math and art from $50 to $40.
High School Performing Arts fees were cut from $150 to $120. The family cap remained the same at $300.
The School Committee voted to increase tuitions at the Doyle Early Childhood Center by 2.5 percent. School business administrator Michael Pfifferling explained that the increase will partially cover a 3.5 percent increase in teacher salaries. The breakdown is as follows, listing the increases from last year to the upcoming 2017-2018 school year:
• Preschool full day, five days a week, $6,250 to $6,400.
• Preschool half day, five days a week, $3,125 to $3,200.
• Preschool half day, three days a week, $1,875 to $1,920.
• Preschool half day, two days a week, $1,250 to $1,280.
School bus fees were increased by $10 for one-way and round-trip transportation from $220/$330 to $230/$340.
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In other business last night, the School Committee approved the 2017-2018 Student Parent Handbooks for the elementary Schools, the Galvin Middle School and Wakefield Memorial High School.