So, according to DESE web page information, as in Department of Secondary and Elementary Education / as in the commissioner of education, you the one who set the 1/12 budget for Narragansett Regional School district at exactly what they requested, states that each school choice students brings with them $5,000.00 but Narragansett Regional School District spends an average of $8,830.00 per student and Templeton and Phillipston residents are supposed to be happy with this; look at all the students who want to come to NRSD. Hey, you want to have your kids go to "Gansett, move to either Templeton or Phillipston.

from the web pages of the department of elementary and secondary education (DESE)

FY19 Final School Choice Tuition, June 2019
The school choice assessment and tuition amounts that will be incorporated into the June 30, 2019 local aid distribution have been finalized. On June 30th the State Treasurer's office will process the remaining portion of the annual assessments and tuition, net of the amounts paid in the monthly local aid distributions over the first eleven months of the fiscal year.

If you have any questions about this information, please contact Rob O'Donnell in the Office of District and School Finance at (781) 338-6512 or via email at rodonnell@doe.mass.edu.

School choice tuition rates Download Excel Document are calculated for regular and vocational programs. FY19 school choice tuition rates are set at 75 percent of the FY18 operating cost per full-time equivalent pupil for the receiving school district, with a cap of $5,000. All districts are now at that cap. In addition, the actual special education cost for each pupil with an individualized education plan is paid in full by the sending district. That amount is determined using the same rate methodology for specific services as is used in the special education circuit breaker program.

In prior years, the district summary showed a monthly breakdown of payments and assessments. However, a new report is available from the Division of Local Services that shows the monthly amounts for school choice and all other programs that are included in local aid distribution.

Sending and receiving district staff should review their final school choice rosters and tuition amounts for each student. The information has been placed in the DESE security portal's school choice claim form dropbox. These spreadsheets show each school choice pupil's name, address, enrollment dates, program, tuition and other information. District staff should contact DESE if they feel any of the information is not completely accurate so that follow-up can be done and, if necessary, adjustments can be made during FY20.

I do not want any students name or address, but I believe the total number of receiving school choice and sending school choice students enrollment dates, program tuition, etc should be included in any budget; people paying the bills should have up to date and accurate information and it appears it is available somewhere.

Trends in school choice for Narragansett school district:

FY		FTE Pupils	Tuition	FTE Pupils	Tuition
1996		2.0	10,712	22.6	68,228
1997		0.0	0	25.1	94,157
1998		0.0	0	34.3	111,175
1999		0.0	0	41.4	157,861
2000		0.0	0	50.9	195,725
2001		13.6	56,720	50.1	205,265
2002		31.6	158,025	52.1	215,809
2003		46.1	253,269	69.1	294,177
2004		54.4	285,457	77.7	358,707
2005		75.7	381,290	68.6	313,515
2006		98.4	456,837	71.0	322,967
2007		109.5	522,863	79.1	369,657
2008		114.1	598,163	91.3	432,477
2009		111.7	672,264	92.0	475,194
2010		130.1	702,148	99.9	545,648
2011		130.4	749,970	100.7	563,277
2012		144.4	803,812	111.3	620,991
2013		141.6	864,074	105.4	652,998
2014		152.6	837,136	127.0	765,773
2015		150.2	862,803	139.2	867,398
2016		185.7	1,089,601	141.6	794,982
2017		201.3	1,172,980	136.2	721,752
2018		217.1	1,337,639	121.7	641,734
2019		243.1	1,425,922	143.4	769,575

By DAVID McLELLAN

Staff Writer

Published: 8/2/2019 9:50:26 PM

Modified: 8/2/2019 9:50:12 PM

ORANGE — All of Orange’s elementary school students — from preschoolers to sixth-graders — should go to Fisher Hill Elementary School. 

That is the option architects and school officials are choosing to pursue after months of studying potential solutions for the Dexter Park project. The Dexter Park project is the town’s effort to replace Dexter Park Innovation School, which is currently the town’s school for third through sixth grade, and has the lowest possible rating from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. 

The town’s School Building Committee met with architects from Raymond Design Associates and Martin Goulet of Hill International Inc., which is managing the project on behalf of the town, Thursday night, and unanimously decided to pursue an addition to, and renovation of, Fisher Hill as the town’s future elementary school. 

“We have a great opportunity to build a great campus,” said School Committee member Alex Schwanz. “A school is not just the building itself.”

The plan now is to add a three-story wing to the northern side of the current Fisher Hill building, which would be where students in the third grade up will be educated. The new wing would also be where a new entrance to the school would be built, with a new drive to be added to control traffic flow. 

Preschool and kindergarten students would still be educated in the same areas they currently are, with a new playground to be built for them. 

The final result would not just be the three-story addition, however, and architects at RDA emphasized that the current building would be renovated, potentially getting new, larger windows to let in more natural light. 

The addition and renovation would happen during “phased construction,” with some construction happening in the summer and some during the school year, said Dan Bradford, project architect for RDA, with Dexter Park students staying in school at Dexter Park during construction. After the wing is completed, Dexter Park would be demolished, and new playing fields built over Dexter Park’s current footprint. 

Schwanz and others liked the idea of having more fields at Fisher Hill, and mentioned the possibility of town residents being able to use them during after-school hours for recreation. 

Many of the details of the project still need to be fleshed out, but, according to Goulet, initial price estimates put the project at around $50.9 million — around 80 percent of which is estimated to be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. 

Goulet said there are many variables, such as materials and window sizes, that could increase or decrease the price, and that he’ll be a “stick in the mud” reminding the town that “everything has a price tag.” 

Of course, this project will not happen if it is not accepted by Orange voters, who just rejected a half-million-dollar Proposition 2½ tax override this past week amid fiscal woes. 

Hill International and RDA expect to present a final schematic design and proposal for the project to be finished early next year, and for residents to vote on the project at the 2020 Annual Town Meeting. 

Build-time estimates are around 24 months — from when the construction starts — Bradford said. 

Background

The project chosen Thursday night is the result of an $875,000 “feasibility study” voters approved last year to examine potential solutions to the problems at Dexter Park.

Built in 1951, Dexter Park was designated a “Category 4” school by the Massachusetts School Building Authority in 2006. Category 4 is the worst rating from the authority, and demonstrates a need for substantial repairs or replacement. Only one of nine schools in the state with Category 4 status, Dexter Park was given the designation after boiler and heating problems, a leaking roof, asbestos and opaque windows.

The feasibility study — also being reimbursed by the state at a rate around 80 percent — looked at more than 20 options to fix these problems, including renovating Dexter Park, building a new school at the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School campus and resurrecting the old Butterfield School building, which was closed in 2015 to alleviate pressure on the town budget. 

Thursday night, only two options remained, the Fisher Hill addition and renovation, and a three-story entirely new building to be built in front of the current Dexter Park building. The latter option was eliminated for several reasons: First, it would be slightly more expensive than the Fisher Hill option, and second, only Dexter Park would be demolished, leaving Fisher Hill a decommissioned building overlooking the new school.

Selectboard Chairman Ryan Mailloux said it would be difficult to convince taxpayers to decommission another building, and described the option as having Fisher Hill “looming” over the new school, detracting from the new school’s value. 

A detailed schematic of the Fisher Hill addition and renovation is viewable on the project’s Facebook page titled “Dexter Park Improvements.”

Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268