The Finance and Negotiations Committee has agreed to revise the Brandon School of Choice policy discussed on Jan. 7 during their regular meeting.
The new recommendation for School of Choice students moves up the application to the Brandon District by 30 days to July 31 prior to the beginning of the school year. The previous date was Aug. 31, within a week of the opening of the school year.
School officials say the change is necessary to assure sufficient classroom staffing prior to the start of the new school year in early September.
Schools of Choice provisions are designed to allow local school districts to enroll non-resident students and count them in membership without having to obtain approval from the district of residence. Currently, about 360 students, or 10 percent of the total Brandon enrollment, are ‘School of Choice? students. About half of the School of Choice students are from the Pontiac School District.
‘The change in time will eliminate some students from the School of Choice,? said Tom Miller, Brandon School Superintendent. ‘All School of Choice students will be subject to background checks’we are required to enroll all students except in cases of school suspension.?
The Finance and Negotiations Committee includes Brandon Board of Education President Gregory Allar, Trustees Beth Nuccio and Diane Wiley.