ACLU sends second warning on Barrington tuition plan
The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has sent another letter to Barrington school officials, warning them that a selective admissions program may violate the law.
Barrington has announced plans to admit up to 10 students from other towns. Under the proposal, those students would pay $13,000 a year to attend the highly ranked school district.
At first, district officials indicated that special needs students would not be eligible for the pilot year of the program because of the extra cost associated with their education. After the ACLU notified the district this policy could violate anti-discriminations laws, the district proposed allowing special needs students for a higher fee of $58,000.
In a letter to Barrington school officials, the ACLU says this two-tiered tuition plan would still violate state and federal law.
Has anyone figured out if Barrington would also be planning on receiving the student’s allotment of state and local funds under the funding formula, or does the money not follow the child in this case?
Good question! I suspect not, since the family would be – in effect – removing their child from the public system, but I’ll have to ask the school committee. It would certainly result in lost funding for the sending district either way.