FAQs on School Choice

This information is current as of April 2021

Does Monomoy Regional School District participate in the school choice program?
MRSD currently participates in the school choice program at all grade levels and in all schools, as voted on each year by the Monomoy Regional School Committee (File JFBB). More information is also available on our website here. School choice students are accepted on a space-available basis.

The district receives $5,000 in tuition from the sending school district for every school choice student residing outside of Harwich or Chatham – as a former superintendent once said, “it’s better to get $5,000 than to see dust on that available seat.” It fiscally makes sense to fill available seats with school choice students, but at $5,000 per student, the district would lose money filling entire classrooms with school choice students, as the tuition received would only be a fraction of the actual costs of educating a classroom of students.

What is the process for school choice?
The district determines each year how many available slots there are at each grade level, in each school, while limiting elementary class sizes (where possible) to 18 students and middle and high school class sizes to 19+/-1. Families apply early in the year (February/March), and at the start of April, a lottery is held where necessary, and families are notified of their status (accepted, declined, waitlisted). 

Is there school choice at Chatham Elementary School and Harwich Elementary School?
Yes, both Monomoy elementary schools participate in the school choice program, both for interdistrict and intradistrict students. 

How is school choice availability determined?
School choice spots are determined by reviewing the number of enrolled students from within the district. Available seats will vary from year to year, depending on the size of grade level cohorts. The district strives to keep class sizes at the elementary level at or slightly below 18 children per classroom and to keep grade level class sizes as equal as possible between Harwich Elementary and Chatham Elementary. Any available seats below 18 are made available for school choice students. 

There is a legal requirement that the district accommodate all resident students, and the district must plan to have enough flexibility to accommodate resident students before giving spots to school choice students, allowing for families who may move into the district over the summer or during the school year. 

There is frequently a waitlist for choice families at the Kindergarten level, as many families do not register their children for Kindergarten until the summer, therefore the district needs to hold a conservative number of spots open for those resident Kindergarteners. If those numbers are lower than predicted, any students on the waitlist are then offered a spot.

State law specifically requires the district to provide siblings of current choice students preference in filling available seats over all other applicants.

Which of Monomoy’s elementary schools receives the most applications for school choice?
Monomoy generally receives more school choice applications for Harwich Elementary School than Chatham Elementary School, and this is simply because of geography. Both schools offer the same curriculum and educational support for students, so it is not the families’ preference for Harwich Elementary’s educational program driving this trend. Rather, the town of Chatham is wrapped on all borders by Harwich or the ocean, and transporting school choice children to Harwich Elementary School is easier for most choice families than transporting them through Harwich to Chatham Elementary. Unless a parent is working in Chatham, Chatham Elementary is often less convenient for choice families. Over the past three years combined, Harwich Elementary had 36 requests for kindergarten school choice seats and Chatham Elementary had 24 – of these, 21 were offered an available seat at Harwich Elementary and 15 offered an available seat at Chatham Elementary (see Table 1 below).

Does everyone who applies get a school choice spot?
No. If the number of applicants exceeds the school choice spots available, a lottery for the open school choice seats is conducted. Those families not receiving a spot via the lottery will be placed on a waiting list. Preference will be given – in order – to siblings, intra-district students and staff children prior to the need for a lottery (based upon the revised school choice policy the School Committee has proposed for adoption). The only reason students are not accepted for school choice is if there are not enough open spots at that grade level. 

Generally, if a grade level is full or becomes filled in either of our elementary schools in kindergarten, there will not be an available seat at that grade level for the next four years (Grades 1 through 4) unless families move out of the town. Next year, both Chatham Elementary and Harwich Elementary will have full kindergarten cohorts. Families may reapply for school choice in Grade 1 next year, but will likely find no seats available ... perhaps until the middle school years.

There are times when families request a school choice placement at an elementary school where there is not an available seat, but if a seat is available at the other elementary school at the grade level, the district extends an offer to them at the other elementary school. This is the letter that such families receive.

Table 1: Kindergarten School Choice at Monomoy’s Elementary Schools 2019-present

School Year	Chatham Elementary	Harwich Elementary
Available Seats in K	Number of Applicants	Number Accepted	Available Seats in K	Number of Applicants	Number Accepted
Harwich Resident	Non- Harwich	Harwich Resident	Non- Harwich	Chatham Resident	Non- Chatham	Chatham Resident	Non- Chatham
2021-2022	3	0	9*	0	3	6	1	15	0	6
2020-2021	9	4	3	4	3	2	0	6	0	2
2019-2020	5	4	4	2	2 (+1)**	13	0	14	0	13

*Of these 9 Chatham Elementary kindergarten applications, 5 listed Harwich Elementary as their first choice

**One of the Harwich Elementary school choice applicants was offered and accepted an available seat at Chatham Elementary

Do other neighboring school districts participate in school choice at the elementary level?
The towns making up the Nauset Region DO NOT participate in school choice at the elementary level, doing so would create a situation where cooperating member towns would be cannibalizing from the enrollment of their partner towns. The decision was made by the town school committees and Superintendent years ago to not pit one town elementary against the other in the “no win” game of school choice, where one elementary may benefit at the expense of a partner. The Dennis-Yarmouth district allows for interdistrict and intradistrict school choice at the elementary level, following the same procedures as Monomoy.

Do any students from Harwich attend Chatham Elementary and vice versa?
Yes. For the 2020-2021 school year, there are currently 21 school choice students attending CES, and there are 24 Harwich residents attending via intradistrict school choice. At HES, there are currently 46 school choice students, and there are 10 Chatham residents. In any given year, there are also intradistrict school choice applicants who are unable to get into the other town’s elementary school if seats are not available. For the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, there are two Chatham Elementary students wishing to attend Grade 4 at Harwich Elementary School – this request has been declined because the Grade 4 cohort in Harwich is currently hovering around 20 students per class. Similarly, there is one Harwich student wishing to attend Grade 2 at Chatham Elementary for the upcoming year – this request has been declined because there are already 18 students per class in that Chatham Elementary cohort.

With recent concerns about declining enrollment at Chatham Elementary, why not just accept more school choice students to fill those classrooms?
There is a misconception that the district has enough school choice students applying at any grade level to grow Chatham Elementary. In the past few years, there simply haven't been enough Chatham resident students and families interested in Chatham Elementary through school choice (either intra- or interdistrict) to add an additional section at any grade level. 

While any available seats are open to school choice applicants (both from Harwich and other towns), creating classrooms solely from school choice students is not a fiscally responsible decision. School choice students bring in approximately $5,000 per student, while the per pupil costs are roughly three times that. Therefore, it is not sustainable financially or logistically to create entire classrooms from school choice students. 

Why are some Harwich families not able to attend Chatham Elementary via school choice?
Unfortunately, enrollment numbers will mean that each year some families are turned away from school choice if all available seats have been filled at their desired grade level, even resident families within the district wishing to attend the elementary school in the other town. If there are open spots, Harwich families are welcome to attend CES and vice versa. In the 2020-2021 school year, 24 Harwich residents attend CES and 10 Chatham residents attend HES. 

What can’t the district encourage more school choice applications from all over the region to bolster enrollment numbers, especially at CES?
With demographics changing across Cape Cod, there are fewer families with young children in nearly all towns. That means there are fewer total numbers of students of elementary school age, thereby decreasing the pool of school choice families overall. Additionally, the fiscal reality is that creating entire classrooms of school choice students is not responsible. School choice students bring in approximately $5,000 per student, while the per pupil costs are roughly three times that.

How many families are denied admittance to Monomoy Schools via the school choice program each year?
For a listing of the numbers of applications received each year for the past few years, see the chart below. At the elementary level, families from outside the district who are not able to get into one elementary school are given the opportunIty to attend the other if there is space available. Not all families are interested in that option, whether because of travel time or other considerations. Additionally, not all families who are offered a spot end up accepting it. Since a waitlist is formed when grade levels are full, at that point families on the waitlist would be offered a spot. Again, not all waitlisted families accept the spot at that point. It’s also important to remember that some families may believe they were “turned away” because they heard anecdotally that school choice was closed, or they called/applied after the deadline, or were otherwise advised there is no space at a certain grade level. Those are not true applications for school choice and that data is therefore not recorded.

For detailed data on school choice applications and available spots, click here.

How many students attend Monomoy’s elementary schools via school choice?
In his November 2020 report, Superintendent Dr. Scott Carpenter shared the charts below. These charts appeared as Appendix 1 in Dr. Carpenter’s report, which was shared with families and is available on the website - click on November 2020 to access these and additional charts/data.

Monomoy Elementary Enrollment FY12-FY21 and beyond

Chatham Elementary School
Fiscal Year	Chatham resident Students	Harwich resident Students	school choice from other towns	Total Enrollment
FY12	176	53	36	265
FY13	194	44	21	259
FY14	191	44	25	260
FY15	186	39	52	277
FY16	188	42	40	270
FY17	194	41	38	272
FY18	177	32	33	242
FY19	173	25	31	229
FY20	157	23	24	204
FY21	125*	24	21	170
FY25***	53	24	21	100

*includes 13 Chatham resident students currently homeschooled because of COVID

Harwich Elementary School
Fiscal Year	Chatham resident Students	Harwich resident Students	school choice from other towns	Total Enrollment
FY12	6	515	68	589
FY13	6	522	58	586
FY14	4	526	68	598
FY15	5	524	71	600
FY16	9	525	63	597
FY17	7	516	43	566
FY18	12	496	42	550
FY19	7	496	53	556
FY20	7	486	59	552
FY21	10	459**	46	512
FY25***	10	410	50	470

**includes 36 Harwich resident students currently homeschooled because of COVID

Monomoy Elementary-Aged Students
Fiscal Year	Chatham resident Students	Harwich resident Students	Total Resident Students	% Residents from Chatham
FY12	182	568	750	24.3%
FY13	200	566	766	26.1%
FY14	195	570	765	25.5%
FY15	191	563	754	25.3%
FY16	197	567	764	25.8%
FY17	201	557	758	26.5%
FY18	189	528	717	26.4%
FY19	180	521	701	25.7%
FY20	164	509	673	24.4%
FY21	132	483	615	21.5%
FY25***	65	434	499	13.0%

***projection based on FY21 kindergarten enrollments