MARION — When the Finance Committee, Selectmen and Old Rochester Regional budget subcommittee members met on Feb. 26 to discuss next year’s budget, opinions were divided about using funds from out-of-district students to pay for budget expenses. 

The overall number of these “school choice” students is down to 101 students from 125. Old Rochester Regional currently receives $5,000 per student from the sending districts, with the fee set slightly higher if the students are special education students. 

Assistant Superintendent Michael Nelson said there are 8 to 12 students who fall into both categories at the school. 

Finance committee members also asked about the number of school choice students in the 2020-2021 school year, with school officials answering that they plan to stay at 101 students. 

Finance committee chair Peter Winters said he would like to see a cost analysis on marginal cost per student and pointed out that the payment and cost per student seemed imbalanced, since the “cost is what, $18,000 per student?” 

School Committee member Michelle Smith explained that the school tried back down on the number of school choice students and forced to bring numbers back up to provide the same level of programming for ORR students. 

Winters responded that the school is not supposed to fill budget gaps with school choice money. 

“We are working toward that balance,” Smith said, but it is a process.  

The finance committee chair pointed out that because students cannot be asked to leave the district after they start at the junior high or high school, the number of students next year could only decrease by 15, the number of seniors leaving. He asked what the school would lose without those funds. 

Old Rochester Regional High School Principal Michael Devoll said it would eliminate the salaries for five staff members, including an an art teacher who impacts 144 students per semester, a tech teacher who teaches 120 students per semester and English and social studies teachers who teach electives. 

School Committee member Tina Rood pointed out that many high school alums say that technology courses need to be added to the curriculum.

Not all finance committee members felt entirely negative about school choice numbers, with Jay Pateakos saying the school group had done a good job with the decrease from 150 students to 101, and acknowledging it was not easy. 

“Other communities feel strongly about school choice students and we are having this conversation away from other schools,” Old Rochester Regional Superintendent Doug White reminded those at the meeting. He added that school choice students are not adding classes to the curriculum, but filling seats that would otherwise be vacant in classes that were already running.  

Marion Selectman John Waterman said the fact that the high school had cut some programs showed that it had discipline about trying to manage programs. He urged finance committee members to “spend a few hours at ORR” to see what programs are like.