Old Town ponders change in school admission policy

OLD TOWN – The school department is following Brewer’s lead and is considering a new policy that would screen all nonresident students applying for admission to Old Town High School based on behavior, grades and attendance.

The Brewer School Department on Monday became the first public school system in the state to require nonresident students to apply for admission. The Brewer policy goes into effect Sept. 1.

The first reading of Old Town’s policy on registration and enrollment of tuition students, which is nearly identical to Brewer’s, was held in July. The policy will be considered for approval at the Aug. 23 school board meeting.

“We’re simply planning to look at it as a planning tool to stabilize our enrollment,” Old Town Superintendent David Walker said this week. “We’re downsizing without any help.”

The proposed policy for Old Town would require all out-of-town students not now enrolled to fill out an application and submit three years’ worth of academic, attendance and behavior records along with a recommendation from their former superintendent or principal.

Portions of the original draft recently were changed, including a line that would have denied admission to students now subject to school discipline or the juvenile justice system. The policy now states they “may not be considered for admittance,” school board Chairman Jim Dill said Thursday.

“It allows flexibility for students,” he said. “[And will] hopefully take concern away from parents who are thinking, ‘What am I going to do?'”

If approved by the Old Town School Committee, the new policy would go into effect Sept. 1. Since most tuition students already have enrolled for fall classes, the policy would affect only new nonresident students who want to enter the school next year.

Admission would be contingent on space availability, then the student’s records, the proposed policy states.

“If space is available, the principal will then determine whether the student’s grades, attendance, behavior and recommendation demonstrate that the student is committed to success in his/her educational program and to being a good school citizen,” it states.

The high schools in Brewer and Old Town are similar in size, and in each approximately half of the students are from out of town. It’s the fluctuating tuition student population that has driven the communities to create the policy, school leaders from both have said.

Dill said that the Old Town School Department made serious budget cuts this year because of a drop in enrollment figures.

“We’re trying to avoid those types of situations in the future,” he said.

The community also faces closure of the Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill, the town’s biggest employer.

Historically, more than 90 percent of the tuition students in the area communities of Alton, Argyle, Bradley, Greenbush, Indian Island and Milford would attend Old Town High School, but that is “no longer the case,” Walker said.

“For us, it’s a matter of guessing from year to year how many students we have,” he said. “It’s a very difficult process.”

If the policy is approved, the board then will work on creating a student population cap that would bring balance to the budget, Dill said.

“We’re going to have to look at what is the ideal student population for Old Town,” he said.

One big difference between Brewer’s policy and the one Old Town is considering is that Old Town’s invites sending communities to sign exclusivity contracts.

“The application process shall be waived for those students residing in a town that has entered into an exclusive tuition agreement with the Old Town School Department,” the proposed policy states.

After issues arose in Brewer with sending districts upset about not being consulted about the policy, which affects their students, Old Town school officials issued a letter to all of the communities that send students to their high school.

Old Town has been discussing exclusive contracts with surrounding communities for years, and the issue surfaced again during this year’s budget debates, Dill said.

“Unfortunately, it’s a budget issue,” he said.