School Committee Debates Letters to Private Schools

The Seekonk School Committee discussed a district procedure which prohibits sending letters of recommendation to private schools.

“It’s not a policy so it wouldn’t be something that the school committee creates,” committee chair Meaghan Mahoney said Monday. “This started with our special education attorney over four years ago and it began with requests for placements at a specialized school.”

Mahoney said the procedure is posted on the school websites and in the school newsletters.

“I don’t know why we would choose to not fill out the recommendation for a child with special needs,” said member Kyle Juckett. “I don’t see the difference there. If a parent wants to send their child somewhere else or if their child wants to go somewhere else and that parent is willing to make that change, I don’t know why we would try to stop them. “I want to make sure that families choose where their (children) go to school.”

“In no way are any members of Seekonk school administration attempting to use this process to obstruct students from leaving the district,” said Superintendent Rebecca Kidwell. “A lot of the time this is a district that prefers to make a conservative choice. We are implementing the choice that we have been advised to make. What we want is for students and families from this town to have the best opportunities they can. No one is being denied the opportunity to go through this process. There’s definitely a higher level of anxiety from some parents about this and I totally understand that.”

Kidwell explained the district has tuition relationships with Bristol Agricultural High School and Tri County Regional Vocational High School.

“They are public schools and their application process is supposed to be more equitable, which is why I’m saying the state is revising that process,” Kidwell noted. “I promise we’re following the guidance that we have and I promise you that there is a difference there. We would never argue for discrimination.”

Juckett said it’s discriminatory to not send letters to special education schools or “faith-based” institutions of learning.

“Those are funded by the family individually,” Kidwell replied. “And when we write the recommendation, we risk taking on the funding liability as a town.”

Mahoney said the committee agreed “this issue warrants further investigation and aims to work with the school administration to find a solution that ensures students can continue receiving the letters while safeguarding the school department.”