![]() ![]() "I believe strongly that this participation benefits not just the Project Open Choice students and their families but significantly enriches the education of all students in both the Woodbridge and Amity system," she wrote. In a letter to the Woodbridge school board, Woodbridge Selectman Sheila McCreven advocated for the town's Open Choice participation to continue uninterrupted, saying the program grants New Haven students 13 years of quality education at Beecher and the middle and high schools of Amity Regional School District. "And I think pausing it for a year will send a clear message, and if it doesn’t, then we have to reevaluate how we are going to accomplish our goals as a district without a program with such a financial liability." The falloutįollowing the school board's vote, city and town leaders implored board members to reverse their decision, arguing that eliminating two Open Choice kindergarten seats would be detrimental to schoolchildren on both sides and counterproductive to Woodbridge's efforts to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation in its schools. However, I don’t think year after year, we can bring this financial loss to the town," Woodbridge Board of Education Vice Chair Maria Madonick said at the meeting. "New Haven has paid and will continue to pay its fair share of reasonable costs associated with educating New Haven students with special needs who participate in the Open Choice program, and we hope Woodbridge will do the same."Īs a result of those financial disputes, Woodbridge school officials temporarily closed their doors to new Open Choice city students, voting 6-1 in favor of the change at its Jan. "Contrary to past practice and agreements, WPS and the Woodbridge Board of Education appear to be requesting that New Haven Public Schools pay for baseline education costs as well, inappropriately attempting to bill NHPS for these baseline costs, and then inaccurately alleging that NHPS doesn’t pay its bills," Harmon said. NHPS eventually agreed to pay WPS $131,728, he added. But the two sides failed to reach an agreement for the 2021-22 school year, and WPS attempted to bill NHPS for $262,774 in special education costs, Harmon said. “New Haven Public Schools’ long-standing practice and agreement with Woodbridge Public Schools has been to pay for our students’ individual special education services that exceed the baseline services that WPS would otherwise ordinarily provide to all its students with special needs," Justin Harmon, director of communications for NHPS, said in a statement.įor the 2020-21 school year, NHPS agreed to pay $59,811 to WPS for special education and related services, according to Harmon. According to the state Department of Education's website, the receiving district pays a portion of the extra costs for special education students in the program, and the remainder is paid by the district where the student lives.
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