What is school choice vs. tuitioning?

Currently, WRED district has intra-district school choice at the elementary level (K-5). This allows our children ages 5-11 in the towns of Jamaica, Townshend, Brookline and Newfane the choice to attend any of our three schools (Townshend Village, Jamaica Village or NewBrook Elementary) as school populations and class sizes allow.

In Vermont, Public High School Choice, Act 129 of 2012, allows students to apply to attend any other PUBLIC high school in the state. Schools are allowed to limit the number of students who may transfer from a school, with a cap of 10 percent of resident students or 40, whichever is smaller; schools may set higher limits.

Public High School Choice is different from towns paying tuition for their students when they do not have schools at specific grade levels and if they are not part of supervisory unions. If towns (or supervisory unions) do not have a school at specific grade levels (ie: middle or high school), the towns adopt a tuitioning program which funds their attendance at a public or private school (with a per-pupil spending cap) outside their community. If the WRED Future Planning Committee voted to pursue a preK-8 program, for example, the towns would adopt this tuitioning program for all its 9th-12th grade learners.