School Committee votes 4-1 against school choice
Winchester School Committee voted 4-1 to opt out of the state's school choice program for 2026-2027. Superintendent Dr. Hackett recommended the opt-out, citing capacity limits after the district's override failed and budget cuts followed.
School Committee · Meeting of June 1, 2026
Winchester School Committee voted 4-1 to opt out of the state's school choice program for 2026-2027. Superintendent Dr. Hackett recommended the opt-out, citing capacity limits after the district's override failed and budget cuts followed.
Member Mr. Belair cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing Winchester already loses $26,365 in state funding annually when its own students leave for other districts through the same program, and pitched using the $5,000-per-student allocation to fund additional classroom capacity at schools like Lincoln Elementary. Member Ms.
Mignarji said she would support opening seats "if we had a fully funded tier two program." The committee also voted 4-0 to accept a $4,250 donation from the Winchester Sports Foundation for unified bowling before moving into executive session for a Level 3 union grievance hearing.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 1,630 words
Source: the School Committee meeting of June 1, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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