The Chester Telegraph: Green Mountain and Ludlow/Mt. Holly School Choice
Originally Published 12/19/19
Nov. 27, 2019
Shawn Cunningham
The district’s ability to keep to its priorities and improve education will depend on how many students from the Ludlow-Mount Holly district bring their tuition dollars to Green Mountain High School. With a tuition of $17,000 per student, it would take 35 students to cover the items approved by the committee.
Business manager Cheryl Hammond outlines the number of Black River students expected to attend various high schools
Powden and business manager Cheryl Hammond told the board that so far, of the 130 students who would have attended Black River High but who will have school choice next year, 23 have opted for the new Black River Independent School, 20 for GM, 18 for Mill River and 11 to other schools. Fifteen former Black River students are already attending Green Mountain and are presumed to be coming back. That leaves 43 students who have not returned the paperwork to designate school choice to them by the Supervisory Union. Black River is set to close in June 2020.
Another factor in this is that the new independent school in Ludlow will need to get approval from the State Board of Education before it will be able to take public funding. If that doesn’t happen or is delayed, the 23 students who have chosen it will have to make a second choice.
Powden told the committee that her assistant was calling the families who have not yet returned their papers. There was no discussion whether any sort of sales “pitch” was in order.
The Finance Committee’s next meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Monday Dec. 9, 2019 at Cavendish Town Elementary School, 573 Main Street in Proctorsville.
