DESE Outlines Steps for K through 8 Withdrawal

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has outlined the steps the two member towns have to take before the Commissioner of Education “would entertain an amendment to reconfigure the district and approve the creation of two new school districts.”

Rehoboth is holding a special Town Meeting in August regarding the withdrawal of Kindergarten through 8^th grade from the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District. A citizens’ petition asking for the withdrawal to be placed on the town warrant was initially submitted in 2020.

On February 14, selectmen called for a special town meeting.

“The state requirements have not changed,” John Sullivan, Associate Commissioner for DESE, wrote to D-R School Superintendent Anthony Azar on April 12.

• Each town must submit to the Department a long-range education plan to document how it will serve and support its elementary and secondary school populations.
• The District must provide information to the Department to document how withdrawal will affect its Grade 9 – 12 student population and regional operations.
• Each long-range plan must address the requirements of 603 CMR 41.02 (2) as well as describe how each new entity will be governed and managed, how it will be funded, how the reconfiguration and separation will impact students, staff, and parents, how all outstanding obligations to the District will be met, and the fiscal implications on each district.

Also, the District must provide an amendment to the Agreement reflecting the proposed reconfiguration. The amendment must reflect the grade levels to be served by the reconfigured regional district and must meet current law and applicable regulations.

The complete letter can be viewed on the district’s website: https://www.drregional.org.

Sullivan had previously wrote that any amendment to the regional school district agreement “is subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education and would not be in effect unless approved by the Commissioner.”

Rehoboth Selectman Michael Deignan disputed Sullivan’s claims: “Unlike most regional districts, our regional agreement contains specific language allowing communities to assume local control over their K-8 schools. (DESE) already approved the regional agreement as it exists today with the withdrawal language it contains.”

The Board of Selectmen said even if the withdrawal from the district is approved, it would take a full year to go into effect. A new school committee would need to be elected to develop a budget.