SAUGUS — The School Committee appears poised to adopt a new admissions policy that would require families who move to Saugus to complete the town census in order to be eligible to register their children in the public school system.
The policy was drafted based on a similar regulation in place for Danvers Public Schools, and should it be approved by the committee, would serve as an update to the existing admissions policy, which was adopted on Aug. 30, 2001. The committee conducted a first reading of the policy during its July 27 meeting, and it is now posted on the district’s website for review.
School Committee Chairman Vincent Serino said the committee sought to update the policy to formalize the process by which new residents can register their children to attend the town’s public schools. He added that having prospective students register with the town first would add a level of clarity to the process that doesn’t exist under the current policy.
“In the past, people would move into town and just come right in and register their kid and the town had no information, all the information was coming from the schools,” Serino said during the July 27 meeting. “Really all it is is cleaning up that they go to the town hall, meet with them first, and then they come here and register.”
Once the census is completed, the clerk’s office will provide documentation to the district confirming the residency.
Serino said little else in the policy has changed, though the new document is nearly three times the length of its predecessor and provides additional details regarding the residency requirements to attend Saugus schools.
Specifically, the policy states that “home ownership or rental in Saugus, alone, is not sufficient to establish residency if the student does not actually reside in that dwelling. A temporary or part-time residence in Saugus, solely for the purpose of attending Saugus Public Schools shall not be considered residency.”
The policy goes on to list the ways new residents can prove residency, occupancy, and identity, and the process by which someone, or their guardian, could appeal a decision determining they do not qualify to attend Saugus schools. The superintendent of schools would be the determining party on questions of residency.
The policy does not apply to students who would qualify for attendance under the McKinney-Vento Act, which allows homeless students to attend public schools.
Saugus Educators Association President Bill Palmerini praised the new policy, saying it would help the district’s clerical staff tremendously.
The full School Committee will likely vote on the policy during its next meeting, which Serino said is set for Aug. 12.
