EDUCATION
Maple Run creates transfer program
Ten students allowed to change schools per year
By MICHELLE MONROE
Messenger Staff
ST. ALBANS — When Fairfield, St. Albans City and St. Albans Town joined together to create the Maple Run Unified School District (MRUSD), one of the possible benefits was a chance for students to attend one of the other two K-8 schools.
The MRUSD board has approved a transfer program to allow a small number of K-8 students each year to do just that.
“Obviously, there are perks to consolidating,” said superintendent Kevin Dirth. “Now that we’re one school district, we have options.”
One of those perks is a limited ability to allow transfer between the elementary schools.
Students whose families have moved from one town to another are not included in the policy. Those students are automatically given the option of continuing in their former school or changing to the school in the town where they now live. For example, a family moving from St. Albans Town to the city would have the option of keeping their child at the St. Albans Town Educational Center (SATEC) or transferring to City School.
Students whose families have moved are able to stay in their original school until the end of the school year or until the end of eighth grade, whichever the family prefers, explained Dirth.
For families who have not moved, but who would like to change schools, the transfer program will allow ten students per year to move to a new school.
Parents are not asked why they wish to transfer their child, explained Dirth. Instead, if there are fewer than ten requests for transfer, they will all be granted. If there are more than ten requests, a lottery will be used to determine which students may transfer.
However, students will not be able to transfer if there are no empty spaces in the student’s grade at the desired school. “We’re certainly not going to increase teachers” so that students can transfer, said Dirth.
The decision to refuse a transfer because of space will be the superintendent’s, and his decision will be final.
The only priority for transfer will be students whose siblings are already enrolled in the other school. For example, if a family living in St. Albans Town has a second grade student in Fairfield Center School and wants to send their kindergarten student to Fairfield, they will receive priority for transfer, Dirth explained.
Once a student has been allowed to transfer, the student will be able to remain at the new school until graduation from eighth grade. Those students will not count toward the next year’s group of ten students.
Transportation for transferred students is the responsibility of the family. However, if a bus is already available, the student will be able to take it.
Families will also be able to remove transferred students and return to the school in which they reside. However, the family will need to notify the superintendent of their intention to relocate the student by March 1.
Applications to the transfer program are due on April 15.
In addition, the superintendent has the ability to approve transfer to students for safety reasons. Those students will not count toward the ten students allowed to transfer each year.
Parents can apply to the transfer program at fcsuvt. org.
‘Now that we’re one school district, we have options.’ Supt. Kevin Dirth
