Danvers Looks To Cap Number Of Its Students Attending Essex Tech

DANVERS, MA — The long-simmering disagreement over the number of Danvers high school students who should be allowed to attend Essex North Shore will come to a head next month when Danvers town meeting members vote on a student cap each school year.

Article 5 of the town meeting warrant asks town meeting members to approve a home-rule petition to the state legislature that would cap the number of Danvers students accepted into the school at 40 per year in an attempt to curb costs associated with annual increases in Danvers students attending Essex Tech —which the town said has an unsustainable effect on the school and town budget.

The town cites the increased contribution from Danvers to Essex Tech going from $2.51 million to $3.81 million per year over the past years — which is an 18.06 percent increase per year at the same time the town budget has increased at only 3.49 percent per year.

Town Manager Steve Bartha told the Select Board during Tuesday night's warrant discussion "nobody can question the investment Danvers has made in that school.” But cited the town having 20 percent of the Essex Tech student body when its population makes up only 9 percent of the population of the communities from which the regional school draws as being overly burdensome on the town.

If the home rule petition passes — and then passes the state legislature — the number of Danvers at the school would decrease to a maximum of 160 after four years – 70 less than the current number.

While Danvers officials have said they have attempted to reach an agreement with Essex Tech about budget obligations and student caps repeatedly in recent years, Essex Tech school officials counter that putting any type of artificial cap on how many students are accepted from a certain town serves to limit the educational opportunities for those students.

"We are providing a type of education that is different from a comprehensive setting," Essex Superintendent Heidi Riccio told Patch on Wednesday. "Kids have a choice for education. And that is a right. Kids have a right to have a vocational or agricultural education.

"Kids learn better in different environments. We don't want a cap because for those who did get in it could be life-changing for them."

Danvers officials have argued that the added cost per student is $7,500 for those who attend Essex Tech and that students who are planning to attend a two- or four-year college can get a comparable education at Danvers High School.

"To absorb these costs, over which the town has historically had no say or control, budget offsets, deferrals or cuts have been made to other department budgets or key investments," the town said as part of the warrant article explanation. "Stated plainly, the town has been forced to redirect almost $1.5 million the past three years from other services areas to accommodate the Essex Tech assessments."

Riccio argues that the costs are worthwhile investments in the town students’ education of their choice regardless of which school those students choose to attend.

"An education is whatever works for kids," Riccio said. "I find it unfortunate that we are comparing kids against kids. That's not the intent. The intent of education is to give a child what they need. If it's a comprehensive or vocational education, that's what we should be doing."

While the warrant says "the school has refused to discuss changes to their admissions," Riccio said a School Sub-Committee and the full School Committee considered changes, but determined that a straight lottery system would not help increase the enrollment of underrepresented populations and that the last Danvers proposal that capped students at 30 per year — 10 less than the warrant proposal — was deemed not in the best interest of prospective students.

"Students want to train for the future workforce and our goal is to train as many kids as we can who want to have that," Riccio said. "Danvers needs to do what they believe is in their best interest (at town meeting). I am confident that Danvers residents will communicate their third and we will go from there.

"But we do not want to restrict students from receiving a vocational agricultural education if that's what they desire."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)