Programs catch attention of parents outside district.

Byline: Mary Jo Hill

LEOMINSTER - Two new programs starting this fall have piqued the interest of parents living outside the district, said Superintendent Nadine Binkley.

Both programs will take place at Southeast Elementary School, which will now have a focus on math and science for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. And a new gifted and talented program in math and science also will be set up at Southeast for pupils in third, fourth and fifth grade.

These programs have accepted Leominster residents who qualified and now have filled some spots with out-of-district students who tested and qualified, Ms. Binkley said.

But the scale of school choice also has left Leominster wanting, with more of its students attending schools in other districts, compared to the number of youths coming into city schools from elsewhere.

In fiscal 2007 there were 141 students coming into Leominster public schools, bringing in $807,704 in tuition; but with 211 students going outside the city's district, it had to pay $1,154,837 in tuition, according to the state Department of Education's Web site.

"We're trying to remedy that situation," Ms. Binkley said, mentioning the new programs and its full-day kindergarten classes. And Leominster is going to have a gifted and talented program at the middle school level in another year, she said.

Leominster is pleased to be pulling in more students from districts that haven't provided as many school choice students in the past, such as Lunenburg, Ms. Binkley said.

Students who opt out of attending Leominster schools go to other districts that include Lunenburg, Ayer and Harvard, Ms. Binkley said.

"Part of it depends upon the parent," she said. Some parents live in Leominster but work in another district and want their children to attend school where they work, she said.

Kids switch districts for a variety of reasons, including the feeling that a hometown school is too big or too small, that the student has trouble making friends or has too many friends, or because of how academically challenging a school may be, she said. Grandparents may be providing day care in a different town, so a student attends school in that district, she said.

And while school choice affects finances for the school district, Leominster can only accept students where it has room, Ms. Binkley said. Right now, some of its grade levels are closed at different schools, but there are openings in other places, she said.

When asked whether there's competition between districts for school-choice students, Ms. Binkley said, "Competition, that's a strong word."

"For the most part, people don't go out recruiting," she said.