Admissions and Retention Policy
I. PURPOSE
Franklin County Technical School (FCTS) follows Massachusetts DESE’s admissions guidelines to ensure fair and equitable access to Career Technical Education. Admissions will be determined through an open, unweighted lottery if applications exceed available seats.
II. APPLICATION TIMELINE
III. ELIGIBILITY
• Any eighth, ninth, or tenth grade student who is a resident of the Franklin County Regional Vocational Technical School District (Bernardston, Buckland, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Erving, Gill, Greenfield, Heath, Leyden, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Shelburne, Sunderland, Warwick, Wendell, and Whately), who expects to be promoted to the grade they seek to enter by their local district, is eligible to apply for fall admission to FCTS. In order to enroll at FCTS, the applicant must be eligible for promotion as determined by their sending school.
Students may only be admitted if they have been promoted to the grade they are seeking to enter, so students should be aware that their admission is conditional, if they are not ultimately promoted to enter the grade they have applied for, their admission will be rescinded. Resident students who meet the minimum requirements for admission shall be admitted prior to acceptance of any non-resident students.
Resident students shall be admitted in accordance with the provisions of the Franklin County Regional Vocational Technical School District Agreement, including town-specific enrollment quotas established by the Agreement.
Non-resident students are able to apply, however priority for admission is given to Franklin County Regional Vocational Technical School District residents according to the District Agreement before any non-resident students.
IV. APPLICATION AND LOTTERY PROCESS
• Students submit a simple application and Residency Affidavit during the application window.
• If applications do not exceed available seats, all eligible students are admitted.
• If applications exceed available seats, names are entered into an equal-chance lottery.
• Students not selected in the first round are placed on a waitlist in the order drawn.
V. NOTIFICATION AND APPEALS
• Admission offers and waitlist placements will be shared by the second Wednesday in February.
• Families must confirm acceptance by February 28th or the Next Business Day.
• Appeals may be submitted in writing to the Superintendent (or designee) within 10 business days of notification.
VI. OUTREACH AND EQUITY
1. To ensure all students are aware of opportunities, FCTS will:
a. Host open houses and information sessions
b. With cooperation from the sending middle schools, present to 8th grade students at the sending school.
c. Share program information with all sending middle schools
VII. COMPLIANCE AND REPORTING
• FCTS will maintain records of applications, admissions, and waitlists.
• Annual admissions data will be reported to DESE through CHAMP.
• The Superintendent will attest each year that this policy complies with state and federal law.
RESIDENCY AFFIDAVIT (SUMMARY)
The district requires applicants to demonstrate proof of residency as a condition of admission as a resident student. The Franklin County Technical School Admission Residency Affidavit must be completed by all students prior to the application deadline. If the form is not completed prior to the application deadline, the application will be considered ineligible. Proof of address is required (e.g. Current Mortgage Statement, Current Lease signed by property owner/management company and tenant, Property Deed, Current Section 8 agreement, Current Purchase and Sale Agreement, Current Electric Bill, Current Gas Bill, Current Cable/Internet Provider Bill, Current Residential Water or Sewer Bill, Current Residential Property Tax Bill)