Hull School Committee Votes to Join State School Choice Program After Years of Refusals

HULL -- May 26, 2026, Hull School Committee votes 3-2 to participate in Massachusetts school choice for the first time. The vote, taken at the May 26 meeting with Chair Kyle Conley presiding after her reelection to the post, breaks a long pattern of annual opt-outs under the state's Education Reform Act, which makes school choice participation automatic unless a district votes to decline by June 1 each year. Superintendent Michael Jetty had recommended staying out for another year, citing the district's high per-pupil expenditure relative to the $5,000 in tuition a choice student brings, unresolved transportation cost questions, and special education liability concerns. Members Aliza Hagerty and Brendan Kilroe pushed for an immediate yes vote, with Hagerty displaying a map from schoolchoicema.com showing Hull sitting in a South Shore "desert" of non-participating districts. The committee directed Jetty to enter Hull in the state DESE system as "contact district for details" before the June 1 deadline and to return with a specific implementation plan, covering grades, seat limits, transportation policy, and financial modeling, at the June 15 meeting.