MASSACHUSETTS CHARTER SCHOOL WAITLIST REPORT UPDATE FOR 2013-2014
May 2014
Each spring, every charter school reports to the Department the number of students admitted for
the following school year and the number of students on the school’s waitlist. As indicated in the
report from July 2013, the information provided below is the update regarding students on
charter school waitlists for admission for the 2013-2014 school year.
In this updated waitlist report, the Department requested the submission of waitlist data as of
December 6, 2013 by January 10, 2014. Charter school waitlist data are recorded and maintained
through each school’s own mechanisms, separate from their student information management
systems (SIMs). Accordingly, the Department collected the data through the upload of
spreadsheet files using its security portal. Unless a charter school has conducted subsequent
enrollment cycles to add names to their waitlists, it is possible that the January waitlists will
simply be a subset of the data previously provided. Seventy-three of the 82 charter schools
submitted data. Of the nine charter schools that did not submit data, seven did not have a
sufficient number of applicants to require a waitlist. The remaining schools have extended
planning periods and are set to open FY15.
Charter schools are open to all residents of Massachusetts. An enrollment preference is given to
siblings of students already attending the school and to students who reside in the city or town in
which the charter school is located or, for a regional charter school, students who reside within
the charter school’s region. If the number of eligible students applying to a charter school
exceeds the number of spaces available for admission, the charter school will hold an enrollment
lottery for all such applicants. Students who have applied, but are not admitted through the
enrollment lottery, are placed on a waitlist in the order the names are drawn. If any seat becomes
available for admission prior to or up to February 15th during the school year, either because an
admitted student chooses not to attend or because a student leaves the school for any reason, then
students shall be admitted from the charter school’s waitlist. Students who apply for admission
after the initial lottery are added to the end of the waitlist, with their position determined using
supplemental lotteries.
Some students apply for admission to more than one charter school. Amendments to the charter
school statute in 2010 included a new provision requiring charter schools to submit their waitlists
to the Department. The Department analyzed the waitlists submitted by schools to create a
consolidated list of students seeking admission to charter schools by city or town. See G.L. c.71,
§ 89(n) (as amended by St. 2010, c.12, § 7). Students appear only once on the consolidated
waitlist. Charter schools must keep accurate records of their wait list containing students' names
(first, middle, last), dates of birth, cities or towns of residence, and grades levels of students who
entered the lottery but did not gain admission.
The Department’s Education Data Services Office conducted the matching process, using
students’ names (first, middle, last), dates of birth, towns of residence, and grades. Partial
matches were manually reviewed to identify obvious data entry errors, such as transposition of
digits in dates of birth1.
1
It is likely that at least some matches were not identified due to less obvious transcription or data entry errors.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
1
The 73 waitlists that were submitted contained 47,385 entries, distributed by grade as shown in
this table:
Grade
Number of Students
PK
K
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
No grade2
Total
2,411
5,496
4,907
5,293
3,851
3,722
4,724
5,207
4,151
2,746
2,695
1,251
580
349
2
47,385
The matching process identified 38,342 students within the 47,385 entries. Of these 38,342
students, 5,481 students (14.3%) appeared on more than one waitlist:
2
Number of
Students (N)
Number of Waitlists A
Student Appears On (W)
Total Entries of All
Waitlists (W * N)
32,861
3,317
1,318
518
195
74
36
16
6
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
32,861
6,634
3,954
2,072
975
444
252
128
54
11
38,342
Total
47,385
Both Boston Day and Evening Academy Charter School and Brooke Charter School-Roslindale submitted
ungraded waitlist information.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
2
It is important to note that not every student on a charter school waitlist would accept an offer of
admission if it were proffered. Some students may have been admitted to other schools that meet
their needs, while others may be reluctant to switch schools after the beginning of the school
year. Therefore, the number of students found on each charter school’s waitlist may not
accurately represent the number of students actively waiting for enrollment to that school. This is
particularly true for those charter schools that carry their waitlists from one year to the next, so
that students can remain on the waitlist for several years. It is impossible to quantify this factor
without making speculative and arbitrary assumptions, which we have chosen not to do. As a
result, the unduplicated waitlist counts should be taken as rough approximations of demand
rather than exact numbers.
The appendix to this report contains the total and unduplicated numbers of students on waitlists
for charter schools by city and town.
For further information regarding this report, please contact charterschools@doe.mass.edu.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
3
APPENDIX
Table 1. Total and Unduplicated Numbers of Students on Waitlists for Charter Schools by City or Town
Total Number of Students
Number of Unique
City/Town
Reported on Charter
(Unduplicated) Students on
City/Town Name
Code
School Waitlist(s)
Charter School Waitlist(s)
Boston
035
22,191
15,464
Springfield
281
4,060
3,870
Lawrence
149
2,856
1,946
Malden
165
1,774
1,676
New Bedford
201
882
865
Brockton
044
847
736
Worcester
348
752
708
Everett
093
689
631
Lynn
163
667
614
Medford
176
557
502
No Town Code
XXX
506
505
Chelsea
057
503
386
Randolph
244
453
340
Newburyport
204
416
412
Fall River
095
415
410
Attleboro
016
371
370
Melrose
178
355
352
Revere
248
350
259
Haverhill
128
349
343
Holyoke
137
328
324
Lowell
160
311
306
Mansfield
167
256
252
Plymouth
239
256
252
Salem
258
201
200
North Attleborough
212
186
183
Barnstable
020
184
182
Franklin
101
183
179
Stoneham
284
178
170
Stoughton
285
174
160
Norton
218
154
154
Northampton
210
151
148
Foxborough
099
147
147
Norwood
220
147
120
Amesbury
007
142
142
Weymouth
336
139
120
Cambridge
049
137
121
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
4
City/Town Name
Somerville
Wakefield
Saugus
Billerica
Quincy
Sandwich
Dracut
Chicopee
Methuen
Winthrop
Yarmouth
Marlborough
Chelmsford
Shrewsbury
Walpole
Newbury
Amherst
Bourne
Taunton
Wareham
Tyngsborough
Framingham
Rockland
Kingston
Sharon
Tewksbury
Canton
Bellingham
Falmouth
Middleborough
Peabody
Littleton
Grafton
Pepperell
West Newbury
Wrentham
Easton
Marshfield
Waltham
City/Town
Code
274
305
262
031
243
261
079
061
181
346
351
170
056
271
307
203
008
036
293
310
301
100
251
145
266
295
050
025
096
182
229
158
110
232
329
350
088
171
308
Total Number of Students
Reported on Charter
School Waitlist(s)
135
134
128
122
117
107
105
99
89
88
86
83
82
77
69
68
66
63
62
62
61
60
59
58
57
57
56
55
55
54
54
50
49
45
44
42
41
41
41
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Number of Unique
(Unduplicated) Students on
Charter School Waitlist(s)
122
133
122
121
84
104
104
95
68
58
85
79
79
76
63
68
63
62
62
62
60
59
55
55
53
56
42
49
55
53
52
48
49
39
43
38
41
39
35
5
City/Town Name
Abington
Dennis
Easthampton
West Tisbury
Carver
South Hadley
Woburn
Braintree
Brewster
Mashpee
Scituate
Acton
Bridgewater
Groton
Plainville
Salisbury
Dedham
Harwich
Milford
Westford
Avon
Ashland
Holbrook
Milton
Greenfield
Norfolk
West Springfield
Ayer
Medway
Newton
Edgartown
Raynham
Watertown
Hanover
Northborough
Belchertown
Bolton
Chatham
Tisbury
City/Town
Code
001
075
086
334
052
278
347
040
041
172
264
002
042
115
238
259
073
126
185
326
018
014
133
189
114
208
332
019
177
207
089
245
314
122
213
024
034
055
296
Total Number of Students
Reported on Charter
School Waitlist(s)
39
39
38
38
37
37
36
35
35
35
35
34
34
34
34
34
33
33
32
32
31
30
28
28
27
27
27
26
26
26
25
24
24
22
22
21
21
20
20
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Number of Unique
(Unduplicated) Students on
Charter School Waitlist(s)
39
38
38
37
37
36
24
34
35
35
32
34
34
32
34
34
25
33
27
31
31
28
26
17
27
27
27
26
25
15
17
20
22
22
22
21
16
20
20
6
City/Town Name
West Boylston
Williamsburg
Orleans
Hanson
Hopkinton
Upton
Arlington
Natick
Oak Bluffs
Westborough
Montague
North Andover
Shirley
Townsend
Concord
Groveland
Harvard
Hull
Leominster
Lancaster
Lexington
Maynard
Brookline
Eastham
Holden
Holliston
Ludlow
Pembroke
Lakeville
Merrimac
Norwell
Beverly
Burlington
Hadley
Hingham
Medfield
Whitman
Clinton
Danvers
City/Town
Code
322
340
224
123
139
303
010
198
221
321
192
211
270
299
067
116
125
142
153
147
155
174
046
085
134
136
161
231
146
180
219
030
048
117
131
175
338
064
071
Total Number of Students
Reported on Charter
School Waitlist(s)
20
20
19
18
18
18
17
17
17
17
16
16
16
16
15
15
15
15
15
14
14
14
13
13
13
13
13
13
12
12
12
11
11
11
11
11
11
10
10
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Number of Unique
(Unduplicated) Students on
Charter School Waitlist(s)
20
19
19
18
16
16
16
17
17
17
14
13
16
16
15
13
15
15
15
14
12
13
12
13
13
12
13
13
12
12
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
10
10
7
City/Town Name
Needham
Spencer
West Bridgewater
Out of State
Boxborough
Deerfield
Halifax
Hatfield
Hudson
Lunenburg
Northbridge
Reading
Swampscott
Westport
Agawam
Dunstable
East Longmeadow
Fitchburg
Georgetown
Millis
Seekonk
Shutesbury
Southborough
Sterling
Stow
Wellfleet
Andover
Duxbury
Marblehead
Nahant
Oxford
Plympton
Princeton
Wilmington
Granby
Great Barrington
Leicester
Lincoln
Plainfield
City/Town
Code
199
280
323
888
037
074
118
127
141
162
214
246
291
331
005
081
087
097
105
187
265
272
276
282
286
318
009
082
168
196
226
240
241
342
111
113
151
157
237
Total Number of Students
Reported on Charter
School Waitlist(s)
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
6
6
6
6
6
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Number of Unique
(Unduplicated) Students on
Charter School Waitlist(s)
8
10
10
9
9
8
9
8
9
8
8
7
9
8
8
6
8
7
8
5
7
7
8
8
8
8
7
6
6
4
7
6
7
7
6
6
6
6
5
8
City/Town Name
Rowley
Swansea
Westfield
Carlisle
Gill
Gloucester
Mendon
Northfield
Palmer
Rutland
Uxbridge
Westwood
Ashby
Berlin
Boylston
Chesterfield
Chilmark
Conway
Cummington
East Bridgewater
Fairhaven
Aquinnah
Hubbardston
Leverett
Marion
Millbury
Shelburne
Southampton
Sudbury
Sunderland
Webster
Worthington
Boxford
Charlemont
Cohasset
Hampden
Huntington
Monson
Paxton
City/Town
Code
254
292
325
051
106
107
179
216
227
257
304
335
012
028
039
060
062
068
069
083
094
104
140
154
169
186
268
275
288
289
316
349
038
053
065
120
143
191
228
Total Number of Students
Reported on Charter
School Waitlist(s)
6
6
6
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Number of Unique
(Unduplicated) Students on
Charter School Waitlist(s)
5
6
6
5
5
4
5
5
5
5
4
5
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
9
City/Town Name
Sturbridge
Truro
Wellesley
Westhampton
Winchester
No Town Code
Athol
Auburn
Belmont
Berkley
Blackstone
Colrain
Douglas
Erving
Goshen
Heath
Longmeadow
North Reading
Orange
Rehoboth
Rochester
Rockport
Somerset
Ware
Wilbraham
Acushnet
Ashburnham
Ashfield
Blandford
Buckland
Freetown
Ipswich
Monroe
Nantucket
New Braintree
Oakham
Pelham
Royalston
Sherborn
City/Town
Code
287
300
317
327
344
358
015
017
026
027
032
066
077
091
108
130
159
217
223
247
250
252
273
309
339
003
011
013
033
047
102
144
190
197
202
222
230
255
269
Total Number of Students
Reported on Charter
School Waitlist(s)
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Number of Unique
(Unduplicated) Students on
Charter School Waitlist(s)
3
3
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
10
City/Town Name
Southbridge
Southwick
Sutton
Templeton
Topsfield
Warren
Wayland
Whately
Windsor
Devens
City/Town
Code
277
279
290
294
298
311
315
337
345
352
Total
Total Number of Students
Reported on Charter
School Waitlist(s)
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
47,385
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Number of Unique
(Unduplicated) Students on
Charter School Waitlist(s)
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
38,342
11