CLCM Calls on State and Lynn Schools to Repeal Exclusionary Enrollment Policy
The Children's Law Center of Massachusetts (CLCM) and allied organizations have called on the Lynn Public Schools (LPS) School Committee to repeal an LPS policy, enacted in May 2024, that excludes youth as young as seventeen from public education. We further requested that the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) establish a statewide policy on age requirements for enrollment, as is required by statute. The Center for Law and Education, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, the EdLaw Project of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, and Massachusetts Advocates for Children joined CLCM’s call to action.
The Lynn Public Schools' policy prohibits the enrollment of individuals who are 18 or older, or who will turn 18 during the school year they seek to enroll, unless approved by the Superintendent or their Designee. This stands in direct contrast to Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) guidance, which advises school districts to enroll students through age 21 in order to satisfy obligations school districts have to special education students.
Since fall of 2024, youth have been turned away from Lynn Public Schools. Youth seventeen or older enrolling in school are more likely to be newcomers, and Lynn’s policy disproportionately impacts those with unidentified special education needs, English Learners/Multilingual Learners, and Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE). Recently arrived immigrant youth may benefit not only from formal education, but also the informal education that results from engaging in the school community, including social support, positive interactions with caring adults, extracurricular programming, and warm meals.