MET​ROPOLITAN C

​ O​UNCIL 
FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY  40 Dimock Street, Roxbury MA 02119 
metcoinc.org​ | established 1966 tel (617) 427-1545 fax (617) 541-0550 
 

March 22, 2019 

 
Dear Commissioner Riley, 
 
After months of consideration, discussion, and public comments on our current application 
practices, the Board of Directors has decided on an enrollment transition plan that we feel will 
be modern, transparent, equitable, and efficient. We are eager to get your approval on this 
proposed process so that this 52-year-old organization can continue to thrive in the 21st 
century. The Board of Directors is proposing what we refer to as Option 2 in our documents 
(attached). Below are the details of this proposal.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
BEGINNING IN 2019 (FOR THE FALL 2020 SCHOOL YEAR): 
 
Effective upon approval: 
● METCO Inc. will permanently stop accepting new applicants to the Waitlist 
● Beginning on October 2, 2019, school-age students (new or on current Waitlist) will be 
eligible to apply using the new METCO online application 
● The application window will close on December 31, 2019 
 
Status of families currently on Waitlist: 
● Priority will be granted to students from our Waitlist going into Kindergarten in Fall 
2020 (ages 4-5 in 2019), if they complete an application during the application window 
● Waitlist priority will be granted to families with students entering grades 1-12 in Fall 
2020​ ​if they completed applications for those students for Fall 2019 but were not enrolled 
in a METCO district 
● Waitlist priority is eliminated for families with children not yet going into Kindergarten 
(age 3 or below in 2019); when their children are school-aged they may re-apply for 
the lottery system 
● Waitlist priority is eliminated for families with students entering grades 1-12 if they 
did not complete an application for Fall 2019 
● Siblings of students currently enrolled in METCO districts will be given priority status 
regardless of their position on the current Waitlist or lottery 

Determining the order of referrals to METCO districts for Fall 2020: 

● Eligible students would be ordered in two phases: 
○ Students granted priority status (Waitlisted Kindergarten and 2019 Complete 
Applications) would be assigned a number based on the date of their original 
Waitlist sign-up  
MET​ROPOLITAN C
​ O​UNCIL 
FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY  40 Dimock Street, Roxbury MA 02119 
metcoinc.org​ | established 1966 tel (617) 427-1545 fax (617) 541-0550 
 
○ Students applying for the first time for Fall 2020 (including those on the 
Waitlist who had not completed an application in 2019) will be assigned a 
random lottery number, with no weight given to any additional criteria 
● The first referral in each grade will be any siblings of students currently enrolled in the 
district making the request 
● The next referral will be the one with priority status who has the oldest original 
sign-up, proceeding in order of sign-up to the most recent 
● Once all siblings and priority status students have been referred in each grade, newly 
applied students will be referred in order of their random lottery number 
 
The application process in 2020 (for Fall 2021): 
● All Waitlist status will be eliminated on October 1, 2020 
● All interested families may apply (or re-apply) during the application window between 
October 2, 2020 and December 31, 2020 
● Siblings of students currently enrolled in METCO districts who complete applications 
during that window will be given priority status 
● All other applicants will be assigned a lottery number and be referred by grade 
according to that randomly generated number 
 
Sincerely, 

 
Milly Arbaje-Thomas, MSW, LCSW 
Chief Executive Officer 
 

Patrick Kimble  
Patrick Kimble 
President, Board of Directors 
 
cc: METCO Board of Directors 
Cliff Chuang, Associate Commissioner  
Shay Edmond, Director of Equity Programs  
Wilmary Tejeda, METCO Inc. Director of Enrollment Services