Joint Education Committee Hears Rural School Choice Relief, ABA Access Bills

BOSTON — February 10, 2026 — Four western Massachusetts rural districts urged the Joint Committee on Education to exempt them from a school choice tuition mandate they say threatens their financial survival. Representative Gordon, serving as House co-chair, and Senator Patricia D. Jehlen, acting as Senate chair, presided over the February 10 hearing on H.4867, which would bar small districts without high schools from being required to cover secondary tuition for school choice students. Hancock Superintendent Rebecca Phillips said her district receives $5,000 per choice student per year but faces tuition bills of more than $18,000 at Mount Greylock Regional School — a gap that forced Hancock to shut down its choice program and watch enrollment fall from 58 to 43 students. Worthington faces a potential $210,000 annual exposure for 14 choice students; Richmond projects more than $416,000 in added costs over four years. The committee also heard testimony on H.4927, which would codify the right of licensed ABA providers to deliver services in public school buildings, with parent Natasha Joseph testifying that her five-year-old son James cannot function through a school day without ABA support that has been repeatedly promised but never delivered.