Dartmouth High will be receiving 30 students from outside the district come September 1, the first day of school.

The program—called School Choice—is a state program that allows public schools to accept students from other school districts in return for a “tuition” payment that essentially moves state aid from a student’s home district to the district where he or she is attending school. It was approved by the Dartmouth School Committee for the first time in March, and this will be the first time it is implemented in the town.

“I’m excited about it because it brings another element of diversity to the school system,” said Dr. Bonny Gifford, superintendent for Dartmouth Public Schools. The 30 students entering Dartmouth High (26 freshmen; 4 sophomores) are from New Bedford, Westport, Fall River, Swansea, and various charter schools, said Gifford.

Upon acceptance, students will be part of the Dartmouth system until graduation, unless they should choose to withdraw. Siblings of accepted students would receive preference in an otherwise lottery-based system.

Gifford said she suggested capping the amount of incoming students at 30 as to avoid extra spending on personnel and resources. In the last decade, Dartmouth High has decreased by about 300 students, said Gifford, allowing her to fill some seats in the ninth and tenth grade classes. She said the elementary schools and middle school are already at a good student-to-teacher ratio.

“I have no reason to think it won’t go really, really well,” said Gifford.

The school would receive $5,000 per incoming student—which will recur every year that they are attend school in Dartmouth—and the funding will would be put into a revolving account, said Gifford.

Gifford, having been with the Dartmouth school system for about a year, said she isn't completely sure why the School Committee hadn’t enacted School Choice prior to her tenure, but said it was probably to ensure that the town could take care of its own students first without thinning resources. However, Gifford said she is confident the committee will see that School Choice will only be an asset to Dartmouth schools.