RAYMOND – With about a month before school begins, seven Windham families have heeded the district’s call seeking students willing to attend Raymond schools.

Superintendent Sandy Prince said last week that four Windham students had volunteered earlier this spring to attend Raymond schools when school opens Aug. 28, and three in recent weeks have also volunteered.

The shift is good news, Prince said, since Raymond’s two schools are under-populated and Windham’s are either at or over capacity.

The Regional School Unit 14 School Board is attempting to distribute students evenly through the various schools in the district. Last year, members of the facilities committee tasked with correcting the imbalance proposed that students living in northern Windham, above the Whites Bridge Road intersection, attend Raymond schools. Parents in several public hearings overwhelmingly opposed the proposal saying it would be an inconvenience for commuters and would not foster a Windham-centric identity for the children.

As a result, the district has taken a softer tone, requesting volunteers through several emails to parents in past months. Those emails have netted seven willing families, Prince said. Three new students will start in the fall and four students already made the transition last school year. All students will be allowed to catch a van bus departing from Manchester Elementary School, reducing commute times for parents who previously had to drop their children off at the Raymond schools.

With school fast approaching, Prince said he welcomes additional Windham students willing to attend Raymond schools. But because class size has to be accounted for, Prince said, the window of opportunity is closing quickly.

“The invitation is still open because we’re definitely doing it. But as much as we welcome people to go up there, it’s not a guarantee because I have to make sure we have space in terms of class sizes,” Prince said.

Class sizes, he explained, are a function of board policy. While there are no firm requirements, guidelines call for 16 students per teacher for kindergarten and first grade. For second- and third-graders, the guideline is 20-1; and for fourth- and fifth-graders, it’s 24-1, Prince said.

Prince said he is encouraged people heeded the call put out by the school board after last year’s contentious public hearings.

“It’s a start. The bigger picture with all of this is we’re trying to fill up that school and so this is a start in that direction. And for the parents who signed up they seem really eager and excited to have their child go to Raymond, and we’re glad it’s working for them.”

Windham parents interested in sending their students to Raymond can call Prince at 892-1801.