METCO, which stands for the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity, is a one-way, voluntary educational desegregation program designed to eliminate racial imbalance through the busing of students from Boston and Springfield to suburban public schools in the communities where the program operates. Funded by the State Legislature under Section 12A of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 76, the METCO program is the second oldest voluntary inter-district school assignment program in the country dedicated to increasing diversity and reducing racial isolation.

METCO's mission is to provide, through professional leadership and voluntary citizen action, the development and promotion of quality integrated educational opportunities for urban and suburban students in the Greater Boston and Springfield communities and to work toward the expansion of a collaborative education program with urban and suburban schools systems. Its purpose is to provide the opportunity for an integrated public school education for children of color from racially imbalanced schools in Boston and Springfield by placing them in suburban cooperation between urban and suburban parents and other citizens in the Boston and Springfield metropolitan areas.

METCO was founded in 1966, and Sharon has participated in the program since 1967.

The program is funded by a grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Funding must be approved annually by the legislature. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of annual funding.

Students in METCO must reside in the Boston or Springfield metropolitan areas.

Family income is not a determining factor in applying for METCO. The widely assumed misconception that students in METCO are from low-income families often stems from the stereotype that racial minority families who choose to live-in inner-city areas are poor. METCO families encompass a broad range of income levels and lifestyles.

Each district has determined a maximum seat allocation number. Students in METCO may be admitted at this maximum number; however, METCO enrollment may also be decreased at the discretion of the districts to compensate for increases in resident student enrollment. The current METCO enrollment in Sharon is 65 students.

No. Placement of METCO students is based on available space in each school.

Yes. The number of students varies, but, as of January 2025, the METCO waiting list was at 15,000 students.

At any given time, there are approximately 3,300 students participating in district METCO programs across the Commonwealth.