BIDDEFORD — The school department has appointed an advisory committee to study the possibility of a charter school.

Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Ray said at last week’s meeting that the district has seen nine students choose charter schools, and seven of those students will be attending virtual schools. This adds up to a loss of $73,000 of funding for the school district, he said.

“We are losing students to charter schools,” said Ray.

The school committee voted unanimously last week to approve the advisory committee.

A law passed in 2011 allows up to 10 public charter schools in the state. So far, there hasn’t been a school department that has created its own charter school. Charter schools have been created by parent and community groups or organizations, but not school units that receive public money to run schools, said Ray.

“We’re in the business of educating, we’re professionals,” said Ray, and the Biddeford School Department should consider the option of a charter school, offering a specialized education to regional students.

“We need to do our homework,” he said.

School Board member Bil Moriarty said he liked to think of Biddeford as a progressive district.

“I think it’s an exciting idea,” he said.

Mayor Alan Casavant, a retired school teacher, recalled high school students who were extremely talented but didn’t make it through high school because they just weren’t a good fit for the standard school environment.

“I’m always haunted by the ones who didn’t make it through high school,” he said.

A charter school, he said, would offer a different option for students, he said.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].