MANCHESTER — The Manchester School District is considering changes to school choice rules that would limit parents from moving their children from one school to another.

Superintendent of Schools Thomas Brennan said Wednesday his office is considering the change after the state Department of Education altered its rules.

“This doesn't mean the district doesn't have to offer school choice anymore,” said Lisa Witte, director of federal projects for the Manchester School District. “We have to decide as a district if we want to change what we do.”

Under the No Child Left Behind law, schools that fail to show required year-to-year improvement on test scores are deemed “in need of improvement.” Parents whose children attend elementary schools with this label have the option of sending their children to another school with better test scores within that district, if available.

In Manchester, all elementary schools are labeled as in need of improvement. To address school choice in these cases, the federal guidelines leave it up to the states whether students are allowed to move to another school.

Witte said until recently, the state allowed parents whose children go to labeled schools and also have a large proportion of poor students — known as Title I schools — to move students to non-Title I schools. The current non-Title I schools are Green Acres, Highland-Goffe's Falls, Jewett, Smyth Road, Webster and Weston elementary schools.

The district must pay to bus these children.

As part of recent reviews of No Child Left Behind policy, the state talked to school districts in the state about how school choice was working.

“What the state ultimately did is change its policy so school districts can decide whether or not to offer non-Title I schools,” said Witte.