Robert Marriott fell in love with reptiles after getting his first geckos when he was six- years-old. Now 15 and diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, Marriott spent his eighth- grade year at Wareham Middle School moving his grades from “C”s to "A”s to get into Bristol County Agricultural High School where he could study small animals.

He got in, but he might not get a chance to graduate. This week, his mother Susan Marriott and other Bristol Aggie parents received e-mail notification that Wareham is dramatically cutting back on Wareham student tuition to the public agricultural high school.

According to Wareham Superintendent Kimberly Shaver-Hood, the town is not required to pay tuition to the out-of-district Bristol Aggie if a student’s course of study is also available at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School.

Faced with making some tough budget choices in the wake of the June 17 defeat of a $4.5 million Proposition 2 ½ override proposal, Shaver-Hood said Friday that the schools are opting to trim expenses that they are not obligated by law to pay. She said much of the town’s Bristol Aggie tuition falls into that “not required” category.

Susan Marriott and other parents are preparing to challenge that decision.

In the 101-year existence of Bristol Aggie,  there have always been students from Wareham enrolled at the school, according to Bristol Aggie Superintendent Stephen Dempsey.

Freshmen at Bristol Aggie spend their entire year in general study exploratory courses. Based on academic performance and attendance, students are then put into a program of their choice, with the better performing students getting their first or second choice of programs.

The issue for Wareham students is that some programs offered at Bristol Aggie are clearly not offered at Upper Cape but others are similar in a way that Shaver-Hood calls comparable.

Shaver-Hood said Wareham is bound by law to support students in programs at Bristol Aggie that are not offered at Upper Cape. However, if after a student's freshman year, he or she ends up in program that is also offered at Upper Cape, Wareham is not bound by law to pay for that student.

"If they end up in another program, it's our contention they have to return to the Wareham Public Schools or go to Upper Cape," Shaver-Hood said.

She said when Wareham school officials were looking at their budget, they looked at every line item and what they were legally obligated to pay.

"Dempsey told me that in his 31 years at the school, never has any town not paid tuition," said Marriott.

Robert Marriott was accepted into the Small Animal Sciences Freshman Exploratory program at Bristol Aggie in March, a program not offered at Upper Cape Tech. But he has to shine in his first year to continue in the program. If he is placed into his third or fourth choice program, it could be one that Shaver-Hood deems comparable to Upper Cape.

"Do you get to attend one year and the roll the dice for the second?" Susan Marriott asked.

Robert said he found out about the school from his guidance counselor this past September. He then geared his entire school year around getting into Bristol Aggie, improving his grades from a C average to four As and one C in his first semester of eighth grade.

"They're the only program around that works with animals and gives degrees in animals," Robert said. He still has one of his original geckos, along with a bearded dragon, a corn snake, a boa and other lizards all in his bedroom, which he calls "The Land of the Scales."

"He came to me with this school, got accepted and was ready to go," Marriott said. This is so important to our family. He would not be able to function in Wareham High School. This was his out."

But Marriott received an e-mail from Dempsey's office two days ago that said Shaver-Hood "does not intend to pay the outstanding invoice" for this year's crop of Wareham students at Bristol Aggie.

Marriott said after reading the state law on the matter she is considering hiring a lawyer.

While the exact number was not immediately available, both Shaver-Hood and Dempsey believe there are eight Wareham students currently enrolled at Bristol Aggie. Dempsey said the school bills the town twice, $75,000 in September, which the town paid, and $75,000 in March, of which the town only paid $37,000 and refuses to pay the rest.

Dempsey said there are two main problems with Shaver-Hood's position. The first is that after speaking with the Upper Cape superintendent, he learned that programs at the school are oversubscribed as it is, and that the school would be unable to take on any new students transferring from Bristol Aggie.

He said that, more importantly, what Shaver-Hood claims are comparable programs in reality are not.

He said four students from Wareham fall under the umbrella of horticultural studies, but while Upper Cape offers a horticultural and landscaping program, they are not as specific as Bristol Aggie's.

Dempsey said his school offers programs in arboriculture, which focuses entirely on trees and affords students the opportunity to work with chainsaws. Bristol Aggie also offers floriculture, which focuses entirely on flowers and gardening, as well as landscaping, and natural resources courses.

He said that, while Upper Cape is a great school, the programs offered are very different and that Bristol Aggie offers more specific training.

Shaver-Hood stands by her position.

She said she has no idea if Wareham has ever refused to pay for tuition to Bristol Aggie in the past.

"It's very difficult if it's your child. I understand that," she said. "We're just trying to follow the law."