Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School officials this week went public with their unhappiness about being shut out of in-person recruiting at middle schools in Wareham and Bourne.

In a statement approved by the Upper Cape School Committee, the committee backed Superintendent Robert Dutch's attempts to gain access to the schools.

Wareham Superintendent Kimberley Shaver-Hood confirmed Wareham's new recruiting restrictions, saying the change was aimed at increasing students' classroom time.

“We have X number of minutes for the kids to be in class, and we have a lot of other activities and programs going on,” Shaver-Hood explained. “We have given Upper Cape the names, phone numbers and addresses of students as an alternative.”

The regional technical school serves the towns of Wareham, Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth and Marion. However, Wareham students make up more than one-third of the student body. With each town’s assessment for school expenses based on the number of students it sends, Wareham’s Upper Cape assessment has been controversial in each of the past two years.

In 2012, Town Meeting rejected the Upper Cape budget, and voted to provide the same amount it had in 2011. However, the vote was largely symbolic because, under the terms of the regional school agreement, Wareham had to pay its share after a majority of the member towns approved the budget.

Dutch said he could not estimate the impact the recruiting restrictions would have on attendance at Upper Cape.

“The presentations were less about recruitment, and more about information regarding what we do and do not offer students,” Dutch said. “We’re a great solution for some students, and Wareham High School is a great option for other students.”

“If students want to go to Wareham High School or Bourne High School, that’s just fine,” Dutch added. “We just want to make sure students know what they can get.”

The Upper Cape superintendent said he found out about the new restrictions when “our guidance counselors reached out to the Wareham Middle School guidance counselors in the fall, as we have every year.”

While the Wareham and Bourne restrictions are new this year, Dutch said Falmouth had previously modified its rules for Upper Cape visits.