At the 3/10 Board meeting we received our 1st look at the total requests for Open Enrollment. In total we have 212 requests to transfer In and 41 to transfer Out. The breakdown by school is:
High School - In = 77 and Out = 16
Glacial Drumlin - In = 47 and Out = 8
Cottage Grove - In = 10 and Out = 2
Winnequah - In = 16 and Out = 4
Taylor Prairie - In = 10 and Out = 2
Maywood - In = 17 and Out = 4
Non-Specific (PK-6)- In = 35 and Out = 5
One of the things that I struggle with regarding open enrollment is my philosophical/ethical belief on this issue. I am of the mindset that we educate the students of our district 1st. I also believe that if you accept a student, know matter at which grade they start in our district, that you have now committed to educating them until they graduate.
Furthermore, when reviewing potential students to accept, siblings get a higher priority if space allows and that you have to look at what impact educating those students will have on our buildings at each grade level. If you accept an elementary student how will that impact enrollment at middle school and high school in future years?
Some will say that you accept each and every applicant every year. I completely disagree with this, because I believe that you don't accept an open enrollment student for purely financial reasons. Open enrollment is not a way to balance a budget.
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Another problem with open enrollment is that it is not generally available to low-income and/or single parent families due to the transportation challenges. It can only work for families who are able to transport their children into the other school district. This typically is a family who can afford to have a parent stay home or work part-time so that they can drive the child to and from the school.
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