Understanding the Implications of

Open Enrollment

Presenter’s Name

1. Allows any student to attend any school district regardless of where they live.

2. Fourteen states have a mandatory open enrollment law.Neighboring states include Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

3. Participation in open enrollment averages 4%-5% of the student population in states where it is mandatory. With about 900,000 public school students in MO, this means between 36,000 and 45,000 students will likely be changing schools.

What is Open Enrollment?

Bills filed in previous years have not passed either body.a) SB 603 sponsored by Senator Rob Mayer in 2010.

Hearing was held in Senate Education Committee but was never voted out.

b) Open Enrollment Amendment was offered by Rep. Scott Dieckhaus in the House to a formula bill in 2010, only received 38 votes.

c) Issue is supported by multi-millionaire, Rex Sinquefield and the Show-Me Institute he sponsors.

Supporters of Open Enrollment

l. Allows the Commissioner of Education to assign a student to a district other than the district of residence if attendance in the district of residence would create a transportation hardship.

2. Parent or guardian may enroll his or her child in Missouri’s virtual school if district of residence is lapsed, unaccredited or provisionally unaccredited for two consecutive years.

Missouri’s Current Statutes

3. The Board of Education of a district may allow non-resident students to attend school in the district without paying tuition in some circumstances.

4. Schools participate in the urban voluntary school transfer program.

5. Students may pay tuition to attend a non-resident district.

6. Homeowners may petition to move from one contiguous school district to another with voter approval.

Missouri’s Current Statutes

a) No impact on student achievement

b) Transportation of students

c) Special Education services

d) Funding issues

e) Athletics/Extracurricular activities

f) District student capacity/facility needs

g) Segregation of students

h) Frequency of changing schools

i) Motivation for changing schools

Major Open Enrollment Issues

No evidence that open enrollment improves student achievement.

Movement between schools is likely to have an adverse impact on student learning.

Parents select schools because of:A. Convenience

B. Proximity to work

C. “Perceived” success

D. Access to extracurricular activities

Student Achievement

Transportation

Under previous open enrollment proposals, the parents would be required to provide transportation.1. Limits open enrollment to those who have the

means to provide transportation.

2. Impacts a student’s ability to participate in after-school programs or tutoring.

3. May impact his/her attendance.

4. School bus transportation is the safest.

Special Education Services

Special education students using open enrollment will create a number of challenging issues.

Who will pay the extra cost of special education - the receiving taxpayers or the resident taxpayers?

What authority does the host district or the district of residence have in developing the Individual Education Plan for the student?

Who pays for transportation of these students?

Who pays for any legal costs associated with special education services?

In (school district) the state contributes XX percentage of the cost of educating students. Local taxpayers would be required to subsidize non-resident students.

(Option 2) The (school district) would we be required to send local tax dollars to another school district.

No two Missouri school districts receive the exact same amount of state funding per pupil. Even if school districts trade an equal number of students – one school district will owe the other district. Most often, the poor school district will owe the wealthy school district.

Even the loss of a few students could have a significant financial impact on a small school.

Funding

Extracurricular Activities

Open enrollment has created superpowers in extracurricular activities in other states.

How is a student’s eligibility determined?

How many times can a student change schools?

How will local patrons feel about non-resident students taking the positions of local students in extracurricular activities?

If an athlete is disciplined in one school district, can they simply transfer to another district and continue to participate?

District Student Capacity

Once a student enrolls in a district is he/she guaranteed future enrollment regardless of the changes in enrollment numbers in the receiving district?

Will open enrollment impact staffing decisions because of added students or the loss of students?

Who establishes the maximum and minimum class sizes in the district, the local Board of Education, the State Board of Education, or the Missouri General Assembly?

Segregation of Students

Open enrollment policies can result in segregation of students based on ethnicity and socio-economic status.

Public schools should encourage and support diversity, not assist with segregating students.

Frequency/Motivation of Changing Schools

Why will students be changing schools?• To avoid a particular teacher?• To be with a boyfriend/girlfriend?• To tryout for an activity?• To avoid discipline at school?• To take a particular course or subject?• To have a better chance of receiving

academic honors or scholarships?• To take advanced placement courses?• To access special education services?

Is It Worth The Risk?

You decide!

Our State Representative and Senators

need to hear from you.

Sen. Bill Jones – 573-751-XXXX

Rep. John Smith – 573-751-XXXX