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Enrollment rules expanded |
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Friday, 28 August 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPELL
Assistant Managing Editor
A new Wapakoneta City Schools policy will allow students from any district to attend Wapakoneta schools through open enrollment.
Wapakoneta City Schools Board of Education members approved the update to its open enrollment policy this week, allowing at least five children to attend the school yet this year based on the policy.
“Previously only students attending touching (adjacent) districts were eligible to attend Wapakoneta Schools based on the open enrollment policy,” Superintendent Keith Horner said.
Horner said the district’s numbers continue to decline based on the open enrollment policy.
“We are always in the negative,” Horner said of losing students to other districts. “With open enrollment, we have more students choosing to go elsewhere rather than to come here.”
He said they have continued to investigate why that is and what can be done to remedy the situation.
“We continue to try to find out why,” Horner said. “In a 148-square mile district we find many families live closer to an other district and choose to go there.”
Before the updated policy was approved by school board members this week, Horner said five students already were in line to attend the district based on the change in what students would be able to attend through open enrollment.
“We had five kids in line as soon as the policy was approved,” Horner said. “Most of the students all seem to have a former affiliation with the district, and because of family situations have moved.”
The students expected into the district are not coming from far away, but from areas such as Lima and Celina.
“I appreciate the board considering this,” Horner said.
There is no fee for students to attend the district through the open enrollment policy. Parents of those students are only to provide transportation to the nearest bus stop.
The district receives approximately $5,700 from the state and district from which students come to accept the open enrollees.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 31 August 2009 )
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