Open enrollment period begins Monday

WISCONSIN - In just a few days, the open enrollment period begins in the state.

That means parents can apply to send their children to any public school district of their choice.

With state aid at stake, recruiting efforts have become more widespread as school districts compete for students.

Bailey Jaworski is a sophomore at Ashwaubenon High School.

“I think it's a really good fit for me. I love the students here, the teachers are great,” said Jaworkski.

She doesn't live in the district, but applied to come here through open enrollment.

“I thought Ashwaubenon had a really good drama program here, and I like the idea of the block scheduling because then I could fit more classes into my schedule,” said Jaworski.

The open enrollment period for the 2010-2011 school year begins Monday.

Recruiting efforts by school districts are underway; from viral videos, to newspaper ads, and front page links on district websites.

Faced with tight budgets, districts are competing to fill their buildings in order to avoid cuts.
School districts receive nearly 65 hundred dollars in state aid for each student enrolled.

“We have a multi-media campaign going on with billboards. We have a TV ad running, we have an ad in the Green Bay Press Gazette and on their website,” said Green Bay Area Public School District spokeswoman Amanda Brooker.

The Green Bay Area Public School District is spending $3600 to attract more students. Brooker said this year Green Bay schools gained 135 students through school choice, but lost 600.

“School districts, we're losing revenue and it's costly and it's hurting. You know, especially the larger urban districts. We're taking a blow from school choice,” Brooker said.

Other districts, like Ashwaubenon, said they are seeing benefits from school choice. Superintendent David Schmidt said 550 students transferred into the district this year, while about 35 went elsewhere.

“Open enrollment is a necessity now in the age of choice where parents like where they're going and if they don't like where they're going like we do in shopping or in anything we do we make another choice so it allows people some freedom,” said Schmidt.

Schmidt said the district is spending about $1600 on newspaper ads to recruit what he hopes adds up to more than 100 students.

“We don't do a lot of advertising around it. We haven't had to. Perception wise as well as some of the programs we have draw people to us with almost 20 percent of our kids open-enrolling into Ashwaubenon. We are, I like to call us, a district of choice,” said Schmidt.

According to the Department of Public Instruction, since the program began participation in open enrollment has grown. Last school year, nearly 30 thousand students transferred to another school district through open enrollment.

With the popular program here to stay, Brooker said the Green Bay school district is taking a closer look at why families are leaving.

“That's part of what we're doing as we receive applications. We're going to be calling families and asking them to please be honest with us because if there are things we can change, those are the things we're going to change,” said Brooker.

Bailey Jaworski said what it boils down to for her is the quality of education.

It's what matters first,” said Jaworski.

Again the open enrollment period begins Monday, February first. It ends February 19th.