I currently live in the Montezuma-Cortez
RE-1 school district. I wanted to look
at the options that parents in our area have when choosing a school for their
child(ren). Two areas which I looked in
the public education realm were intradistrict and open enrollment.
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| [photo from: www.monroe.lane.edu] |
Intradistrict
Choice
The
intradistrict choice, when first presented, sounded as if a parent could choose
any school in the district to send their child.
However, after reviewing the district policies, it becomes clear that
this option is limited and can change every year. Below is the background information about
intradistrict choice which is called school of choice in our area.
School
of choice falls under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) statue. If the school in the
area has been identified as a school in an improvement status then parents can
chose to send their child(ren) to a school that is not in that status. Currently
in our area we have five elementary schools. Three of the schools are
identified as in improvement status; therefore, there are two schools which are
available for transfer. However, this
transfer is not automatic. The transfer
of students is based on the number of students the school can accommodate. This
limit can have an impact on families that have more than one child. A family that has three children might be able to have two students accepted but one
not accepted based on what the school can facilitate. Therefore, the parents will have to decide
which is best for their family. In
addition, this option of choice has priority levels. The students that are the lowest achieving
and lowest income are accepted first. In
the event of a tie based on achievement and income then the family that applied
first would take priority.
Students
who are accepted at a choice school might be provided transportation to the
school from the district. If this is not possible, then the district might
reimburse the family for mileage to and from the school. However, if the school
to which your family is closest meets the standards then your family would no
longer be reimbursed for the mileage.
According
to the district website, the decision should be based on what the family thinks
is best for the child. While it lists the information and frequently asked
questions, it does not address the negative or positive aspects of transferring
your child(ren) based on school of choice. Although I feel it is important to
provide families with the options of sending their students to the best school
available, the school of choice changes every year. My concerns with school of
choice requirements are the perpetual change of students from one school to the
next. Each school has a culture, and every time students move they have to
learn the new culture, make new friend, and learn the new surroundings. Children do best with a solid routine and
moving the students annually does not provide them with a stable environment in
order for them to receive a quality education in a familiar environment.
As
a leader, I feel parents need as much information as possible to make informed
decisions. While I understand that school of choice is an option that is under
federal law and must be made available to all families, I feel additional
information needs to be included. The
district could add a pro/con page to the frequently asked questions. The page could contain testimonials from
parents. The district could screen the
comments to ensure no names are used, but then parents could hear from other
parents about their experiences.
Another
thing that I feel should be added is an explanation of the implementation
dip. The school of choice schools
change each year and often a school might drop into the improvement status due
to an implementation dip cause by the addition of a new procedure or curriculum. The school will return to the good status the
following year. If parents understand
this, then they are less likely to pull their students from one school to the
next. The website only lists the current
year’s information. I feel it should
show more collective information. It
could provide a five year review of schools that have been on the improvement
status. I feel if the parents could see
the cycle they would see that their school will return to the good status and
would be less likely to pull their child.
Finally, I feel the school of choice decision
needs to be a signed contract between the parents, school, and district. If the parents are paid for mileage and are
not ensuring their student is getting to school then the contract is broken.
The students either returns to a school in their area, or the parents lose the
payment of mileage. I understand that
children will have sick days, but anything over 10 days should not be acceptable
without verification from a doctor.
The following sites are from the Office
of Academic Services (OAS) for Montezuma- Cortez School District.
NCLB School of Choice Information - http://www.cortez.k12.co.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=2598&linkid=nav-menu-container-4-5278
School of Choice Frequently Asked
Questions - http://www.cortez.k12.co.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=2773&linkid=nav-menu-container-4-5278
Open-Enrollment
Another
option in our area is Open enrollment which a student can request to attend a
school in a district in which they do not live.
The two closest districts to Cortez are Mancos School District RE-6 and
Dolores RE-4A. Both schools are
approximately 20 miles from Cortez, CO.
Both of these districts offer five day school weeks which
Montezuma-Cortez offers four day school weeks. Reasons for attending another
district could include: location of parents employment, need for students to
attend five day school, or desire for students to attend a smaller school
district.
The
decision to accept students from out of district generally falls on the
district’s board. A recommendation is provided from the receiving school’s
principal. There are expectations for
the student with reasonable grounds for denial. The acceptance of a student
also includes the accommodations of the accepting school relating to space and
teaching staff.
According
to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) the parents or guardians of the
student will not be charged tuition for attending school out of their
district. The districts will enter into
a written agreement as to the tuition that will be paid for the student and
this amount is determined by CDE rules.
My
concern about open enrollment is similar to intradistrict transfer in that
children need stability especially in their early years. Students who are moved each year from school
or district are presented with learning a new school culture, new friends, new
school rules, and expectations. I do
feel this provides parents in our area with additional options of choice but
even this choice is limited to a selected few.
Each
district has a policy relating to tuition charges of non-resident
students. I have included polices for
two of the districts. Dolores school district does not have the district
policies available their website, but will email them upon request.
Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 –http://www.cortez.k12.co.us/education/components/docmgr/default.php?sectiondetailid=2231&fileitem=1022&catfilter=24
Mancos RE-6 - http://modulesgroupsintegratedhome.phtmlgid3027707.mancos.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/get_group_file.phtml?gid=3027707&fid=14523031&sessionid=aa9b301ca8cc1c8ca1b0c3eaad2eb149
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Conclusion
While
the public schools in our area provide families with school choice through
intradistrict and open-enrollment, I feel the information is limited as far as
the impact to the student. Again, I am a
firm believer in parental rights, but as educational professionals we need to
provide the most current information to the families. Providing parents with
solid, factual information could help them make better decisions as far as
pulling their children from one school to the next.
Having
been a military family and moving every 2-3 years, we saw the impact that this
had on our oldest daughter. However,
living in a nomadic community (such as the military) children move a lot and
make friends faster and sometimes a little easier). The area we live in is a rural or stasis
community. Many families have lived here
for 3 and 4 generations. In a stasis
community it is often more difficult to make friends and develop trust. Students who are moved every year might not
adjust till the end of the school year, only to find out that the next school
year they have to start the process all over again. I feel this information needs to be presented
to all parents. Parents need to know the
full impact of what changing schools can have on their child(ren). Finally, I feel that this can be done it
three positive ways: a) Information could be placed on
the district website under school of choice, b)
Provide an article in the local paper about school choice which includes
testimonials of parents and students, c) The district could also include a
community meeting that provides this information to families in a public
setting such as the library or community center. Since the decision must be made by the family
before the end of August, the meeting and article could be provided to the
community at the beginning of August to help parents with their choice.
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