After approving an inter-district open enrollment policy in late June, the Lakota Board of Education released details of the policy and is now accepting enrollment forms from families through Friday, Aug. 3.
Forms are available for intra-district and inter-district open enrollment and can be picked up at the enrollment center on Cincinnati-Dayton Road (across from the post office).
The intra-district open enrollment is not new to the district and allows the right of parents or legal guardians to make alternate choices for their resident students.
Meanwhile, the inter-district open enrollment is new to the school district. The policy can allow students to attend Lakota schools despite not living in the school district.
The policy grants admission to students under the following three priorities – students who have been enrolled in the school district the previous year, students who are children of Lakota employees and students who have a sibling who is already enrolled in the district.
Students requesting open enrollment will be notified of enrollment status by Aug. 10.
According to Lakota officials, Lakota has not had the capacity to accept students who live outside the district because population growth had been so steep for so long.
Recently, the enrollment has been on the decline, as slightly more than 500 fewer students enrolled in the Lakota school district in 2011-2012 compared to the 2010-2011 school year. During that span, the district-wide enrollment went down 3 percent.
If enrollment numbers increase due to inter-district policy, the school district is not planning to hire additional staff. Furthermore, the district’s superintendent will be given the authority to deny admission to students if class, grade and/or building enrollment maximums are already met.
According to numbers provided by the district in late May, Lakota would receive a $5,704 reimbursement from the state for each student it accepts from outside the district.
For more information on open enrollment, call 513-682-4120.
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