SJSD considers implications of open enrollment proposal
A proposed bill making its way through the state legislature could make it easier for students to enroll at schools outside their home district.
A bill passed by the Missouri Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education is now in legislative review. Missouri House Bill 711 would establish transfer procedures to nonresident districts for students in public schools, allowing for “open enrollment” across the state.
“It’s just a little bit scary to allow open enrollment because you never know how many people are wanting to move in and move out,” said St. Joseph School District Superintendent Gabe Edgar.
In the last legislative session, the bill was introduced as HB 1989, and according to Edgar, about 196 school districts opposed the bill. HB 711 states, “Districts can restrict the number of outgoing transfer students to 3% of the previous year’s enrollment.”
“One thing that’s reassuring right now, there is a 3% cap on that (enrollment),” Edgar said. “From a financial standpoint, I can’t say that it would be good or bad at this time, but if legislation grew that cap from 3%, then another 3%, that would be the issue we could be facing.”
In terms of the bill “hurting” the SJSD, Edgar said it starts with enrollment. The SJSD has about 10,600 students currently in its classes.
“We’ve been a decline in enrollment over the last 10 years, you know, of 600 or 700 kids,” Edgar said. “That’s kind of scary in itself.”
Losing students also means a loss of funding from the state.
“Just giving you an example here, you’re about $6,500 per kid, and if you lose 3% of 10,000 and you multiply that by the $6,500, then it becomes a substantial number,” Edgar said.
Edgar said the missing $2 million from that 3% cap would lead to the district having to take away from staff and teachers.
Another aspect of the bill that would cause issues for the district is the ability for students to elect to attend charter schools.
“I think it’s good for us as a school district to show opposition,” Edgar said in a recent Board of Education meeting. “Just for the fact that charter expansion would hurt the St. Joe Public School District.”
HB 711 is listed as an action item at SJSD’s Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
