EM school board approves changes to open enrollment policy, space availability

By LeAnn R. Ralph

ELK MOUND —  The Elk Mound Board of Education has approved changes to the district’s open enrollment policy that will give preference to siblings of open enrolled students.

The school board approved giving preference to siblings at the January 18 meeting and also approved open enrollment space openings for the 2016-2017 school year.

Under the previous policy, brothers and sisters of open enrolled students were guaranteed acceptance  under the space availability criteria.

The policy change means that siblings of open enrolled students will not be guaranteed admittance to the Elk Mound school district but will be given preference for available space in the classrooms, said Dr. Ron Walsh, superintendent.

The change from “guaranteed” to “preference” is intended to address a situation in which there is no programming available at Elk Mound for a student with specific high-cost needs who is a sibling of an existing open enrolled student, he said.

Under the previous policy, Elk Mound would have been required to accept the sibling and then would have had to set up a new program to address the student’s needs if a program was not already in place, Dr. Walsh said.

Limits

Each January, school boards in Wisconsin are required to set limits for open enrollment.

The Elk Mound Board of Education set a limit at the January 18 meeting of ten opened enrolled students for second grade and 11 open enrolled students for fifth grade.

All of the other grades at Mound View Elementary, Elk Mound Middle School and Elk Mound High School are unrestricted.

The rule is that if the school district has a limit on the number of open enrolled students in a particular class, then parents wishing to apply for open enrollment outside of the enrollment period during February, March and April can apply for an exception, Dr. Walsh said.

If there is no limit on the number of open enrolled students the district will accept, then there is no possibility of applying for an exception, he said.

Under the school district’s open enrollment policy, “the district shall consider the availability of space in the schools, programs, classes or grades within the district. When determining space availability, consideration shall be given to desired class size limits, desired student-teacher rations, overall building capacity, future enrollment projects, the projected number of sections of particular grades or courses, designed program-size limitations, and known or projected limitations on available staffing and other resources. Based upon a review of the relevant considerations, the board may annually establish, at a board meeting held in January, space limitations applicable to nonresident open enrollment.”

Other business

In other business, the Elk Mound Board of Education:

• Approved high school course fees for 2016-2017. The fees are essentially unchanged from the fees being charged for the current school year. The only classes for which Elk Mound charges fees are those that require additional materials for projects, such as wood for shop classes.

• Accepted bids for paper for 2016-2017 in an amount just under $16,000. The bids are about $2,000 less than last year, Dr. Walsh said, noting that he believes the lower cost of fuel has resulted in a lower cost for paper supplies.

The Elk Mound Board of Education also met in closed session to discuss personnel issues, but no action was taken.