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September 12, 2012

WISD takes steps toward open enrollment

By PAUL STONE Palestine Herald-Press

PALESTINE — With enrollment figures down by approximately 5 percent, the Westwood Independent School District’s Board of Trustees took the first step Monday towards adopting an open enrollment policy.

WISD Superintendent Dr. Ed Lyman said districtwide enrollment was 1,614 students as of Sept. 4, compared to 1,709 at the same point last year.

In the past week, Lyman said the district’s enrollment has increased by a net of 15-to-20 students, but indicated it is still far below budgeted expectations.

“That’s significantly less (than last year at the same time),” Lyman said. “That’s roughly 85 students less than we had at the start of school last year which is quite a concern for us.”

Lyman said he believes some of the outgoing students are now being home-schooled, while others have transferred to neighboring public school districts, specifically mentioning Cayuga, Neches and Elkhart. The high school and elementary campuses were the hardest hit among the district’s four campuses.

Like all of the state’s public school districts, the WISD’s state funding is directly tied to its Average Daily Attendance. The 2012-13 budget was based on a total enrollment of 1,700.

“That’s about $500,000 in revenue we would forfeit,” Lyman said. “That’s a lot of money. We would have to lay off a number of teachers next year.”

In an effort to bolster the district’s overall numbers, Lyman has proposed adopting an “open enrollment” policy which would allow out-of-district students to attend Westwood schools at no cost. Qualifying students would need to have a history of good grades, attendance and behavior, he added.

“We do have a good staff and good facilities,” Lyman said. “We would like to maintain our enrollment around 1,700.”

On Monday, the WISD board approved the first reading of the district’s proposed open enrollment policy. The board is expected to consider the policy’s second and final reading during next month’s meeting.

If approved next month, Lyman said he is hopeful the application process could begin as early as November, potentially giving students the opportunity to transfer into the district at mid-term of the current school year.

Lyman, however, expects most of the potential new students to arrive between school years.

“We don’t anticipate a lot of transfers until the summertime” for the 2013-14 school year, the WISD chief stated.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com

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