Open Enrollment Mailbag

Sunday's column generated a fair amount of mail.

A reader in the College Community district clarified the picture there:

College Community has had the most restrictive “Open Enrollment In” policy allowed by law. All of our Open Enrollment - In students, whether from CRCSD or elsewhere only qualify because of the “continuation rule”. That means they were attending here as resident students, moved out of our district, and chose to stay in the district they were in so as to avoid disruption in their education.

So, the major factor in the data you used to support your position may have more to do with the fluid nature of our society than anything else. Thanks for listening!

Clarity. That's all I ever wanted. Thank you for sharing.

Another:

My wife and I still live in Cedar Rapids and our children attended Cedar Rapids schools from K-12, then on to the University of Iowa. I want to give a few quick thoughts:

• I am not a fan of the new, elaborate building for the district

• The demographics of our city have changed dramatically in the last decade

• Our Cedar Rapids schools are full of excellent staff, but are faced with challenges they didn't have 10-15 years ago

• Open enrollment will CONTINUE to increase for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of our schools

 If you were to ask open enrollment parents why they were choosing to leave the district, I question whether you would get an honest answer. But they will continue to leave.

One reader agrees that the open enrollment question needs to be asked:

I am not unhappy when you write this stuff. I've been waiting for someone to ask the question. Thank you for doing it in a way those responsible cannot duck. If they choose not to answer, that is an answer.

Another hopes it's not too late for Polk Elementary to get a reprieve:

Thanks for your articles opposing the wrongheaded idea of closing Polk school. I attended the recent School Board to get a better understanding of the Polk closing issue, and what I heard there was a deep emotional experience for me. I'm going to do what little I can to help by writing a letter to each of the School Board members. I wish I had become involved earlier, and I hope it is not too late to move the Board members to vote to keep Polk open for another year.

I share that hope.

Just to clarify, I'm not saying Cedar Rapids doesn't have quality schools. Nor am I suggesting that parents open-enrolling their kids' out should be interrogated. Also, I am not calling for an new effort to recruit open enrollees from other districts.

All I'm saying is that the flow of kids out of the district is growing, with significant budgetary consequences. Polk Elementary parents clearly understand the biggest of those consequences, school closings. And I think the district should try harder to find out why. There has to be data and information out there that can be mined to get a clearer, more solid picture.

That's it. That's all I ask. If fact-finding shows everything is super, no problems, great. If it shows nothing can be done, fine. If it shows there are issues that could be addressed in an effort to keep a few more kids from leaving the district with their share of precious state aid, swell.

Thanks to all who wrote in, and keep those emails coming.