Choice of High schools Carlsbad (San Diego, Encinitas: for sale, real estate, oceanfront)

[Tipmart87]

When checking housing for sale in Carlsbad, I notice that those properties in Carlsbad, but close to San Marcos, the elected High school is San Marcos high. Is this compulsory to send your kid their or do you have a choice of high schools in Carlsbad no matter where you live?

Does the same apply to elementary and middle schools in the area? Are you free to choose or at least try a different one?

Thanks

[moved]

You don't get a choice of schools, and you can't "try schools out." This goes for elementary, middle and high. The schools of residence that your student is assigned to depends on your address, and the school districts go by boundaries.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by Tipmart87

When checking housing for sale in Carlsbad, I notice that those properties in Carlsbad, but close to San Marcos, the elected High school is San Marcos high. Is this compulsory to send your kid their or do you have a choice of high schools in Carlsbad no matter where you live?

Does the same apply to elementary and middle schools in the area? Are you free to choose or at least try a different one?

Thanks

School districts don't always neatly line up with city boundaries. Parts of Carlsbad are actually in the San Marcos Unified School District, not the Carlsbad Unified School District.

So, if you buy a home that is in the San Marcos School District, but want to attend school in the Carlsbad Unified District, you'd have to apply for an inter-district transfer.

If you want to attend a different school within your assigned district then the school your home is assigned to, you would need to apply for an intra-district transfer within the district.

As a general rule of thumb, it's usually much harder to get an inter-district transfer. The priority of a school district is serving the students and taxpayers who live in the district; they usually don't have extra room to take in loads of other students from other districts, especially in the more popular districts.

Intra-district transfers are usually a little easier, but in some districts they can still be tricky because the district wants to balance out students amongst all of the schools in the district.

If being in the Carlsbad School District is important to you then you'll want to use their address checker to verify if a home is within their boundaries and which schools the address is assigned to: Carlsbad Unified School District: District Maps

The San Marcos School District has a similar tool somewhere on their website.

One thing to keep in mind is that in school districts where there is a lot of new development and growth new schools are often built to keep pace with the population, so if your child hasn't yet started kindergarten, there's always a chance that by the time he/she gets to middle or high school, they may be assigned to a different school within the district anyhow.

Also, you might want to re-read this discussion about the differences between San Marcos High School and Carlsbad High School:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...rcos-high.html

And, of course, you always have the option of going the private school or charter school route too.

[Encinitan]

There also are schools in southeast Carlsbad (La Costa and thereabouts) that feed into the Encinitas Union School District for elementary and the San Dieguito High School District. Just to point out that depending on where you end up living, you might have the Encinitas and San Dieguito school options instead of San Marcos.

[hkbruin]

So we are districted, but do other states have other ways of zoning children?

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by hkbruin

So we are districted, but do other states have other ways of zoning children?

In some states school districts are often organized around city or towns (i.e., they are "local" districts). Each district can set their own "school board taxes" so homeowners in each district pay taxes directly to their district to support their schools. Each state has its own rules so I am oversimplifying a bit, but in many of these states, school districts have a fair amount of freedom in how their budgets are used for educational expenses, and they can also (often, but ot always, with voter approval) adjust their school tax rate depending on the district's individual needs. So, if the district needs more teachers to keep classes at a certain size or new classroom equipment like textbooks or art supplies, they can adjust the tax rate to get what they need.

But here in California, thanks to laws passed in the 1960s and 70s, the emphasis is on unified school districts, which can sometimes cross city and community boundaries.

Each County's Board of Education is responsible for determining where the school district boundaries in its county fall. The County's Board of Education trustees are elected officials. In San Diego County, the county is divided up into five areas, and there is one trustee elected for each area every four years.

A lot of people don't realize this, but the County Board of Education overseas ALL of the districts in the county; the County Board even has its own superintendent. We talk a lot here about how District A or B is better than District C or D, but in reality, they are all ultimately overseen by the same County Board of Education.

In addition to overseeing how districts are set up, the County Board of Education's trustees do things like set the rules for interdistrict transfers, hear appeals for student expulsions, handle charter school petitions, and generally make sure that all of the districts in the County are functioning appropriately. Some special education programs are also run by the County Board of Education, although they may be delivered at the district level.

And, of course, under Prop 13, we don't pay "school district taxes" directly to individual school districts, but rather to the state as part of our property tax. That money (along with other money earmarked for "education" by the State is then doled out to each district based on a somewhat convoluted formula that takes into account the number of students in the district.

Under Prop 13, school districts can ask voters in the district to approve special assessments and bonds, but the things that they can be used for are somewhat limited (mainly building and facility construction, repairs, and maintenance, not for hiring or training teachers or educational support staff).

[Axxlrod]

Originally Posted by Encinitan

There also are schools in southeast Carlsbad (La Costa and thereabouts) that feed into the Encinitas Union School District for elementary and the San Dieguito High School District. Just to point out that depending on where you end up living, you might have the Encinitas and San Dieguito school options instead of San Marcos.

And these houses are also the most expensive in Carlsbad (excluding oceanfront homes). And the homes that are within the San Marcos district are are cheaper. Read into that what you will.

[L-Costa]

Right, 800,000 median house price is considered cheaper than 850,000 and is way more affordable. You are comparing and discussing something what is outside of the boundaries and financial proximity for 98% of Americans living outside of exclusive coastal communities. This discussion is like what is better - Ferrari or Lamborghini and if I settle on Lamborghini will I make a wrong choice?

[signalfire]

I have a friend who teaches in the San Marcos High School - I was EXTREMELY impressed with the caliber of the teachers and students when I visited there. They were curious, polite and professional, and the hallways during class change were far more polite than the 'well rated' high school where my kids unfortunately went, back east (where bullying and calling each other filthy names was standard behavior and little was done to change it; the ignorant jocks ran the place).

That's all I can add except call up both school districts and ask the question directly - don't go by what a real estate agent tells you, they just want to sell the houses. Both districts would probably be fine for 99% of students and parents.

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by L-Costa

Right, 800,000 median house price is considered cheaper than 850,000 and is way more affordable. You are comparing and discussing something what is outside of the boundaries and financial proximity for 98% of Americans living outside of exclusive coastal communities. This discussion is like what is better - Ferrari or Lamborghini and if I settle on Lamborghini will I make a wrong choice?

Lambo, no doubt. But then, what color?