Can someone please explain "Open Enrollment"? (Goodyear, Buckeye: transporting, how much)

[tiredofraininwa]

My mother in law just texted me yesterday and said that Arizona has 'open enrollment' in their schools. Meaning that anyone can go to any school? Is this true? How much precedence is given to people actually paying to live in that district? Or is it not utilized much and not a big deal? I tried to find information on the district websites and didn't find much. TIA!

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by tiredofraininwa

My mother in law just texted me yesterday and said that Arizona has 'open enrollment' in their schools. Meaning that anyone can go to any school? Is this true? How much precedence is given to people actually paying to live in that district? Or is it not utilized much and not a big deal? I tried to find information on the district websites and didn't find much. TIA!

It's pretty straightforward. If you live within the boundaries of a public school you can have your child attend there. If you want to send the child to a school where you don't live within its boundaries you can attempt to place them there but if the school is over capacity the people from within the boundaries will have priority. In general, if you send child to a different school you have to provide your own transportation, although there are some exceptions to that. Many districts actively encourage out-of-district students.

[LBTRS]

It is a terrible program...I paid a premium to purchase a home near a high performing elementary school. All was fine the first couple years but then the district announced they were going to bus kids that live right next to the high performing school, and can see it from their front door, to low performing schools in other parts of the district so that they can accept students from outside the district boundaries (that don't pay taxes to this district like I do). They want to get as many students as possible since they get federal money for each student and by creating capacity in their only high performing school they can draw students from outside the district.

I raised hell at the school board meeting but it had no affect and they did it anyway. Thank goodness my kids are now in high school and don't have to deal with the situation any longer, however, the new policy could have an effect on my property value when I go to sell.

If you want to go to a better school or school district then you should have to pay to live in the boundaries of that school or district.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

It is a terrible program...I paid a premium to purchase a home near a high performing elementary school. All was fine the first couple years but then the district announced they were going to bus kids that live right next to the high performing school, and can see it from their front door, to low performing schools in other parts of the district so that they can accept students from outside the district boundaries (that don't pay taxes to this district like I do). They want to get as many students as possible since they get federal money for each student and by creating capacity in their only high performing school they can draw students from outside the district.

I raised hell at the school board meeting but it had no affect and they did it anyway. Thank goodness my kids are now in high school and don't have to deal with the situation any longer, however, the new policy could have an effect on my property value when I go to sell.

If you want to go to a better school or school district then you should have to pay to live in the boundaries of that school or district.

It can be taken to extremes, as you've experienced. It makes more sense to me to not allow it between districts, but only between schools in the same district. And NO ONE should be bussed OUT of the district their parents paid to live in so that other students can come in.

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by observer53

It can be taken to extremes, as you've experienced. It makes more sense to me to not allow it between districts, but only between schools in the same district. And NO ONE should be bussed OUT of the district their parents paid to live in so that other students can come in.

My daughter is good friends with one of the kids that attends this school, that is right across the street from our house in Goodyear, but she lives outside the district boundaries in Buckeye. My wife spoke to her mother once and she said they bought a house in Buckeye for half the price they would have had to pay to purchase a home in my neighborhood but still can send their kid to the high performing school by my house that my neighbors can't send their kids to any longer. Criminal if you ask me...

[sandy6879]

There are some good things with it. We have a boundary exception for our daughter, as she started high school at the school she was districted in when we lived in a rental. When we purchased our home, we moved out of district but we didn't want to move her out of her high school, so we have been in charge of transporting her to and from school. (we moved 2 miles up the road). Per her school, if there are any discipline problems or bad grades, she would not be allowed to continue with the district exception (not sure how strictly they enforce this as she doesn't have either of those situations apply to her).

[tiredofraininwa]

I absolutely agree that no one should be bussed out of their district and that concerns me. What also concerns me is paying a premium for a house (and being ok with that) in order for my kids to go to a highly rated school and them not having a spot in their own school because they're above enrollment, etc. Is that a valid concern?

[observer53]

If you are IN the attendance area for a particular school, there's not an issue, unless the district is busing out as described above. I don't think many schools/districts are doing what LBTRS experienced ( I hope not)

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

My daughter is good friends with one of the kids that attends this school, that is right across the street from our house in Goodyear, but she lives outside the district boundaries in Buckeye. My wife spoke to her mother once and she said they bought a house in Buckeye for half the price they would have had to pay to purchase a home in my neighborhood but still can send their kid to the high performing school by my house that my neighbors can't send their kids to any longer. Criminal if you ask me...

Yes, it really changed the demographics and test performance in our high school when people outside the district started bringing their kids here. We get a lot of kids who normally would attend one of the Buckeye schools or Desert Edge. We also have a couple kids around heree who go to Desert Edge because they are a superior school for athletics. No one is being bused in or out though.

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by tiredofraininwa

I absolutely agree that no one should be bussed out of their district and that concerns me. What also concerns me is paying a premium for a house (and being ok with that) in order for my kids to go to a highly rated school and them not having a spot in their own school because they're above enrollment, etc. Is that a valid concern?

Yes that is a valid concern as that is exactly what happened to us that I wrote about above. I paid a premium for my home to live in the boundary of the only high performing school in the district and after two years we were told our kids have to be bused to another lower performing school in the district so they could create space for student from outside the district that wanted to attend the one high performing school on a variance. So we have kids that live 12 miles away attending the school I can see from my house that my kids can't attend anymore. I pay taxes to this district and the people from 12 miles away do not.

It is a scam to get more students to get more federal dollars. I don't know how common it is around the valley but it affected us first hand.