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Redistrict based on resident students and current enrollment

Prior releases of SchoolSite only allowed users to see changes in the resident student population totals as attendance boundaries were redrawn. All students living within a selected study area were moved to the new school of assignment regardless of the students’ classification or school of enrollment. This is the method used in plans created based on current resident students and plans based on forecasted resident students. While this method is valuable for long term facility planning it does little to answer the common question of “Where students are most likely to attend school following a boundary change?” Because of open enrollment and special schools with no assigned attendance boundaries (i.e. charter schools, magnet schools, academies etc), determining where a student is likely to attend school following redistricting can be rather difficult. Creating a redistricting plan based on current resident students and current enrollment makes finding the answer to this common question much easier. This plan type will take into consideration the students grades (Is the student within the traditional K through 12 grade range or is the student in a special Pre-Kindergarten or Adult program?), the type of school they attend (traditional elementary, middle, or high school, or school with no attendance area such as charter school or academy), and whether or not the student lives within the district boundary, before determining if a student would move as the result of a boundary change. To make this possible SchoolSite Pro uses a series of rules or assumptions to govern how students are treated during the redistricting process when using a plan that is set up using both current resident students and current enrollment.

Assumptions/Software Rules for Redistricting by Enrollment:

  1. What happens to a student enrolled at their resident school during a boundary change? It is assumed that any student living in an area of proposed attendance boundary change who is currently enrolled in their resident school will be assigned to the new school of residence.

  2. What happens to a student who is not enrolled in their school of residence during a boundary change? Any student living in an area of proposed attendance boundary change that is enrolled in a school other than their resident school will be assumed to continue to be enrolled at that other school. Students living in an area not affected by a proposed attendance boundary change will continue to attend their current school of enrollment, even if the school they are attending is involved in a boundary change. (i.e. students who are transferring into a school will be allowed to continue to transfer in).

  3. What happens to a student enrolled in a district-wide non-attendance boundary school? Students living in a study area who are enrolled in a school without an assigned attendance boundary (i.e. magnet, charter, academy, etc.) will assume to always be enrolled at that school regardless if their study area is reassigned.

  4. What happens to a student when a new school is opened? In the case of a school opening with a new attendance boundary, it is assumed that all students in the new proposed attendance boundary who are enrolled at their resident school will be reassigned to the new school. All students not enrolled in their resident school in this area will continue with their current school.

  5. What happens to a student when a school is closed? In the case of school closure, it is assumed that all students enrolled in the school being closed will be reassigned back to their school of residence. [Note: Students who are attending the closed school and have been previously excluded from the redistricting process (i.e. students residing outside of the District, special education students etc.) will be left for the District to decide how to reassign these students to other sites].

The end result is a plan that will allow users to see not only the resident student population totals of each attendance area following redistricting but also the estimated enrollment totals of each school as well. An additional tab is included to show the estimated enrollment totals at each school and can be used to help in short term planning. Comparing the two set of numbers gives the user the added advantage of seeing how the District’s open enrollment policy and non attendance area facilities are effecting facility usage as the resident student population numbers of an attendance area can differ greatly from the enrollment totals of the school that an attendance area is serving.