At its December meeting, the Central Lee Board of Education finalized the school district’s open enrollment policy.
This permanent change will help district administration make decisions regarding students who apply for open enrollment. Last year, the Iowa legislature removed the March 1 deadline for OE, forcing the district to shift how it manages the process moving forward.
In July 2022, the Board of Education approved an emergency policy that articulated class size limitations for OE. These numbers do not change with the permanent policy, as the class size maximum will be 20 students per section in grades K-2 and 25 per section for grades 3-5.
These numbers pertain to specific class sections. If the district has five sections of kindergarten, it can allow up to 100 students per grade level. At this time, more than 100 students have enrolled in kindergarten due to higher-than-usual resident enrollment. If a family were to apply for OE for next year’s first grade, they would likely be denied due to class size limitations.
Part of the board’s duty to develop a permanent policy was to provide guidance on future incoming kindergarten OE students. Families of kindergarten students who desire to open enroll in Central Lee will need to do so by March 10, and attend our kindergarten information night on March 1 at 5 p.m.
The district will then prioritize students on the open enrollment list based on the following priorities:
Students who have a parent employed by Central Lee will receive top priority.
Students who attended Central Lee four-year-old preschool will receive the next priority.
Students who have another sibling attending Central Lee schools will receive the last priority.
If spots remain after those three priorities are fulfilled, remaining OE students will be accepted based on the date their application was received.
“Open enrollment has been a net positive for Central Lee over the years,” said Dr. Andy Crozier, Superintendent. “While growth is important, we also want to ensure we manage this process for the years to come. Ensuring our class sizes remain manageable is critical for our staff to be successful, especially at the elementary level.”
Families or community members who have questions about OE can contact the district office or visit https://www.centrallee.org/page/open-enrollment.