Schools discuss "open enrollment"

The brightest future of the Sisters School District may be not having a "Sisters" school district.

An idea is percolating among Central Oregon school superintendents that opening up enrollment among the Bend, Redmond and Sisters schools may improve education.

According to Steve Swisher, superintendent of Sisters schools, a family might want certain programs that are only available in an adjacent district. Or it might be more convenient for a family to have a child in a school close to where the parent is employed.

"If children were in schools closer to where the parents work, it is possible the parents could participate more. This could enhance the child's success," said Swisher.

Sharing enrollment could save Central Oregon schools the cost of duplicating programs and, by balancing attendance, could reduce the need for new construction.

Swisher said the Sisters School District is currently very lenient about allowing local students to attend schools in other districts and students from other districts to attend school in Sisters.

So far, Sisters has benefited from the policy, with slightly more students "imported" than "exported."

That isn't the case everywhere, according to Swisher. Several years back, the Redmond School Board had to restrict their program. Redmond was sending 20 more students to Bend than Bend was sending to Redmond.

This resulted in a loss to the Redmond School District of about $100,000 in state support.

Bend and Redmond currently have a policy of allowing a "one-to-one" exchange, according to Swisher.

There are other issues besides state school support, according to Swisher. If a community taxed itself to build a new high school, these costs would not be shared by a family sending a student into the district.

On the other hand, a new facility might draw students and contribute to what the district receives from the state in "average daily membership," or ADM.

Open enrollment might affect a district's plans on where to locate a new school.

While he supports open enrollment among public schools, Swisher has reservations about a voucher system that would open up enrollment to private schools on the same terms.

"What we have to protect against is that the public system only has the 'have-nots,' those less able to transport themselves or participate. Some of the literature shows we would tend to have the less able in the public system," Swisher said.

Central Oregon Community College, with its multiple campuses and special course offerings, should be in the middle of any conversation to "regionalize" school enrollment, Swisher said.