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Open enrollment:
A different perspective
Published Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Graphic Provided
After the recent article on open enrollment in The Daily Journal, a staff member shared some information that provided a different perspective on open enrollment, which was created to give parents choices on where to send their children to school.
The Minnesota Department of Education Web site is full of information related to school districts in the state. We looked at data related to resident students in area schools who are open enrolling in and out of District 544. The Web site lists ADM, which means the average daily membership of each district for the 2006-07 school year. (In general, one ADM is equal to one full-time student.) As you can see from the chart, when you look at the numbers as a percentage of ADM, District 544 gains more than it loses from every area district except West Central Area Schools.
As an example, 3.98 percent of Ashby’s ADM is open enrolled in District 544, and 1.29 percent of Fergus Falls’ ADM is open enrolled in the Ashby district.
As the superintendent of District 544, I’m very protective and proud of our school system. I’m fully aware that we have strengths and weaknesses as a district, and it is our goal to build on our strengths and either improve or eliminate our weaknesses so we can serve our community well.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by kmiles (anonymous) on February 13, 2008 at 1:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just do the math - there are still more kids leaving than there are coming in...
Posted by bucksteel (anonymous) on February 14, 2008 at 10:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There are still a LOT more kids leaving than coming in. This entire article is misleading, because the percentages use different denominators - the classic apples to oranges comparison. If the premise of your argument is invalid, your argument falls flat, and that is certainly the case here. I hope the staff member that helped out with this comparison was not a math teacher.
Posted by FergusFamily (anonymous) on February 14, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Specifically 118 students come INTO our district from those surrounding districts. And 186 leave Fergus Falls to attend school elsewhere. The net effect is students - and money gone.
Posted by bucksteel (anonymous) on February 15, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Using the logic (?) in this article, it would be a GOOD thing if Fergus Falls lost 10% of its students to each of the area schools IF each of those schools gave 11% of their students back to Fergus Falls. Under that scenario, all 2,637 FF students would go to other schools, and FF would get 695 in return. What a deal. Looks like someone has a pair of rose-colored glasses.
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