The Storm Lake School Board on Wednesday approved recent open enrollment numbers for the district.
Storm Lake has received 82 open enrollments into the district since August 1st, and 16 open enrollments out of the district. One open enrollment into Storm Lake was denied, which consisted of a special education student whose future programming needs won’t be able to be provided by Storm Lake at this time due to space issues.
Earlier this year, the state legislature approved a policy change that now allows parents to enroll their children in any public K through 12 school at any time. Prior to that, parents typically had to make a transfer request by March 1st, and transfers were only allowed in neighboring districts. School districts may still refuse transfer applications due to a lack of room.
Superintendent Dr. Stacey Cole said she wasn’t sure what kinds of open enrollment numbers to expect this year due to the policy change, and said she’s been surprised at the numbers that have been coming in. Dr. Cole believes there are several reasons why so many students are open enrolling in Storm Lake…(audio clip below)
School Board President Dave Skibsted said the newly shared FFA program with St. Mary’s has been a huge plus for the district.