More students taking advantage of open-enrollment policy Family relocation is the primary reason students attend schools outside their district By Leigh Ann Wagner Kroening News-Chronicle School districts in Brown County are noticing an increase in the number of students moving into and out of their schools due to Wisconsin's inter-district public school open-enrollment program. The open-enrollment policy allows parents to apply for their children to attend school districts other than the one in which they live, and since the 1998-99 school year when the program was implemented, more students are taking advantage of it. The open-enrollment application period for the 2003-04 school year has closed, and school districts have until April 11 to notify students if their applications have been approved. Most Brown County districts report the primary use of the open-enrollment program has been, and continues to be, via tuition waivers that allow children moving into or out of a new school district to remain in their present schools. Sue Edgren, the assistant to the superintendent of the Howard-Suamico School District, said the district had 42 applications to attend schools outside the district and 65 applications from students wanting to come to Howard-Suamico. That's an increase from 30 and 58, respectively, last year. "Of the families who have volunteered the information, a lot of times it involves a move," Edgren said. "Whether they're moving into or out of the district, they want to keep their kids in the same schools. The other major reason is some parents of young kids want them to attend schools in the district where they work." Dave Zadnick, the assistant superintendent for the Green Bay School District, said there were 102 applications to come into the district. Of those, 39 are new students, while 63 are tuition waivers. There were 235 applications to leave the district, of which 176, or 75 percent, were tuition waivers. "There's a lot of movement, and we as a district have a lot of big numbers," Zadnick said. "Our numbers are always going to be higher than the other districts just because of the volume." West De Pere is another district that is seeing more applications to leave than to come, with 17 students seeking entry and 46 wanting to go elsewhere. Of the 46, 44 are students who recently moved into the district. "I think it's because of all the development in West De Pere," said Jason Lau, the director of pupil services. "We're seeing a lot of families move into the subdivisions, but their kids have already started school somewhere else and want to stay there. These (44) are all kids we've never seen before or heard of." But relocation isn't the only reason administrators say students attend schools outside the district in which they live. "With our district, a lot of it is logistics and geography," said Rob Lennon, the director of student services for the De Pere School District, which has 59 applications from students who want to enter the district and 22 from those who want to leave. "A lot of the 59 are from southern Allouez, and it's just closer for them to attend school in De Pere than in Green Bay. "The other reason is I believe we have a good district and schools that are attractive to students outside our district." Ashwaubenon superintendent Sue Alberti said the quality of her district's schools is also a reason more students are applying to go to school in Ashwaubenon. Though the open-enrollment application does not ask for a reason students want to attend schools outside their district, Ashwaubenon administrators polled their applicants. "It's a better way to get a handle on the numbers," Alberti said. "Of the 119 applications to attend, 39 are tuition waivers, but 72 are requests to come to Ashwaubenon for a new school experience. Most of them cited the quality of the district, the academic quality and the variety of the programs, including co-curriculars." Open enrollment applications District  Applications to attend  Applications to leave Ashwaubenon  119  38 De Pere  59  22 Denmark  15  9 Green Bay  102  235 Howard-Suamico  65  42 Pulaski  29  38 West De Pere  17  46 Wrightstown  23  15