Board approves open-enrollment change to prioritize in-district special-education caseloads

The DC Everest Area School District board voted to change its open-enrollment policy so students who move out of the district are no longer guaranteed continued enrollment; instead, such students will be placed on a prioritized list and considered against board-set caps.

Administration (Speaker 2) presented the change as a measure to manage caseloads for related services in special education. Under the proposed approach, administrators will set enrollment caps in January and rank incoming or continuing open-enrollment applications against those limits. Speaker 2 said the change is intended to preserve staff capacity for students who live in the district and to better balance workload for case managers and related-service providers.

Speaker 2 summarized the rationale: when open-enrollment guarantees remain unconstrained, related-service workloads can increase and reduce the district’s ability to serve resident students. "It gives us the capacity to to lower the number of students in that related service to better meet the needs of the students who attend and live in our attendance area," Speaker 2 said during the presentation.

The board conducted a roll-call vote and recorded yes votes from Shannon, Josh, Katie, Larry, Ben and the meeting Chair; the resolution passed unanimously. Administration said staff will return with details about caps, any exceptions for high-need related services and how siblings and current students will be prioritized.

The policy change takes effect as the board implements the January cap-setting process; the district will notify families about the updated priority rules and application timing.