<p>In Georgia, you must attend the public school that you are assigned to. They have been prosecuting people for registering their kids in another district. I moved when my daughter was a rising 8th grader to get her into a better school system.</p>
<p>I believe St. Paul has open enrollment.</p>
<p>I just moved to Wisconsin, and from I’ve been able to gather, there is some level of school choice. There is one program for kids in live in Milwaukee County, and if the school participates, it has to supply transportation. If you do it through the state program, you have to supply transportation.</p>
<p>To the OP: Regarding Garland TX schools: The district prides itself on having one of the only true “open enrollment” districts in the country. The process is quite complicated, but “in general” priority is given to kids that live within walking distance of the school - so in theory, you should be able to get your neighborhood school. But it is not guaranteed. If your neighborhood school is full, you will be assigned to another school and given transportation. You can request to go back to the neighborhood school when a slot opens up. We chose an elementary that had strong G&T (and bilingual); a G&T middle school (magnet) and Performing Arts HS (Magnet). The magnets differ slightly because you actually have to audition/test to get in. Only the middle school was in our neighborhood and that was just coincidence.</p>
<p>Michigan does not have district of choice throughout the state. It just ALLOWS districts the option of opening their doors (their choice which schools, grades will be open in any given year) and allows parents the ability to take their children to an open district. There are no guarantees, although if the district is open all students must have an equal chance to get a seat (lottery is necessary if there are too many applicants for open seats).</p>
<p>I know this because my son went to high school out of district. We were VERY happy with this option. The high school was actually a couple minutes closer than our home high school, and the district even allowed my son to take the bus because it was not a full run (the bus stop was within walking distance). This particular district has honors courses in all core classes beginning freshman year; our home district does not.</p>
<p>The district my son attended allows students within the district to choose their school of attendance, although they do close some schools to choice due to being at capacity. Our home district has very limited in-district choice.</p>
<p>I live in an open enrollment district- AKA district of choice - both for the elementary school & high school districts (separate districts). Small suburban community of about 35,000 residents. The elementary district has 5 elementary schools and one middle school. The high school district, which encompasses both our city & the neighboring city, has 4 regular high schools and a continuation school. </p>
<p>This doesn’t necessarily mean that students can go wherever they choose, as historically it has been hard to get into some of the elementary programs. When my kids were in elementary school they used a lottery system - I don’t know what they do now, as there have been some significant changes since then. </p>
<p>I’m curious as to why you want to know the location?</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s input.</p>
<p>I live in a large urban/suburban school system that hasn’t really redistricted in, well, forever.</p>
<p>We have elemetnary schools that are 50 plus years old with hundreds of empty spaces. Last year, I served on a citizen’s Task Force that was charged with consolidating/closing schools. It didn’t go well and at the end of the day no schools were closed. We have a tremendous need to balance enrollment and shut schools down. </p>
<p>Currently, somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of all students are not at their home schools. I began to wonder if we should have attendance zones at all and wondered how that would work. I see from the answers on this blog and my internet research that models are few and far between. I was hoping I could take something to the powers that be and say look at this! </p>
<p>I did find articles about a system that is going back to attendance zones because no one seemed to be willing to move into the district without know about school assignment.</p>
<p>I don’t envy you. For sure, no one wants their child’s school closed and no one wants their child to have to switch schools. These situations can become very contentious - often emotion is outweighed by reality.</p>
<p>Not enough kids, huh? I can send you some, our schools are very overcrowded
;)</p>
<p>The entire state of Minnesota is open enrollment.</p>
<p>I’d just add that the elementary district I mentioned above (post #26), has closed several schools over the years. I think there were 10 elementary schools when I first moved here a little over 20 years ago. In the meantime, part of the district was shaved off and annexed to a different district, and schools were moved around and program changes implemented at various sites. The elementary school my kids attended actually changed sites twice – one of the sites was torn down and a middle school built in its place. </p>
<p>From what I can tell reading the district web site, the district seems to have adopted a model of creating distinct programs for each school. That way, the idea of “choice” has some meaning separate and apart from test scores or reputation. I don’t think this model would work in a larger district.</p>
<p>But my main point is that if you are looking for a resolution to the consolidation and/or closing issues – the bottom line is enrollment. If enrollments are declining, then schools are going to end up being shut down, whether or not it upsets people in the community. </p>
<p>You have to look into why the enrollment is declining, and try to address those problems. If part of the problem is that parents in the district are opting for private education instead, then attendance zones might only make things worse, pushing parents unhappy with their assignments to also opt for private schools. In that situation, school improvement might be more important – and it might be worthwhile to look into enhancing the programs at target schools to make them more attractive.</p>
<p>The kids just aren’t in the right places. We are in Georgia, Metro Atlanta, specifically and we have school systems that are large both in student numbers and geography. From the top of our school system to the bottom it is probably 30 miles! </p>
<p>Unfortunately, we are overcrowded in some areas and under crowded in others. It should make for an interesting year!</p>
<p>Our school system was involved in one of the longest desegregation lawsuits in the country and while it was settled in the early 1990s, there were decades where no new construction could happen nor attendance line changes. It is a mess.</p>