Kokomo — Some parents like the idea of their children attending the school they themselves attended as children, even if their family does not live in that district. Others are attracted to specific programs in another school, or would like to send their children somewhere closer to their workplace.
Before this school year, parents could pay tuition in the neighborhood of $5,000 per year to send their children to another public school. This year, however, after the state removed the school general fund from property tax, all five Howard County schools eliminated transfer tuition for children who enroll before the official state count day Sept. 17. The general fund is now based on the number of students enrolled on the count day.
While all five superintendents reported they have accepted new students, some are concerned the competition is not good for the schools. Final numbers will not be available until after Sept. 17.
The four county schools all reported accepting students from Kokomo-Center Schools, and Western Superintendent Peter O’Rourke said he has talked to parents who “seem to be in a panic mode” about Kokomo’s consolidation.
However, Superintendent Jeff Hauswald said enrollment is 60 students higher than projected, and enrollment is up from the end of the previous school year. He said, though, enrollment is currently about 100 students fewer than on count day in 2009, but “those numbers are not firm. Our September count day is what matters.”
Hauswald said he has received notification from other area schools of Kokomo students transferring out, but did not have firm numbers yet. He added that some of those were students who had attended private school in past years and had never been enrolled in the district.
He said Kokomo has received 37 applications for parents who want their children to transfer into Kokomo-Center Schools.
Some of those parents are choosing Kokomo for convenience, because they work in the city and it’s easier to bring their children to Kokomo, and others are attracted to Kokomo-Center’s programs, including the gifted and talented program and large number of AP classes at the high school.
Northwestern Superintendent Ryan Snoddy said parents are not necessarily moving because they are unhappy with their current school. Of the 86 transfer students approved at his district so far, he said, many of the parents wanted their children to attend the same school they themselves attended as a child.
“That seems to be the overwhelming theme,” he said, adding that others are transferring so children can go to their grandparents’ house in the district after school. Others live in one school district but are closer to Northwestern schools, he added.
Many are coming from Kokomo, he said, while others came from Cass, Carroll and Miami counties.
Snoddy said two-thirds of the incoming students are elementary school children.
He said the response meant he filled teaching vacancies left by retirement that he had not planned to fill. He said the additional revenue does not help as much if schools have to build additions or hire more staff to accommodate them.
“It’s not quite as much of an economic boon as people would think because the dollars follow the students. We won’t see an immediate increase, but if these students stay with us over the years, it will be a little bit of a gain. It’s worth doing for the economics as long as we don’t have to add teachers we weren’t planning to add. It takes a few years for the finances to actually follow the child.”
Eastern Superintendent Tracy Caddell said even with losses in the small school grant and restoration grant due to increased enrollment, the additional students should generate an additional $2,000 to $3,000 for the corporation.
The transfers meant Eastern’s second-grade and full-day kindergarten classes are full, he said.
He does not know of any Eastern students who transferred to other schools.
He thinks the choice of full-day or half-day kindergarten was attractive to some parents, and others may have come for the elementary Chinese program or the fine arts programs Eastern offers.
At Western, Superintendent Peter O’Rourke said the corporation had 82 transfer applications, and was able to accept 61, 40 of whom came from Kokomo-Center.
Taylor Superintendent John Magers did not have transfer numbers, but said he had heard some parents chose to send their kids to Taylor High School for the new tech high school program.
In Tipton County, Tri-Central Community Schools charges “minimal” tuition for out-of-district students who enroll before the count day, Superintendent Lee Williford said. He said about 20 transfer students have enrolled, while about 10 Tri-Central students are attending other schools.
Maconaquah Superintendent Doug Arnold said about 60 transfer students have enrolled at his district, which has also waived fees.
He said many of the parents plan to move into the district but have not yet moved, and others are attracted to the small-school atmosphere. Students are coming from Peru, Kokomo, Logansport, Russiaville and Wabash, he said.
Many area superintendents think the state funding change means schools will have to compete with one another for students, and that concerns them.
Caddell said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett and Gov. Mitch Daniels have both said competition is good for schools, and parents should be able to send their children to the schools of their choice.
“Personally, I don’t think it’s the best way to fund schools in Indiana. I do feel bad that some schools are being negatively impacted through our marketing.”
Hauswald said he would rather collaborate than compete. For example, he said, a Kokomo student who wants to study agriculture could go to a county school that offers that program, while a county school student might want to come to Kokomo for its large number of foreign language classes, which smaller school may not have the resources to offer.
“I’m not sure competition is healthier than collaboration,” he said.
Snoddy agreed the competition may not be good for schools, and said Northwestern will not follow Eastern, Western and Kokomo’s lead in advertising and marketing.
“We’re not going to market our school per se. I’m proud of what we do at Northwestern, but we want that to speak for itself.”
Arnold said the competition may force schools to examine their programs and what they need to improve.
“Let’s be very honest, we’re talking about competing for scarce resources. If it causes people to look at our programs and our test scores, it certainly is going to cause us to put our best foot forward.”