LANE COUNTY, Ore. (KMTR) - As school districts across Western Oregon open up for open enrollment allowing kids to go to school anywhere regardless of where they live, most are reminding parents that in-district transfers will take priority.
Springfield School District, for example, talked with NewsSource 16 Friday and said their in-district transfers will be first-come first-serve as long as parents get their applications in by Tuesday, January 31st. After that, in-district transfers will still be accepted but will not have what they call 'priority.' If in-district transfer applications exceed the number of spaces they have, the remaining applications will be drawn based on a lottery.
After in-district transfers are completed, districts like Springfield will move on with out-of-district applications. Springfield anticipates about 1,000 spots to remain and at this point are not concerned about filling up with students.
School districts are also not concerned about higher student-teacher ratios.
"Springfield parents often ask me, if we have more students coming into the district is that going to create increased class sizes, that is a big concern. But in fact, resources follow students so as our enrollment increases, so do our available resources. Typically as we have greater enrollment we can better serve all our students here in Springfield," said Jeff DeFranco from Springfield Schools.
Districts statewide typically receive about $6,000 dollars per student so increasing enrollment will not affect the budget balance.
If parents want to apply for an in-district transfer in Springfield, the applications are available online and at the administration building. They are due Tuesday.
In Eugene, in-district transfer applications will be accepted through March 23rd at 5:00 PM.
Out-of-district transfers apps are due April 1st throughout Lane County. They are to be submitted to the district the student is transferring to.
