• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Survival of the richest: Schools compete for students, dollars

Photo

Net gain or loss of students through open enrollment in area school districts for the 2009-10 school year.

WALWORTH COUNTY — The Delavan-Darien School District is hemorrhaging students to open enrollment, costing the district nearly $1 million in state aid per year, the district superintendent said.

In the 2009-10 academic year, Delavan-Darien had a net loss of 160 students in open enrollment, Superintendent Wendy Overturf said.

The numbers are significant because state officials distribute aid based on the number of students enrolled in a district. Fewer students mean less money.

"It certainly has a negative impact on our district," Overturf said. "It is certainly something that is one of our No. 1 goals to turn around."

While Delavan-Darien is losing money through open enrollment, some other Walworth County districts are gaining.

The Elkhorn and Badger school districts this year show net gains of 26 and 39 students, respectively.

The East Troy district has a net loss of 32 students, followed by the Whitewater School District's 43.

Overturf said three years in her position haven't been enough to determine why Delavan-Darien has lost so many students, a problem she said goes back longer than her tenure. She suspects it has to do with the district's reputation.

"I think it has to do with our perception in the community, and that's certainly what we're trying to turn around," she said.

The superintendent pointed out the district's recent hiring of community-relations coordinator Mike Heine, whose job is to serve as a liaison between schools and community members.

And, Overturf said, district leaders are working to install best practices at schools and let parents know their kids are well taken care of.

"There's a lot of negative perception about our district, but we want people to know they can get a great education here," she said.

Janesville School District Superintendent Karen Schulte said educators would rather work together than compete for students, but that's the way the law works.

Janesville has gained money through open enrollment.

While Schulte prefers collaboration, she is under orders from her school board to increase the number of students leaving their home districts to come to Janesville.

The board deems the money so important that it has set a goal for Schulte: Increase the number of incoming open-enrollment students by 10 percent per year.

So is Schulte advertising? Is she sending letters to parents in neighboring districts, extolling the advantages of Janesville schools?

Nope.

Schulte said her team has thought about marketing, especially for the Janesville Virtual Academy, which allows a student to take classes online. A lot of other virtual schools based in Wisconsin send out news releases and hold meetings for interested parents at locations statewide. Janesville hasn't done that, yet.

Schulte said she's aiming to attract students by being the best.

The district tracks state test results for neighboring districts and Big Eight Conference districts. Janesville's test results are about average when compared statewide, but Schulte has high hopes that a new emphasis on academics will change that.

"I think there should be no excuses, that we should have our students achieving at a very high rate," Schulte said.

Janesville also has two brand-new high schools, the virtual school and the TAGOS Leadership Academy as lures, Schulte said.

TAGOS targets at-risk students with a project-based curriculum.

Schulte would rather not have to compete, however.

"Because we're educators, I think we're all about putting things together that are best for kids," she said. "We are not money makers."

separated by just a few hundred votes.