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Phoenix-Talent may rescind transfers Student departures hurt district�s pocketbook By Damian Mann PHOENIX � The Phoenix-Talent School District may ban student transfer requests after a 181-student exodus this year caused a loss in revenue that could harm academic programs. Parents of students who go to other districts were sent a letter last week from Superintendent Dave Willard warning that the school board will consider rescinding transfers. The district loses $3,500 to $4,000 for each of these students, an overall cut of $700,000 annually in a total budget of about $16 million. Willard said this outflow has been partially offset by 87 students who have transferred in from other districts, still leaving the district with a deficit of 94 in a total enrollment of 2,500. "There are a lot more going out than coming in," he said. "We�re not saying we are going to (deny transfer requests) yet. We could deny them all right now � legally. This is an area that we have been lenient in." Willard said the exact dollar amount lost is difficult to pinpoint because the number of transfer students varies wildly from month to month. Because the problem is increasing, Willard has urged the school board and public to discuss the issue at a hearing at 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at Talent Elementary School. Parents decide to put their children in another district for a variety of reasons, including proximity to work or different programs offered at other schools, especially academic courses at some high schools. Ashland, Medford and Eagle Point are the favorite destinations for transfer students from Phoenix-Talent. Although most requests are granted, Willard sometimes will deny them, particularly for sports. "A student can�t just decide he wants to play on another school�s team," he said. Asked about Phoenix-Talent�s academic program, Willard said, "People feel like we don�t offer certain things. But the irony is that the less students we have the less money we�ve got to afford these programs." In the letter sent last week, Willard said the district now complies with most transfer requests but could decide to deny them "if it is determined that approval of those requests results in a negative impact on the quality of education we offer." If the interdistrict transfers were rescinded, Willard told parents, "This would mean that your student(s) could no longer attend a school in another district so long as you continued to live within the boundaries of Phoenix-Talent School District." Talent resident Tom Lipski, who has three children in the Ashland School District, said, "We�re frightened about the situation. We have no knocks against the Phoenix-Talent district, but our kids are socialized in the Ashland schools. " A teacher in Eagle Point, Lipski said he understands the dilemma the Phoenix-Talent district has found itself in. "It�s an unfortunate thing that they are losing money." But he hopes the district doesn�t take the drastic step of forcing students to come back to its schools. "We�ve had our scares before. Ashland said they were overcrowded and couldn�t take any students, but we kind of got ours grandfathered in." Talent resident Colleen Gargus, who owns property in Ashland, said her son is receiving better college preparatory classes at Ashland High School than he would in the Phoenix-Talent district. A special-education assistant at Talent Middle School, Gargus said, however, "The district does the best it can with the resources it has." Gargus, who plans to move to Ashland in the future, said other parents in her community send their children to Ashland because of its college-prep courses. She doesn�t fault Phoenix-Talent, though, believing it offers a good education. She sends her younger son to Talent Elementary School. "There is just more money in Ashland � that�s obvious." Willard said he has received calls from four or five parents upset about the proposed policy change. He is hoping to entertain a number of solutions to the problem, including possibly allowing one student to transfer out only when another student transfers in. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.