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Student transfers plague smaller districts Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Walker Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Tim Brandy reads to Carsen Dowding, left, and Amara Leventin. Walker and other Ashland School District campuses often have more students than they would otherwise because parents who live out of the district transfer their kids to schools closer to the parents� work or child care. Such transfers help Medford and Ashland schools but hurt smaller districts like Phoenix-Talent and Eagle Point. Superintendents look at possible ways to relieve uneven results By DAMIAN MANN As schools face cutbacks and staff layoffs, the increasing problem of students transferring out of districts becomes a thornier issue for administrators to tackle. Some superintendents believe it is time for school systems throughout Jackson County to find a solution to a problem that results in financial gains to some districts and a loss in revenue to others. Both Eagle Point and Phoenix-Talent have more students transferring out of their districts than coming in, creating a financial crunch and raising the potential for more restrictive transfer policies. "It only takes the loss of 10 students to make a teacher�s salary," said Rogue River Superintendent Charles Hellman. Each student is worth roughly $5,000 in revenues for a school. Other districts like Ashland, Medford or Central Point are the primary recipients of these students, resulting in a financial boon for them. Parents are choosing to leave a district for a variety of reasons, the most common being proximity to work and child care, moving from one district to another, and a preference for a particular district�s programs and classes. "When I was in school, I felt like I never fit in," said Lisa Odegaard, a parent who transferred her son from Phoenix-Talent to Ashland. "It is very important that I fit in and my son fits in." Phoenix Superintendent Dave Willard said he wants to get together with other Jackson County superintendents to work on a more uniform inter-district transfer policy. In the meantime, his district will be looking at ways to prevent the hemorrhaging of students that results in a loss of roughly $500,000 in funding each year. Willard wants to wait until next school year before asking the board to wrestle with this problem again, but anticipates an eventual policy that could limit some transfer requests. "The board has instructed me to come back at the next two meetings with a more formal plan." Although he doesn�t want to force anyone to come back, Willard said the district needs to find ways to mitigate the loss of students. With the high number of transfers, it makes it more difficult for districts like Phoenix-Talent to create programs that are more attractive to parents who prefer to send their students to districts like Ashland. "Everybody wants quality services, but they are not willing to pay for it," he said. In the meantime, Willard will be talking to community members to prepare them for a change in policy. Many parents buy a house in the district with the belief that they will be able to send their students to the school of their choice. "We need to talk to real estate agents and let them know that the rules are changing," he said. Phoenix-Talent�s loss, though, is Ashland�s gain. "We have about 80 kids from Phoenix-Talent sprinkled throughout our schools," said Ashland Superintendent Juli Di Chiro. If Phoenix-Talent changes its policy, the potential loss of 80 students would have a dramatic impact on Ashland�s budget, which is already in financial trouble this year, forcing the district to reduce staffing levels. "It�s a tough situation for us and for Phoenix-Talent," said Di Chiro. "We�re all looking at budgets and trying to make things work." Di Chiro agrees with Willard that a broader approach to the question of inter-district transfers needs to be addressed. "At some point we need to look ahead at districts throughout the county." She anticipates that the certificate of advanced mastery required by the state � rigorous performance standards for high school students to take effect in 2004 � could force districts to work together, possibly even promoting the creation of high schools that specialize in one academic area. "My dream is that we all work more closely on this," she said. Eagle Point also has a net drain of 133 students, losing most to Medford schools. If the district were somehow able to bring these students back, it would greatly improve its gloomy financial picture. With $1 million in cutbacks planned next year, the district expects to eliminate 71 jobs. Superintendent Bill Jones said many of the parents, particularly in the elementary grades, want their children close to child care and work. Of the 119 students who have left Eagle Point for Medford, 104 cite child care as the reason. In general, Jones believes that parents should be able to send their children to whatever district they want, but he said he will be looking more closely at individual transfer requests in the future. The district has managed to partially stem the outgoing tide of high school students with its newly created Options Program, which offers alternative education to pregnant teenagers or older students working to get their high school diploma. "We have reduced that number literally to a trickle at the high school level," said Jones. Like Ashland, Medford also has a net gain of students � many of which come from Phoenix-Talent, Central Point and Eagle Point. Dan Zaklan, director of secondary education, said family reasons are behind many of the requests to leave the district. "There are many situations where families are in flux with moving or divorce." Kathy McCollum, director of elementary education, has noticed an increase in the number of students transferring within the district � about 494 this year at the elementary level. In general, the Medford district is fairly liberal in its transfer requests. But, like most districts, it will not allow a student to leave for athletic reasons. Rogue River Superintendent Hellman said he denies quite a few requests. His district, like many others, is facing budget problems. "This will be the fifth year that Rogue River has been cutting back." Hellman said, "All districts need to take a close look at this because resources are so scarce." 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 � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.