Parents frustrated over Davenport's open enrollment policy
Parents who want to take their kids out of the Davenport Community School District don’t always have an easy go.
The district follows a one-in-one-out policy. Kids can only leave as more kids come to the district, unless they win a lottery.
The superintendent says it’s necessary, but some parents say it’s too much.
More than 20 students filed appeals asking to be let out of the district and the superintendent denied all of them this week.
Kim Talken, whose daughter was denied, said she’s frustrated because now her eighth grader could be stuck at a school that isn’t a good fit.
Talken said her daughter Abby has anxiety. They think the online public school Iowa Connections Academy would be a better fit.
“The bigger high school is just not the right environment for her,” Talken said.
While she couldn’t open enroll out of the district, Abby could still attend the online school. However, it would cost $6,700 a year.
“It’s a lot of money. It’s hard to ask my parents to go through all those expenses especially since there’s other things like houses and cars that we have to pay for,” Abby said.
Davenport Superintendent Dr. Art Tate said money is an issue for them, too. That’s why they have a diversity plan that only allows a few people to leave the district each year.
“We need it in order to stay solvent. Without it we would have probably $700,000 a year less,” he said at this week’s school board meeting.
Talken said she knows dropping enrollment is an issue for the district, but she doesn’t think this is the way to fix it.
“They need to get people who want to be in Davenport schools and by doing these kinds of things it’s just going to keep more people out,” she said.
Talken said it’s unfair to her daughter, who would be better off somewhere else.
“They’re obviously struggling, but that doesn’t make it right,” she said.
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