Principals at individual schools are tasked with the responsibility of deciding whether to approve applications from families who live in one district but want their child to attend school in another, according to a policy approved by the Patrick County School Board.
For instance, if a family lives in Stuart, they may request their child or children attend school in Woolwine or any other school in the division. The request may be prompted by any number of reasons—child care, proximity to parent/guardian’s work, and others.
Out-of-district requests are made and considered each year, even when a student has attended an out-of-district school for a number of years, officials said.
Schools Superintendent Bill Sroufe said the school board approved the policy because principals are responsible for ensuring the school to which they are assigned meets the benchmarks for annual re-accreditation.
If principals did not have that discretion, Sroufe said it would not be possible to hold them accountable for re-accreditation.
Sroufe said principals base their decisions on certain criteria: attendance, discipline and academics. Additionally “we will not accept a student if we have to hire” another person to accommodate the student, he said.
During the process, principals take those factors into account when reviewing applications. They also meet with parents during the process, Sroufe said.
Once a decision is reached, it is forwarded to Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Dean Gilbert, who notifies parents by mail whether an application was approved or denied.
Gilbert said an accurate count of those affected is not available, because one letter may include decisions for more than one student in a family.
However, in preparing for the upcoming school year, Gilbert said he has sent or will send an estimated 76 letters. Of that number, he estimated 10 or 12 applications are denied.
The majority of letters he processes are to parents who want their child to attend Stuart Elementary School, Gilbert said.
Current enrollment data will not be available until after school actually begins in August, Gilbert said. He explained the division will count enrollment on the first day of school.
According to the most recent data available, Gilbert said enrollment the day after Labor Day 2016 (including pre-k students), was 269 at Blue Ridge Elementary School; 232 at Hardin Reynolds Memorial School; 132 at Meadows of Dan Elementary School; 253 at Patrick Springs Elementary School; 433 at Stuart Elementary School; 203 at Woolwine Elementary School and 951 students enrolled in Patrick County High School.
