New funding model for universal open enrollment garners mixed reviews

A proposed tweak to the funding model for universal open enrollment has converted at least one of the policy’s former opponents.

Jessica Bickford, the superintendent of the Pembroke and Deerfield School Districts, said the new approach — redirecting state adequacy funds to whichever district a student enrolls in — is far better than the original proposal, which would have required districts to pay each other directly when students cross district lines.

“Do I think it’s perfect? No, I think there’s a lot of things that need to be cleaned up,” Bickford said at a hearing on the bill, SB 101, on Wednesday. “However, I think it presents a far better playing field for me as a superintendent and for me as a parent to navigate the waters of open enrollment.”

Bickford’s support of the bill is notable. Thus far, only one other superintendent in the state — the leader of the only school currently accepting students through open enrollment — has publicly come out in favor of the proposed law. Dozens of others signed an open letter earlier this year expressing their opposition.

Bickford said the new approach addresses her residents’ primary concern: They didn’t want to be forced to send their locally-raised education tax dollars to other towns.

Currently, school districts have the power to limit the number of students who can leave through open enrollment. The bill that state lawmakers are considering would remove that control, allowing any student to enroll elsewhere at no expense to their family.

Proponents have argued that universal open enrollment will allow children to access the best public school options for them, regardless of where they live. Opponents have said the policy would exacerbate inequalities between school districts and would only be a realistic option for families with the means to transport their children to a new school.

Revising the funding mechanism is an effort to assuage the first concern, according to the bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Tim Lang. Instead of a district facing a tuition bill of at least $11,000 for each student who leaves, they would lose their state aid, an average of $6,900 per student this year. The model mirrors how charter schools are funded.

Despite the revision, the bill had a mixed reception during a four-hour House hearing Wednesday. Democratic representatives peppered Lang with questions about who the law would benefit and disadvantage.

“What is it about this bill that’s going to allow those children who really have little to no resources … to be able to get to any of these types of services?” asked Rep. Loren Selig, a Democrat from Durham. “Their parents may have no car or may be working three jobs and not be able to provide transportation.”

Representatives and members of the public also expressed concerns about whether students with disabilities could participate.

Federal law requires a student’s home district to provide special transportation to those students who need it, but that right would not extend to their access to another district. If students with disabilities do enroll in new schools through open enrollment, their home district would remain responsible for providing them special education services.

Lang said that the families who really wanted their students to attend a new school would figure out a way to make it happen, regardless of the obstacles.

“I’m a big believer in: When there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said. “And so this will make it available for every child, if there’s a will.”

In addition to the funding change, the amended bill attempted to address a number of other concerns that have been raised in recent months.

It clarifies that school boards would be responsible for setting the number of open enrollment students who could come to their districts. The bill would give them leeway to set their own application procedures within certain guidelines.

Still, elected representatives and superintendents said there were a number of aspects of the bill that remained unclear.

Christine Downing, the superintendent of the Grantham School District, said she didn’t understand how universal open enrollment would affect AREA and cooperative school district agreements, which govern where students in many small districts attend middle and high school.

“I don’t know how I would address open enrollment at [grades] 7 to 12 in Grantham because of my AREA agreement,” Downing said.

A forthcoming Supreme Court case brought by the Epsom School District, which has an AREA agreement with Pembroke, could provide some clarity.

Downing said the amended bill “is definitely progress” but that “there’s still work to be done.”

If the revised bill passes, the new law would not take effect until the 2027-28 school year. The law would supersede the district-level open enrollment policies that passed at many annual meetings and municipal elections this year.

In Pembroke, where school leaders have said they actively want to recruit new students, Bickford said that 20 families have already reached out to express their interest in enrolling in the district next year.

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