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Waunakee board moves from guaranteed to ‘preferred’ open-enrollment status for some students
Summary
The school board approved a policy change that shifts two categories of open-enrollment applicants — current resident families who move out of district and siblings of accepted open-enrollment students — from guaranteed acceptance to a preference that respects class-size and special-education capacity limits.
The Waunakee Community School District Board of Education approved a revision to its open-enrollment policy on June 9 that changes two categories of applicants from guaranteed acceptance to a “preferred” status.
Board discussion focused on the policy’s practical effect. Under current state law, boards may set options for how the district treats students who move out of the district and siblings of students already accepted through open enrollment. The district’s long-standing practice guaranteed acceptance; the revised policy gives those applicants priority over new applicants but allows class-size limits and special-education capacity to take precedence.
“T he recommendation is to switch those two categories of students from guaranteed to preferred,” said Ted (staff member), who presented the policy discussion to the board. He said preferred applicants “would be approved automatically before other students that are new to us, but they would not trump existing class-size policies or special-ed availability.”
Administrators said the change would apply to the 2026–27 open-enrollment period and would not affect students already accepted for fall 2025 or students already enrolled. Ted and other staff emphasized outreach to families who might be affected, saying the district will encourage families to contact enrollment staff before making housing decisions that rely on guaranteed enrollment.
Board members asked whether siblings could be split across schools if space was limited; staff confirmed that is possible under the new approach but that families could reapply in subsequent years and would retain preference over new applicants.
The board approved the change alongside two other policies at the same vote. The motion was adopted by voice vote with no recorded roll-call tally in the public transcript.
What happens next: District staff said they will work with Annie (staff member) to notify families and publish details explaining how class-size limits and special-education program capacity will be applied to preferred applicants.
Votes at a glance
- Motion to adopt open-enrollment policy revisions (change from guaranteed to preferred for current families who move out and siblings of accepted students): approved (voice vote).
