Sarasota County Schools opens controlled open enrollment Feb. 3–March 3; notifications by early April

On the Sarasota County Schools' Intune podcast, district staff said the 2025 controlled open enrollment window for traditional public school choice will open Feb. 3 and close March 3, with families notified by the beginning of April.

The window gives families the opportunity to apply to attend up to three traditional public schools outside their attendance zone, Millie Wheeler of the school choice office said. "This year, the school choice application window will be open, beginning on February 3rd through March 3rd," Wheeler said, and families will receive both an email and a notification in their Focus Parent Portal when placements are released.

The process matters because the district is also opening a new school, Sky Ranch School, this August and the district has adjusted boundaries for Ashton and Lakeview elementary schools and Sarasota Middle, district planners said. Diane Comanati of the office of planning said the district does not factor school choice into initial enrollment for a new campus. "So we create a new boundary for that…