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District data show most student withdrawals are due to families moving; private-school enrollment surveys show modest shifts
Summary
Student-records staff reported recent withdrawal trends: about 203 students withdrew in a recent period, with roughly 59% listed as moving out of the district, about 15% to private schools and the remainder unknown or alternate schooling. A family exit survey and a private-school enrollment survey were summarized for board review.
The district’s student-records team presented withdrawal and new-enrollment data and summarised results from exit surveys and a private-school outreach.
Between Feb. 1 and Sept. 5 (period cited by staff), 203 students withdrew; about 59% of those withdrawals were classified as families who moved out of the district. Roughly 15% of withdrawn students ultimately enrolled in private schools and just over 7% pursued alternate education such as homeschooling or online options; a portion of withdrawals was recorded as 'unknown' when families did not specify a destination.
Staff also surveyed nearby private schools to estimate the number of students from the Mercer Island area attending private institutions; the survey sample (response rate noted at about 63% for the private-school outreach) returned an estimated 485 students in private schools among respondents, with top local private schools listed in the packet. The district’s exit-survey responses (34 families representing 47 students) showed varied satisfaction results: some families reported positive experiences, others neutral, and a minority reported negative experiences. The district will follow up with content analysis to correlate withdrawal reasons with student subgroups (for example, IEP status) as requested by the board.
Attribution: Student records coordinator presented the withdrawal and survey results; board members asked for subgroup cross-tabs and further analysis.
