District recommends closing special-education open-enrollment slots to out-of-district students

District administration recommended that Appleton close most special-education program slots to out-of-district open-enrollment applicants for the 2026–27 window, while keeping regular open-enrollment designations open for general education.

Amy Steiner, executive director of special education, explained the methodology: program-level workload capacity is calculated from a rubric-based scoring of each student’s needs; the district applies a 90% ceiling for open-enrollment availability and compares projections for the next year to that threshold. Steiner said some program areas (for example, DHH, vision and speech-language slots) currently show no available space and so were recommended closed to out-of-district applicants.

Steiner stressed that in-district students retain access to services and that closed status applies only to new out-of-district special-education entrants. Trustees asked how the rubric works, whether midyear reallocations are possible and whether private-school special-education voucher scenarios change district responsibilities. Steiner said staff monitor caseloads, reallocate staff where possible and that the district remains responsible for in-district students who later require additional services.

The board approved the space-availability recommendations by roll-call vote.