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Northwest Local board to limit new open enrollment as special-education costs rise; officials flag pending algebra law
Summary
At its June 22 meeting the Northwest Local School Board said it will restrict some new open-enrollment applications—especially kindergarten and special-education cases—citing state funding that no longer follows some students. Officials also discussed preliminary state report-card data and a pending law on automatic algebra placement.
Sean updated the Northwest Local School Board on several enrollment and assessment issues, saying the district will limit new kindergarten open enrollments and scrutinize special-education open-enrollment requests because state funding “no longer follows that child,” increasing district costs and straining taxpayers.
He told the board the district is reviewing each open-enrollment case individually and aiming to avoid separating siblings. The board discussed that the change is intended to slow the growth of unfunded students while the district pursues longer-term staffing and levy strategies.
On state testing, Sean said only about one-third of state report-card data had been loaded and that value-added (growth) measures will not be available until later; more complete county trend data is expected at the July meeting and final data in September.
Board members credited recent instructional coaching with gains in sixth-grade math but noted reading remains an area for improvement. Sean said the district plans to select new K–5 ELA materials after using the current series for about 12 years.
Separately, a board speaker raised concerns about a recently passed but unnamed state bill that would automatically place students in algebra based on assessment scores. The speaker said the district is waiting on the governor to sign the bill and cautioned that automatic advancement could place students into algebra before they have completed prerequisite curriculum, raising potential gaps in later courses.
The board did not take formal new policy action on open enrollment or algebra placement at the meeting; Sean said the board will continue reviewing data and will return with more information in July.
