Rural districts are not so settled

School choice isn’t just for urban school districts.

Students in rural districts also move around, often for the same reasons as students in city schools: to go to a school closer to home, day care or a parent’s office, or attend one that’s better academically or offers different classes.

The effect in rural districts, where total enrollment can number in the hundreds instead of thousands, can be dramatic.

In the Pikes Peak region, Edison School District 54 JT has doubled its enrollment with out-of-district students, which means more money for the district because state funding is based on enrollment.

Conversely, Miami-Yoder School District 60 JT just north of Edison would have 117 more students and roughly $1 million more to spend if it weren’t for choice.

Students in Colorado can attend school outside their neighborhood as long as there’s room and they provide their own transportation.

Edison Superintendent Dave Grosche used to bring students to the rural district in southeast El Paso County from more urban districts, such as Falcon, but now most out-of-district students come from neighboring rural districts.

“Most of our people come from Miami-Yoder,” Grosche said. “What it boils down to is they are closer to Edison than to Miami-Yoder.”

Grosche said it’s not just the boundaries that favor Edison; he uses the district’s small size and flexibility as a selling point.

“I talk about individuals, not numbers,” Grosche said.

Many of Edison’s out-ofdistrict students take all or some courses online as part of Edison Academy, which Grosche created in 2001.

There are also opportunities to take college or trade school courses through the district.

Being welcoming is a way of survival, Grosche said, noting the district had 45 students when it split from Hanover School District 28 in 1996-97; the districts had operated under a cooperative agreement.

The district now has 165 students.

Miami-Yoder, which has 338 students, would like to be in the same position as its neighbor — gaining students, instead of losing them.

The district has had a net loss of roughly 100 students each year since at least 2004-05.

But that doesn’t stop the district from working to make improvements that will bring students in.

One improvement came in November, when the district’s accreditation status was upgraded from “probation” to “watch.”

Accreditation focuses mostly on student achievement, such as scores from the Colorado Student Assessment Program and other tests, but also includes a look at district safety and finances.

Miami-Yoder Superintendent Rick Walter said that if he were a parent weighing school districts, accreditation would be something he would consider.

He said he hopes people note the district’s improvements, academically and in facilities and classes.

Officials will break ground this spring on a new school and hope to bring some vocational classes back to the district.

The district is starting a business program and adding several agriculture classes, Walter said.

But Miami-Yoder’s loss of 117 students hits hard, especially in the budget.

“It hurts us badly because that’s about a million (dollars) in funding,” Walter said.

Miami-Yoder’s total budget is about $3.6 million. As student enrollment goes down, Walter said, the budget shrinks, and money to expand and offer more classes is limited.

The most noticeable change Miami-Yoder will see because of decreased enrollment is a move to eight-man football, Walter said. In fall, the school was playing schools twice its size.