‘School of choice’ programs help students find best fit

State College Area School District administrators know two general reasons why families of students in the district use the Optional Assignment Program.

They include housing situations and child care needs, district spokesman Chris Rosenblum said.

The district’s Optional Assignment Program is a similar program to what some other local districts offer, colloquially called “school of choice.”

It’s an option for families of students to request the placement of a school other than where they’re assigned within the district where they reside.

But it comes with pros and cons.

“As a district, we want to be responsive to families’ needs and recognize there are extenuating circumstances for families that make sense for their child to attend another elementary school,” State College Area Supervisor of Elementary Education Vernon Bock said. “These requests are considered on a case-by-case basis and are contingent upon enrollment at the requested school of attendance.”

The program was founded in the 1990s, and allows parents or guardians of students who attend State College Area schools to request a change in school outside of their assigned attendance area.

Those requests are made through Bock’s office.

Rosenblum said requests are not automatically approved, but this school year, all requests were accepted.

There were 39 at the elementary level and 13 at the middle schools.

Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District doesn’t have a designated program, but Superintendent Gregg Paladina said accommodations can be made for families who request a school transfer for their child, if there is room at the school.

Paladina said parents or guardians of the child contact the district office with the request, and if approved, must also provide their own transportation to and from that school.

P-O gets 10 to 20 requests per year from families of students at the district’s two elementary schools, Paladina said.

Bald Eagle Area administrators said they offer the program but warn that it comes at a price.

“There could be some loss of curriculum,” Superintendent Jeff Miles said. “Sometimes it’s more convenient for parents to send their child to one school because it’s in closer proximity to where they work, or if they feel more comfortable with their child at a smaller school, but there can be a downfall.”

The elementary schools dismiss some children about 20 minutes early so they can catch a bus centrally located at Wingate Elementary School.

That could add up to 3,600 minutes of lost curriculum during the school year.

According to the program’s guidelines, requests for a change in school will be given “pending availability of space and transportation.”

District spokeswoman Rose Hoover said families of a child in the school district must complete an application form that includes the reason for requesting the change.

It applies for Howard, Mountaintop, Port Matilda and Wingate elementary schools. BEA has only one combined middle and high school.

And this year includes 46 elementary students who attend non-assigned schools — about 6 percent of the total elementary population.

Those requests were approved by the school board.

But BEA, however, will not transfer students into a classroom that already has a class size in the upper-20s — though Hoover said it has not often been a problem in the 20 years since the school of choice program was implemented at the district.

“While the grade level curriculum are identical in all of BEA’s four high-performing elementary schools, there is a different chemistry of student and teacher mix in each school,” Hoover said. “Sometimes another school might be a better match for a student than their normal geographic assignment.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2016 at 11:29 PM with the headline "‘School of choice’ programs help students find best fit."