School districts in Burnsville, Jordan and Shakopee are also facing their own sets of enrollment issues, with the schools often trading students back and forth as parents move throughout Scott County and find the district that best meets their students’ needs. Here’s a snapshot of enrollment in those districts:

BURNSVILLE

Enrollment has been falling for years in Burnsville-Eagan-Savage, and open enrollment is only one reason. According to District 191 Communications Director Ruth Dunn, the demographics of Burnsville have been changing over the last decade, with the city seeing fewer and fewer residents with school-aged children.

“Part of the reason enrollment has declined is because a lot of our residents are aging in place. The Baby Boomers’ kids are in college or out of college by now,” explained Dunn, “and we don’t have the option of home building because we’re completely built up; there’s no more room to grow. You look at Shakopee and Prior Lake, they have all kinds of room to grow.”

So where are all the students going? The vast majority are open enrolling into the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District (District 196), and another large chunk is going to the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District (District 719). Of the 992 students who open enrolled out of the district last year, just over 50 percent went to District 196 and 23 percent went to District 719.

The district likes to market itself as one that is ahead of the curve in making sure students are college-ready when they graduate.

Free full-day kindergarten, which the School Board approved in January to start this fall, could also sway some parents to keep their children in the district.

Alex Hall

JORDAN

Although marketing is a somewhat new term for Jordan Public Schools, the district has its own style of attracting students.

Superintendent Kirk Nelson said the district has a small-town feeling and a sense that students know everyone. That contributes to safety and the district’s 98-percent graduation rate, he said.

“They get that personalized attention,” Nelson said.

Early this school year, 129 students had open enrolled into Jordan schools; 191 open enrolled out. In a March count, 140 are open enrolling into the district and 190 are open enrolling out.

While the vast majority do so for family reasons such as a move or daycare, a good number make their school choice based on other reasons.

Academic reasons accounted for at least 21 students leaving the district, including four who wanted half-day kindergarten. On the flip side, 12 enrolled into the Jordan district, but that number includes 10 who did so to gain full-day kindergarten.

General preference – which includes factors such as having a smaller school, where friends are, or overall quality – led 23 students away from the Jordan district and 25 students into the district. It was a similar wash when looking at family reasons such as daycare or continuing education after a move.

Budget-wise, the Jordan district simply will not be able to offer the same range of programs seen in larger districts. Jordan in recent years has been trying to define its niche.

David Schueller

SHAKOPEE

The Shakopee School District has long seen more students exit than enter, due to open enrollment.

This year, 633 students are opting to attend school elsewhere while only 139 are enrolling in from neighboring districts.

Most districts ponder how to recapture those lost students – and dollars. But, for Shakopee, when all schools are full, it’s hard to imagine where those extra students would go.

“[Open enrollment] actually eases some of the pressure in our buildings,” Superintendent Rod Thompson said. “It would be a little difficult to deal with, frankly, if we had all 500 come back.”

Since the 1999-2000 school year, the Shakopee district has enjoyed the enviable position of annual enrollment growth between 3 and 7 percent. Enrollment has doubled to 7,353 students and the district has added buildings at a crisp pace.

The growth, attributed to the district’s bountiful housing and positive relationships with in-district parochial schools, means Shakopee hasn’t had to worry about recruitment.

“Growing at a rapid rate, we’ve never really had to market ourselves to attract students,” said School Board Member Mary Romansky. “We don’t have declining enrollment, so we’ve never have to focus on marketing.”

Shakopee is poised to become one of the top 10 largest Minnesota school districts in the next decade, Thompson said, as enrollment projections average 3 percent growth annually over the next five to 10 years. (The district is currently the state’s 25th largest.) The School Board and community will face some tough decisions in coming years in regard to more buildings, particularly at the secondary level.

Kristin Holtz