Dear Mercer Island School District Board,
I would like to share my strong opinion that you support Open Enrollment for our district in grades 8th through 12th as soon as possible. I believe this would be the best idea for the health of our district because of several reasons. Open Enrollment will
· Maintain our current exemplary course offerings for our MISD students (without it we will lose courses/pathways/subjects we currently offer)
· Maintain staffing at current levels (without it class sizes will increase)
· Provide enrollment stability/consistency across our district so we may focus on education and not cuts each year
As to the concerns you might hear from constituents, I believe that:
· Inviting students and families into our Mercer Island School District makes us stronger (as seen by our previous district open enrollment experiences shared by parents/students. These Open Enrolled families were value added to our island).
· The concern that ‘taking’ students from other districts should not be a worry with most all of our neighboring school districts (Bellevue, Issaquah, Lake Washington) already utilizing Open Enrollment.
· Paying the levy/bond load for these Open Enrolled students is less than it was the last time we Open Enrolled. Our home values are directly related to the health of our school district. A strong school district is the BEST policy for home owners. The bulk of the money for these Open Enrolled students will come from state funding.
· Class size will be kept smaller with Open Enrollment (cutting teachers will increase class size).
Lastly, this decision needs to happen NOW! All our neighboring school districts are currently utilizing Open Enrollment (some since the fall of 2023). The window of opportunity to have Open Enrollment be a benefit effect to our school district is rapidly closing.
Please, please work towards keeping the Mercer Island School District one of the BEST school districts in the State of Washington. The way to maintain this reality and to continue to innovate and create an exemplary model of education is to approve Open Enrollment now!
Thank you,