Open Enrollment in Oak Creek Schools Holds Steady

How many students go to but don't live here?

To be exact, 332 students attend Oak Creek schools through the state's Open Enrollment program. That accounts for about 5 percent of the district's total enrollment, a figure that has stayed pretty consistent over the last several years, Superintendent Sara Burmeister said.

School district administrators presented the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board with the 2011-12 Open Enrollment numbers at a committee meeting Monday night. The state program allows students who live in one district to attend school in a different one.

Of all the students attending Oak Creek schools through Open Enrollment, 45 percent live in Milwaukee, 39 percent live in the Racine Unified School District (mostly Caledonia) and 9 percent come from South Milwaukee.

In the past few years, the district has seen a big increase in students from Racine Unified applying to go to school in Oak Creek, Burmeister said.

Only about 20 new seats are expected to open up next year - which is a problem for the 184 students on a waiting list. But the number of resident students continue to increase and space in school buildings is getting tighter, Burmeister said.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, 196 students who live in the Oak Creek-Franklin School District boundaries attend a school in a different district.