Davenport Schools say 157 additional students have open enrolled since state ended Voluntary Diversity Plans
DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - An additional 157 students have left the Davenport Community School District since an open enrollment law took effect in Iowa.
In May, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation ending Voluntary Diversity Plans in the state which placed limits on open enrollment in an attempt to encourage racial diversity within a district.
Davenport, Des Moines, Postville, Waterloo, and West Liberty were the only districts in the state with Voluntary Diversity Plans. Prior to H.F. 228, a plan was allowed if: The percentage of minority students in the school district exceeded the percentage of minority students in the state by at least 20 points, or the percentage of minority students at one school exceeded the percentage of minority students in the district as a whole by at least 20 points.
“Under that system, requests to open enroll would be denied if they lead to a greater imbalance in the demographic balance of the district,” Davenport Community School District Specialist Martin Schiltz said during a presentation to the school board on Monday.
According to the district, 157 students who would not have been allowed to leave the district prior to the law change, have open enrolled elsewhere.
“It’s roughly 7500 dollars give or take that those students, when they leave they take that money with them out of the district,” Schiltz said.
The top three districts students open enrolled to were Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley, and North Scott.
Although the state doesn’t track race or ethnicity on the open enrollment forms, the district says the majority of students who have left the district are white.
“Students who we do have demographic data on, about 70 percent of those students are white. That’s compared to just over 50 percent of our student body that is white. So it is disproportionately students who identify as being white who are open enrolling out,” Schiltz said.
Previously, the Legislative Services Agency projected 94 students would leave the district in FY 2022 at a loss of $700,000, but based on the districts estimations it could reach $1,177,500.
We reached out to the district for further comment, a spokesperson said they are working to gather more information.
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