The gist
CCISD has a goal to increase enrollment from 300 to 400 students in the 2025-26 school year for its limited open enrollment and tuition-based pre-K programs, district documents show.
CCISD’s limited open enrollment program is geared toward students who reside outside of the district’s attendance boundaries, according to district documents. Students who are entering any grade from pre-K through twelfth grade are allowed to enroll if their guardians meet the following qualifications:
- Non-resident peace officers who live within 10 miles of the school district
- Non-resident military service members who live within 10 miles of the school district
- Non-resident federal employees who live within 10 miles of the school district
- Non-resident grandchildren of grandparents who live within CCISD’s attendance boundaries
- Non-resident CCISD employees
The district’s early learning education includes the following subjects:
- Language and literacy
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social studies
- Fine arts
- Physical development
- Technology
CCISD’s Chief Communications Officer Elaina Polsen said the district will be launching a new website, called discoverCCISD.com, to advertise for the district’s limited enrollment programs.
“It’s a standalone marketing website for our school district,” Polsen said at the workshop. “When you go to CCISD.net it’s very much geared to families that are with us currently so this is really an opportunity for us to also measure our reach.”
Board trustee Scott Bowen said at the workshop he believes it would be easier for the district to loosen the qualifications required for the limited open enrollment program.
“I would think the messaging would be a lot easier if it were just completely open, then we don’t have to search for grandparents, search for federal employees, we just advertise in the areas that we’re looking at,” Bowen said.
Superintendent Karen Engle said the district will continue piloting its communication efforts to bring in more students for both programs.
While applications for the limited open enrollment program opened Nov. 11 and don’t close until February 2025, she said discussions must be held early on to determine staffing numbers based on the number of students enrolled. Engle also noted there are no empty seats in classrooms.
“We’re staffed with the number [of students] that we have ... so we might have some building space but we’re not paying for extra teachers because we’re staffed with what we have,” Engle said. “Our staffing does align with our numbers, so there’s not extra seats in classrooms.”
