Pea Ridge schools gain students through School Choice

More than 100 students who don't live in Pea Ridge School District have been accepted into the schools through School Choice.

Dozens of students are transferring out of the Bentonville and Rogers school districts this year through the state's school choice law, and most of them are heading for Pea Ridge.

The School Choice Act passed in 2013. It gives students and their families the freedom to enroll in a district other than the one in which they live, assuming the receiving district has room to accommodate them. The deadline to apply for transfers for this coming school year was May 1.

Pea Ridge accepted 70 students in 2014 through School Choice and 109 for 2015, according to Rick Neal, Pea Ridge school superinendent.

Bentonville had 74 students apply to transfer out and 10 apply to transfer into the district. Rogers had 81 wanting out and 25 seeking a transfer in, according to numbers provided by both districts.

Two-thirds of those transfers out -- 42 from Bentonville and 61 from Rogers -- are going to Pea Ridge schools. Pea Ridge is losing only seven students to School Choice; all are going to Rogers.

Some of those transfers include students who have been in Pea Ridge schools, but whose families recently moved to a neighboring district, said Neal. Those students would have to go through the School Choice process to remain in Pea Ridge.

Neal speculated on the reasons families are choosing to transfer to Pea Ridge. Bentonville is "busting at the seams," and Pea Ridge schools may be more convenient for families in certain parts of the Rogers district, particularly Garfield and Gateway, he said.

"People have recognized we have a quality school system, a smaller system compared to Rogers and Bentonville," Neal said.

Pea Ridge reported enrollment of 1,841 students as of last fall. Bentonville had 15,497 and Rogers had 15,027.

Nancy Ashford, a Bella Vista resident with daughters entering second and sixth grades, decided to transfer both of her children from the Bentonville School District to Pea Ridge starting this fall. Both children have special needs she didn't feel were being met in Bentonville, Ashford said.

"I feel very good about the new school they're going to," she said. "They said we will have a meeting before school starts with the teachers so everyone is on the same page. That's all I ask for. I feel my kids' needs will be met and it will be a good experience for them."

It's important to know what your rights are and to fight for your children, Ashford said. She called the school choice law "wonderful," adding she doesn't think there's been enough publicity about it.

"I don't think it's out there enough. I think people should know they have the right to use it and search out the best schools for their children," Ashford said.

Bentonville superintendent Michael Poore didn't respond to a message for comment about the transfers.

Many of the students transferring out of the Rogers School District already have been attending school in another district and want to maintain their friendships there, said Ashley Siwiec, district communications director.

"Some want to attend a school that is closer or sometimes smaller," Siwiec said.

The district tries to work with all families to meet their needs, she said. Rogers plans to accept all requests for transfers into the district.

The greatest number of transfer requests out of both the Rogers and Bentonville districts are at the kindergarten level: 14 in Rogers (17 percent of the requests) and 13 in Bentonville (18 percent).

A district may lose no more than 3 percent of its enrollment to School Choice transfers. Also, a district to which a student wants to transfer in may reject the application if that district has reached at least 90 percent of its maximum authorized student population in a given program, class, grade level or building.