Jeanne Ludt

· School districts will lose money, so property taxes will rise and/or services to remaining students will decrease. SB101 (open enrollment) might be amended to reduce (but not eliminate) the amount of money districts stand to lose if their students choose to attend public school elsewhere. Even with this change, every transfer of a student to another district would cost the "sending" district at least $4,000 a year, and there would be pressure on communities to raise property taxes or cut services to make up the lost state revenues. · Fundamental questions regarding services to students with disabilities have not been answered. The sponsors haven't been able to explain how it will work for students receiving special ed services. As a result there would be lots of complications and potential delays/snags in service to these students. And data from other states using open enrollment show that students with disabilities are denied admission to outside districts at a much higher rate than students without disabilities.