During the legislative session, it’s normal to think of bills as solutions to problems. Sometimes legislation is the right tool, but other times, awareness and sharing best practices are a better approach. For example, both approaches can improve access to open enrollment information on school district websites.
While the Utah State Legislature should require the Utah State Board of Education to share aggregated district open enrollment data online, local leaders also need to be more transparent with the data they are already required to share with the public on their individual websites.
This piece focuses on the latter: How are school districts’ websites already parent-friendly? How can the best practices be replicated by other districts?
The requirement versus the ideal
Requirements are made in law, but they are often the bare minimum. When the minimum requirement isn’t met (i.e., noncompliance), that’s a serious issue.
But even when a requirement has been technically met, innovation and creativity can improve the policy to create an ideal. This is especially true whenever code mandates transparency or the provision of information to parents.
Districts and schools should strive to comply with the law. But they should also make their websites, communications, and district policies, mandated or not, as parent-friendly as possible.
How this applies to open enrollment data
As I’ve written, Utah Code requires school districts to post key information on their websites, but most do not.
However, among those meeting these requirements, some are doing an excellent job of being transparent not only with the data but also in making open enrollment a clear and usable option for parents.
Here are some best practices that make online open enrollment information parent-friendly.
Create a full webpage dedicated to education choices/open enrollment
Some school districts have a full webpage dedicated to open enrollment. Others have one for education choices and alternatives, including open enrollment. Both usually provide more comprehensive information for parents seeking it for the first time and allow districts to showcase their investment in helping students find the right fit. Rather than simply hosting open enrollment links or information on scattered areas of the website, having a central hub of information helps parents navigate their options.
For an example of a very comprehensive, parent-friendly webpage all about open enrollment, including the data required by statute, check out Granite School District’s page. It hosts a video by the superintendent, a clear graphic of timelines, capacity reports, information about the appeals process, and more.
Use clear, user-friendly language
State law requires districts to post specific data online, including maximum capacity, adjusted capacity, projected enrollment, actual enrollment on different dates, number of requests received, number of requests accepted, and the number of students transferring to another school. Board rule requires districts to designate which schools will be open during the coming school year, but don’t require districts to make specific visual cues to help parents know which schools are currently available. Some districts highlight, color, or mark schools “open/close,” for open enrollment status. These signals increase practical transparency by helping parents easily understand which schools are available at a glance.
For ideas, take a look at Juab School District, which uses red/green and open/closed labels for individual schools. You can also see this on the Iron School District website, where the capacity report highlights schools already over capacity. Emery School District lists “closed” in red font next to schools that cannot receive more students. South Summit School District similarly lists “open/closed” next to schools.
Share the current year and next year information
Some districts include information for both the current and upcoming school years. Doing this captures the reality of open enrollment. That is, students can apply to transfer during the current school year or can apply during an early enrollment period for the upcoming school year. That’s not exactly spelled out clearly in the law, but some school districts have made a point to share capacity reports or applications for two years, capturing this reality, and helping parents understand it as well. Ideally, a parent reading about open enrollment on a school district webpage can take the next steps on the same page, including learning about the schools and submitting an application for either year.
Several offer open enrollment information for the two years. Some good examples include Jordan School District, Granite School District, Nebo School District, and Provo School District.
Conclusion
District leaders should make small tweaks to their websites to make them more parent-friendly in general (including access to review curriculum), but especially when it comes to open enrollment.
Lawmakers should also create a state-level open enrollment reporting requirement. This means the Utah State Board of Education’s website would aggregate and share the district data. If this requirement were to pass the Legislature, the USBE should also seek ways to make the data as parent-friendly as possible.
These state and local education institutions serve parents seeking the best education for their child, and their online presence can and should reflect that.
