The High School Enrollment Study Group recently had their third meeting this month to discuss the pros and cons of the different options available for high school enrollment. The group of parents examined several options in altering the high school selection process ranging from complete boundaries to no boundaries.

As of now, the district is divided into the north and the south where students have the opportunity to attend any one of the schools in the district, but have either LCC or Torrey Pines as their fall-back, depending on where they live.

One of the options discussed at the meeting was to add boundaries to all four of the schools. Students would still have the chance to do an inter-district transfer, but only if there is still space available at the school, Principal Tim Hornig said. Another choice would be to eliminate the boundaries and instead have students list their choices and end up in any one of the four schools, he said.

At the Jan. 6 meeting, the Study Group also explored the idea of having small boundaries around The Academies so    that the students living near the schools would have first priority and everyone else wishing to attend the schools would be placed in a lottery, Hornig added. Also discussed were the pros and cons of leaving the whole issue unchanged.

According to Hornig, the group is planning on having a series of town hall meetings in order to present families with the enrollment data of the past few years and to inform families of the acceptance rate of the academies.  “A lot of people think that most people don’t [get into The Academies] but like 98 percent of the kids in our schools have gotten their first choice,” said Hornig.

The Study Group will later be conducting a survey for the elementary, middle, and high school parents in order to receive feedback from them regarding the matter.  Once all the data is gathered and the research is finished, the group will then relay all of the information to the board of trustees, Hornig said.