District Reexamining Open Enrollment

Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials are worried that the district’s open enrollment policy, which allows students to attend any of its schools, has created white flight to Newport Beach.

Supt. Mac Bernd said the district will launch a thorough investigation to see if the data support what has been suspected for some time--that a large number of students are transferring from schools in Costa Mesa to schools in Newport Beach.

Bernd said the district should study the issue to discover if the ethnic balance at district schools has been thrown off, and whether it might affect the district’s plans to accommodate an anticipated boom in enrollment.

“One of the issues we would have to confront is whether we need to make additional classroom space only to have it filled by transfers,” said Bernd.

The district is in the midst of creating a master plan to ensure there is enough classroom space to accommodate 3,500 new students who are expected to enter the district over the next five years.

Bernd said once the study is complete the information will be presented to the Board of Education. The board has the option of altering the district’s transfer policy.