Vail high schools closed to open enrollment

The notification from Superintendent Calvin Baker leaves about 52 currently open-enrolled eighth-graders searching for alternative high school options. That number does not take into account any younger siblings who may also leave the district as a result.

The policy change will not apply to the 150 existing high school open-enrollment students, who are expected to be able to complete their high school education in Vail.

The continuous growth in the area combined with a lack of funding from the state for school construction has Vail campuses bursting at the seams, Baker said as he thanked parents for intentionally choosing to send their children to the district’s schools.

“We have simply run out of space,” he said. “If you were planning to send your eighth-grader to high school in Vail, you should pursue alternative options for high school. If you have younger children attending Vail schools, please note that it is unlikely this situation with space at the high school will change any time soon.”

The district anticipates there will be enough space for returning open-enrollment students at the K-8 level for the next school year, but it warned that a lack of capacity could cause some existing open-enrollment applications to be denied at those grade levels in future years.

The children of employees, who are treated as residents of the district, are not affected by the change.

Open-enrollment families are required to reapply every year, and while acceptance has never been guaranteed, in better times, students were rarely turned away, said Vail spokeswoman Natalie Luna Rose.

That hasn’t been the case in recent years at schools like Sycamore Elementary, which serves 1,000 students despite being built for 650, and at Senita Valley Elementary School, neither of which offers open enrollment any longer.

No exceptions will be made to the new policy in an effort to protect availability of classroom space to the children of residents and taxpayers in Vail, said Baker, who noted that the only way to ensure your child can attend is to move into the district or become a district employee.

The Vail School District will hold a bond election in November to build new classrooms, but even if it is successful, it will be two years before more classrooms can be funded, planned and fully constructed.

“The capacity problem exists now,” Baker said.