By Emily Richmond

Thu, Mar 13, 2008 (2 a.m.)

The Clark County School District’s experiment in open enrollment, which allows families to send their children to a school other than their assigned campus, is off to a slow start.

Just 45 applications have been filed from among 50,000 eligible students, with the Friday deadline looming. District officials say the low participation is related directly to a lack of district transportation for students who transfer under the program.

As proposed two years ago, open enrollment was to come with an offer of transportation. But the 2007 Legislature did not authorize spending to cover those costs, leaving parents responsible for ferrying their children to and from their new schools.

The pilot program is being conducted in the district’s northeast region. Superintendent Walt Rulffes has said if the experiment proves successful, he will consider expanding it to other regions.

The low level of participation and lack of transportation hamper the district’s ability to judge the program’s potential. For the moment, however, administrators are undaunted.

“To me, it’s worth doing even if only one parent decided to accept the choice option,” said Marsha Irvin, superintendent of the northeast region.

Under open enrollment, students who meet certain criteria can apply to attend a campus other than the one they are assigned to by address.

The northeast region has 52 campuses, extending north of Owens Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Open enrollment is intended to promote competition among schools. Each northeast region campus had to prepare a brochure for parents explaining the school’s educational approach, curriculum and any unique programs.

That process alone was invaluable, Irvin said. “I’ve seen the positive competitive spirit of the staff, how much pride they have in their individual schools.”

Irvin said she would not identify the schools that have received open enrollment applications until after Friday’s deadline. As of Tuesday, 21 applications were made at the elementary level and 24 at the secondary level.

Sharon Caplan, principal of Don E. Hayden Elementary School in North Las Vegas, said she has received 13 open enrollment applications, more than half the total received at the elementary level.

Of those, eight are current students who have been reassigned to a new school for the 2008-09 academic year but prefer to remain at Hayden. Three applications are from students attending Hayden on a zone variance.

“Competition anywhere is a good thing,” Caplan said. “This gave us an opportunity to share our strengths with the community.”

Now in its second year, Hayden has a strong curriculum and a host of extracurricular activities. Teachers arrive early and stay late in the afternoon to help students with the drama club, the jump rope team, the honors choir and Spanish lessons.

“This is definitely not a 9-to-3 school,” Caplan said with a laugh. “If you drive by at 5:30 p.m. you are still seeing parents picking kids up.”

Families that applied for open enrollment must wait until spring for the district to determine whether the school they chose has room to accept transfers.

Students must live within the northeast region to take part in the open enrollment program. Grades 1-12 are eligible. Applications must be delivered or postmarked in the mail to the school of choice by 5 p.m. Friday.

Parents interested in more than one school must submit a separate application to each campus.

Applications are available at all northeast region schools as well as on the district’s Web site.