Manitou School District 14 has managed to thrive under Colorado's school choice law, which allows students to attend neighboring districts as long as slots are open. According to date from the Colorado Department of Education, the district experiencing the biggest exodus last year was Colorado Springs District 11, which suffered a net loss of 1,646 students, many of whom chose Academy School District 20. Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 gained 1,234 students according to data from last year's "count day" in October. Most of those gains came from students living in Harrison School District 2. If you are interested in more details about all the Pikes Peak region districts, click on http://www.cde.state.co.us/.

Students and parents chose school districts other than their own for various reasons. Curriculum and location obviously play the largest role. Sometimes a student has peers in another district and wants to go to their school. Talented athletes have been known to switch districts because of a specific sports program. D-11 is surrounded by other school districts and it loses students in all directions. But it also gains students from Falcon District 49, which has had growing pains associated with being the fastest growing district in Colorado. Manitou District 14 had a net gain of 343 students last October, including the loss of 97 students, most of whom went to D-11.

Because schools get much of their money from the state on a per-student basis, it hurts a district to lose too many students. It's safe to say the open enrollment law has rescued Manitou Springs. About 80 percent of the property owners there do not have children in school. If the district had to depend on the town for all of its students, it might be caught in a downward financial spiral, because the state funding scheme punishes districts with declining enrollments. The remarkable thing about Manitou Springs is that its aging voters defied the norm by approving a mill levy increase to pay for salary increases and the addition of more teachers.

Colorado's open enrollment law began with the 1994-95 school year. To read it, click on http://www.cde.state.co.us/choice/download/CRSopen_enrollment.pdf.

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