BY THE NUMBERSNorthwest Georgia school systems have open seats at the following grade levels:Catoosa County: First-fifth gradesDade County: Kindergarten through fifthDalton Public Schools: Kindergarten through fourth, ninth through 12thMurray County: No openingsWalker County: Second, fourth, fifth and eighth gradesWhitfield County: Kindergarten though 12th gradesSource: School system officials and documentsTRANSFER APPLICATION DEADLINESCatoosa: ThursdayDade: No deadlineDalton: No deadlineWalker: Aug. 30Whitfield: 4 p.m. todaySource: School system officials and documentsSYSTEM WEBSITESCatoosa: www.catoosa.k12.ga.usDade: www.dadecountyschools.orgDalton: www.daltonpublicschools.comMurray: www.murray.k12.ga.usWalker: www2.walkerschools.orgWhitfield: www.astihosted.com/WHITFIELDDCP/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=32
If parents feel their child’s zoned school is too crowded, poorly staffed, old, new, or even pointed the wrong way, Georgia law provides for an alternative if there’s space available.
Enacted last year, House Bill 251 gives parents the option of enrolling their child in any school in their local district.
Today is the deadline to apply for a switch in Whitfield County schools. It’s Thursday for Catoosa schools.
Local schools officials say they always allowed children to move between schools in districts. They said the new law formalizes the process and requires public posting of the openings.
Most area systems have a few seats here and there, primarily in elementary schools. One catch for parents is that parents must pay for transportation to an out-of-zone school.
Catoosa projects at least 128 openings in seven elementary schools and “some” spaces open at Ringgold and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe high schools.
Walker has 97 openings in seven elementary schools and one middle.
Whitfield has an undetermined number of seats open in nine elementaries, four middle schools and at Southeast high. Dalton Public Schools has space available in its six elementaries and the high school, but none in the middle school.
Space also is tight in Murray County, where there are no extra seats, records show.
“So far, we have less than 10 requests,” Catoosa spokeswoman Marissa Brower said of transfer applications. That’s a small shift for a system with 10,000 students, she noted.
Ms. Brower said there were no requests under the new law last year.
Whitfield spokesman Eric Beavers said 63 applications had been filed so far. He said that was more than last year, but he didn’t have specific numbers of openings.
He warned that parents should remember projections are based on automatic enrollment of last year’s students and new students enrolled over the summer. Projections do not account for students who move in or out of zones or the district, he said.
Dalton Public Schools has some spaces available, but the system’s middle schools are packed, Deputy Superintendent Don Amonett said.
There are no openings in pre-kindergarten classes and grades 5-8, but there is demand, Mr. Amonett said.
“This year, we had 60 to 70 kids that requested out of district or out of zone,” he said. Out of district transfers do not fall under new law’s provisions.
Walker County has almost 100 openings spread across a few grades, though several schools, including its two high schools, have no room at all.
Walker’s fourth and fifth grades have a projected 66 empty seats in six elementaries, while LaFayette Middle has no room, Chattanooga Valley Middle has seven openings and Rossville Middle has 18, records show.
In Dade County, Superintendent Patty Priest said the small system’s informal policy successfully has allowed transfers between its two elementaries for years.
“We’ve always had small enough classes that it’s not been a problem,” Mrs. Priest said.
The Murray County school system, the only district without space available, operates too close to budget limits to create space for transfers, said Danny Dunn, director of personnel.
“We have hired just enough staff to accommodate students projected at each location,” Mr. Dunn said. “Since that bill went into effect, we have not had space at any location.”
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