Parents who want their child to attend Washington STEM Academy can start applying for the open seats now, but availability is limited. Tuesday night, Chief Academics Officer David Hoffert and Washington Principal Tom Ray presented the selection system for the open seats to the Warsaw School Board. In 2012, Washington Elementary was awarded the Indiana Department of Education Innovation Grant for nearly $500,000. The grant provided funding for transformation of Washington Elementary School into a science, engineering, technology and math academy. The first year of transformation kept Washington a traditional neighborhood school with enrollment additions only from out-of-district, or WCS-approved in-district transfers. The second year of transition was proposed to provide parent and student choice through a selection process. During the past months, a small group of WCS staff researched the legal, educational and operational feasibility of a selection system for the 2013-2014 school year at Washington. The school board discussed it at its February meeting. Tuesday, Hoffert told the board the application process for the open seats at Washington started that day for interested families. “We feel we can’t do this fast enough and it will help with staffing for next school year,” he said. Washington will have approximately 63 open seats in first through sixth grade, though none will be available for third grade. It’s estimated there will be 16 open seats for fourth grade, 11 for fifth, 18 for sixth grade and nine each for first and second. If a grade receives more applications than open seats, Hoffert said they would then go to a random lottery system. April 12 is the application cut-off date. Students currently at Washington need not reapply. “At this point, we don’t see transportation being provided. It would be too much,” Hoffert said. Delores Hearn, board secretary, said she was concerned with students who wanted to go to Washington but didn’t have the transportation. She said she had a problem with providing such an “excellent” program, but it only being available to students with parents who had the means to provide the transportation. Ray said things are in motion with the other schools to provide educational opportunities similar to the units provided at Washington. Dan Metzger, board member, said he wanted it to be clear that it wasn’t about the “right” students with the “right” parents who would get into Washington. He later also made it clear that parents have to provide transportation if their student gets one of the open seats. Parents also should be aware, he said, that if they have more than one student in elementary, there is a chance that not all of them may get into Washington. “If these numbers are filled, we’ll probably be at capacity,” Hoffert later stated. Randy Polston, board member, said, “Once we get this policy established, we need to stand by it.” “I’m very satisfied with what you guys put together,” Board Vice President Matt Dick stated. Since it was a public work session, the board did not vote on the policies presented. Its regular monthly meeting is Monday at 7 p.m.
