The Austin School Board discussed the open-enrollment policy for elementary schools at their special session Tuesday night.

Educational Services Director Sheila Berger reported on problems caused by open enrollment in Austin and included a request, based on the opinions of area principals, that the policy be changed.

The proposed policy would end open enrollment except for reasons like special education, medical and similar circumstances. Students currently enrolled outside their district could remain in the school, but new applications would be denied.

Berger said she has had some complaints about the proposal.

"There's been a rub with some of the parents that have a student who's enrolling, but they have a sibling who's entering kindergarten," she said.

The current policy allows students to enroll outside of their district as space allows. The problem is schools do not know how much space is available until mid-August. In practice, almost every student is approved for open enrollment, Berger said.

Schools are having to hire extra staff and make other adjustments. Students that register late or move in mid-year might be forced to attend another school.

But ending open enrollment completely would split the children of some families to different schools.

Opinions of the six board members present were divided. Kathy Green, Richard Lees and Bruce Loveland thought open enrollment should end, but siblings of students already enrolled should be grandfathered into the system. Green said it is not fair to split families up, especially when the situation was created by past school practices.

"To me it's a family issue rather than a child issue," Green said.

Some said grandfathering siblings in would not solve the problem for 10 years because babies being born now would apply. Green said while that is true, the problem would decrease more every year.

Susan Fell Johnson, Bev Nordby and David Simonson thought students in the district, no matter how late they registered, should have the priority.

"(Grandfathering siblings in) could potentially take the spot of someone who has moved into the district," Nordby said. "That's why I have a problem with it."

The issue will be discussed further at the next board meeting.

In other board news, equipment bids to outfit KSMQ were approved. The equipment, encoding gear, a video server and a character generator and test gear, will be paid for by a state grant.

Replacing the equipment has been an ongoing project for the district.

"Every single thing will be replaced," KSMQ Manager Jude Andrews said. "It's been a huge project, but we've done well.

Larry Andersen was not present at the meeting.

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com