LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Shallowater ISD is inviting elementary-aged students to join the Mustang family for the first time in more than a decade.
After losing more than 60 students last year, the district is opening applications for transfers to 1st-5th grades.
“We want to make sure that if we’re providing opportunities to our kiddos, that we’re able to sustain them and make sure that they’re good opportunities for them,” Superintendent Aron Strickland said.
Strickland said the decrease in enrollment cost Shallowater more than $400,000 in state funding, money that is crucial for everything the district has to offer.
“We’ve added programs like robotics and dance. We’ve expanded our CTE programs, things like health science and medical pathways that we want to make sure aren’t affected by some of the economics that are going on around the state,” Strickland said.
But the district is not accepting just anyone. Strickland said it is looking for students who will uphold Shallowater values.
“We look at attendance. We look at grades. We look at discipline history, academic history, just to make sure that we are inviting in kiddos that fit with the kiddos that we try to service, that are running up and down the streets of our neighborhoods,” Strickland said.
The decision to limit transfers to elementary students was deliberate, Strickland said, as to not disrupt existing students’ standings in things like UIL.
“By taking kiddos in grades one through five, it gives us the opportunity to introduce them to what we call the ‘Shallowater Way’ whenever it comes to character and conduct and how they handle themselves,” Strickland said. “Since UIL realignment is figured off of grades nine through 12, it will be a few years before any of the transfers that we admit figure into the math of realignment.”
Strickland also said cutting programs is the district’s last resort and that his door is always open should parents have concerns.
“We’ve tried to look at every angle that we can and make decisions that are in the best interest of the district while also maintaining a focus on our community values and upholding the standards that everybody out here have come to expect,” Strickland said.
Applications are already open. Strickland says there’s no hard deadline, but the district wants applications in before school starts.
The district has various answers to frequently asked questions and a link to the application here.
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