Open Enrollment

Rapides Parish has decided to change all of the high schools to open enrollment. What does open enrollment mean? It means that students can decide which school he/she wishes to attend without regard to any type of zone. But wait, if there is no zone what will happen to the size of different schools? Will athletes be heavily recruited? Will some schools become academic and others sports schools? Will some schools lose all students? I will address each of these to the best of my ability. Please note that I have read the information published and talked/listened to different school personnel discuss the events, but do not guarantee that all of the following information is 100% accurate. If a student applies to attend Bolton High School, he or she will be able to attend Bolton as long as the school has not reached some magic full capacity number set by the schools and school board. If the school is filled, the superintendent has the right to decide which school the student will attend. I think that could cause a nightmare. Athletes may be heavily recruited, but the LHSAA said that parish should develop a system-wide policy that is strict on recruiting. Athletes will be immediately eligible at whatever high school he/she chooses, but if he/she decides to switch schools he/she will lose one year of eligibility. Also for the first year, any and all students will be able to switch high schools and be immediately eligible. One last note, transportation will only be provided to the home school, or the old zoned school. The problem that could arise from this is that if a student moves from one house in Tioga to Alexandria and plays sports for Tioga and rides the bus to school, the student would need to apply to stay at Tioga, which would most likely happen, but most importantly provide his/her own transportation. If he/she decides to switch schools as is normally done when such a move occurs, then he/she would be ineligible to play sports for one year because the bona fide move clause no longer exist since no attendance zone exists. Obviously, just as the case is today, some schools will be better at sports and others have a strong academic side, but I do not think the schools will become divided on the basis of sports and academics alone. Also, no school will lose all enrollment because the rules are setup to prevent this from being possible. I believe that Rapides Parish is in for an interesting year in the high school atmosphere, but I also think it could turn out to be a complete success if the parish stays on top of all rules and regulations. I will say that Bolton is still the best school to send a student to in the parish for academics, extracurricular activities and some sports. Other schools may be the best all round or the best in sports, but no other school can provide the diversity of Bolton. Bolton activities are as diverse as the students that attend the great school. DISCOVER BOLTON- DO MORE- LEARN MORE- BE MORE at Bolton High School. Open House TONIGHT 6:30 pm!