BGISD offers new enrollment for non-residential students

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Parents and students may have a new shot at making it into their chosen school now that the enrollment process has changed for students outside the district.

With a new law, the district can admit more students because the law allows the receiving districts to determine how many kids they accept instead of the sending districts, according to Gary Fields, superintendent of the Bowling Green Independent School District.

The new enrollment applies to every school district in Kentucky.

Traditionally, students outside Warren County have applied to get into the BGISD, but slots were more limited. House Bill 563’s section about true public choice was passed last session, making the change possible.

This will increase the overall amount of non-residential students that can be accepted into schools within the district. The cap on the number of students accepted is based on capacity, but right now there is a tremendous amount of capacity.

“Those were always difficult phone calls to make to, you know, a hundred or so parents to tell them they couldn’t come to our school district because slots were full, so we’re really looking forward to making all positive calls this year,” said Fields.

He said many parents work close to the schools, so it’s a lot easier to have lunch with their child if they’re close by.

“Really, the first step in that before you get to any of those types of schools or programs, is give public school kids a choice. Let them go wherever they want, let the state money follow, and give that power to the parents, you know, that’s been a real positive.”

Fields said the school district looks forward to the future of this change.