Poverty rate raises diversity goal

Poverty is up slightly in metro Omaha schools, and that means a higher target for school districts aiming to reshape their enrollment under the learning community’s socioeconomic diversity plan.

Forty percent of the 107,000 students in the learning community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties qualified for federal meal subsidies this year, according to the Nebraska Department of Education. That’s up from about 37 percent last year, an increase of about 5,100 children.

As a result, the 11 school districts in the two-county education cooperative must now aim to enroll 40 percent low-income students under the state diversity plan that calls for mixing affluent and poor students.

Under state law, every learning community district must try to achieve an enrollment mix at each school and grade level that reflects the overall learning community average. The law, however, provides no deadline for meeting that goal.

“It’s one of those long-term things we would like to see happen within our community,” said Rick Kolowski, chairman of the learning community council.

“That’s different than ‘You must hit this by a certain date’ and you’re locked into it.”

If the economy improves and poverty decreases, the target could go down, Kolowski said.

When Nebraska lawmakers created the learning community in 2007, with the goal of improving poor children’s academic achievement, the percentage of children qualifying for subsidized meals was about 35 percent.

Gretna Schools Superintendent Kevin Riley, chairman of a committee of superintendents advising the learning community council, said rising poverty will make it harder for school districts to reach the state’s goal.

“As it rises, it takes longer to get there,” Riley said.

School district officials will use the new target as they review open-enrollment applications this spring and decide how many children can transfer between districts.

Under open enrollment, a tool for achieving diversity, parents can apply to enroll their children in any learning community school. Children who help meet targets get priority for transfers, after siblings of current students are placed. For example, a poor child applying to a school with fewer than 40 percent low-income students would have higher priority for transfer.

Only one school in the 11 learning community districts, Avery Elementary School in Bellevue, enrolled exactly 40 percent low-income students this year.

Of the 83 schools in the Omaha Public Schools, 75 have low-income enrollments that exceed the learning community average. On the other hand, all nine schools in the Elkhorn Public Schools fall below the average.

Children who help improve school diversity also get free transportation.

Under federal poverty guidelines, a family of four earning $28,665 a year qualifies for free school meals; the threshold for reduced-price meals is $40,793.

Focus schools created through the learning community will also select students based on whether they qualify for meal subsidies.

Contact the writer:

444-1077, joe.dejka@owh.com

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