Luxemburg-Casco Schools open enrollment up as skills gap widens

LUXEMBURG, Wis. (WBAY) - The Luxemburg-Casco School District has seen its open enrollment applications grow every year for the last six years.

“To date we’ve received 90 applications in addition to the 65 that came last year from July, for next year,” said District Administrator, Glenn Schlender.

He credits the influx of open enrollment applications with the fact that the district has been open for in-person instruction all year.

Staff has accommodated virtual learning for families, as well, but say 90 percent of students are attending school in person.

Now teachers are assessing new students to determine where they’re at academically, as they see more skills gaps in math and reading due to the pitfalls of online learning.

“Typically, students that have been coming in have been behind 1-3 months, or 3-6 months, depending on the student. So, we need support to help them finish that learning,” said Michael Snowberry, director of learning services.

The district is taking a targeted approach, focused on getting students up to speed in math and English language skills.

Once it’s determined where a student is struggling, teachers step in to help.

“As an example, in 3rd or 4th grade, they have 30 minutes in the morning and afternoon where teachers will spend time working specifically with those students and closing those skills; and then at the end of the day we screen them again to see how much they’ve grown,” said Snowberry.

The district is proposing to hire six more teachers focused on closing learning gaps -- three for math and three for English language. The positions would be for two years, funded by the federal dollars the district received for COVID-19 relief.

“We will train them to the best of our ability, help them to get off on a great foot of ‘how do I teach, how do I learn, how do I assess,” said Snowberry.

Open enrollment closes at the end of April.

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