K-12 Open Enrollment is Closed for the 2024-25 School Year

At the school board meeting on September 16, 2024, the Richfield Board of Education made the decision to close open enrollment for students who reside outside of the Richfield School District for the remainder of the school year. The decision was made due to increased enrollment across the district and our commitment to maintaining low class sizes.

Effective September 17, 2024, we are no longer accepting enrollment forms for K-12 students who live outside of the Richfield Public School District boundaries. This does not impact students whose enrollment application was fully approved before this date, or PreK students. Open enrollment forms for the 2025-26 school year will be available in December. 

Families who live within the Richfield Public School District boundaries will still be able to enroll their children in our schools. In addition, prekindergarten classes are not impacted by this resolution and continue to accept enrollment applications from families outside the district.

“This year, we are experiencing our biggest enrollment increase in ten years,” explained Superintendent Unowsky. “In order to ensure all our students continue to benefit from a high-quality education with small class sizes, we need to pause open enrollment.”

Minnesota statute gives school board members the authority to limit the number of nonresident students in their schools or programs, as long as it is not less than 1% of the overall enrollment at each grade level. At the meeting, board members approved a resolution that puts the following limits into place for non-resident students beginning on September 17, 2024. These limits are set at 10% of the current total enrollment at each grade level.

• Kindergarten: 28
• First Grade: 31
• Second Grade: 30
• Third Grade: 30
• Fourth Grade: 29
• Fifth Grade: 26
• Sixth Grade: 24
• Seventh Grade: 30
• Eighth Grade: 28
• Ninth Grade: 27
• 10th Grade: 34
• 11th Grade: 32
• 12th Grade: 35

Because we have already reached these limits, K-12 open enrollment will remain closed for the duration of the 2024-25 school year unless rescinded by the school board.

“As of September 11, 2024, overall District enrollment was 84 students above projection at the elementary level and 73 students above projection at the secondary level for a total of 157 students above projection,” explained Superintendent Unowsky. “While average class sizes are currently within acceptable ranges, maintaining target class sizes at certain grade levels would become a challenge if enrollment significantly increases throughout the school year. Closing open enrollment now ensures that class sizes will remain low for any new families moving into Richfield this year.”