Open enrollment is typically driven by a school’s capacity, which is determined by the number of classrooms multiplied by the district’s average class size.
However, when there is active construction in a district, like Park City, the board of education can vote to close enrollment. That’s what the board did in November of 2024, voting to keep enrollment closed for the 2025-2026 school year.
But much has changed since then. Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman said during the board meeting Tuesday there are 171 open seats in the district’s four elementary schools. Parleys Park has 34 open seats, Jeremy Ranch has 38, Trailside has 17 and McPolin has 82.
“We have about 20 sitting in the hopper who have already applied previously,” she said. “To be prudent, we would set the threshold for 150 and really looking at specific grade levels at specific sites.”
The board unanimously voted Tuesday to open enrollment for out-of-boundary K-5 students. It opted to keep enrollment closed for grades 6-12 as those students are going through realignment with the closure of Treasure Mountain Junior High. Starting this fall, eighth graders will attend Ecker Hill Middle School and ninth graders are heading to Park City High.
Huntsman said the district will work on streamlining the open enrollment application process and communicating the decisions to the elementary schools.
“This is a big deal. We have people waiting in the wings for us to open enrollment to out-of-boundary students,” she said.
Huntsman said the open enrollment window will close once all 150 spots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
