KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Osceola County School District is considering hiring a third-party consultant to persuade families to return students to district schools, a step that could cost $935 for each student who re-enrolls.
Over recent years, Florida public schools have seen falling enrollment amid declining birth rates and expansion of the state’s school voucher program.
Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) is on the verge of closing seven schools because of falling enrollment. To try to recruit students back, last year, OCPS contracted Caissa K12 to start a recruitment campaign to bring families back to traditional public schools.
[WATCH: Orange schools face $25M shortfall after enrollment drops nearly 7K students]
Now, Osceola County might do the same thing, with the same company.
On Tuesday, the Osceola County school board will vote on entering into a similar agreement with the consulting firm, which would pay the company $935 for every student it brings back, the same price tag the company gave OCPS.
Here’s how it works: the consultant would reach out to families who have left the district to homeschool or for charter and private schools to try to encourage them to re-enroll.
Based on the numbers, if 1,000 students re-enroll, that could cost nearly $1 million.
But Caissa K12 claims the return on investment is much larger. On its website, it posted recruiting examples that describe a large return on investment for districts. In one example, the company states that if 150 students return, a district would see $840,750.
In the proposed agreement for Osceola County, the company’s approach is described as “success-based,” listing potential benefits such as increased enrollment, additional state funding tied to students and potential boosts to employee retention and morale.
[COVERING OSCEOLA COUNTY: Osceola County schools bring big changes to ESE programs]