Knox County – Corbin Independent Schools deal just got MUCH bigger

We’ve been covering the loss of parental choice options because of the Knox County Public Schools’ recent cancellation of their long-standing student transfer agreement with the Corbin Independent School District since January.

Initially, it looked like around 160 or so kids would be forced to return to Knox County schools, but a new announcement says that number is in serious error.

The problem is that the Infinite Campus student tracking computer system (which we have raised concerns about before such as here, here and here) had many address errors.

Now, it looks like over 400 students are impacted, which could cause serious repercussions for the Corbin Independent School District if it looses that many students.

According to enrollment data from the Kentucky Department Of Education’s Growth Factor Report, Ethnic Membership By District And Grade, for School Year 2009-2010, the entire enrollment in Corbin Independent was only 2,681 students for that recent school term. If this small district suddenly looses over 400 students, the sudden enrollment drop of 15 percent could be devastating.

If those kids were being forced into a better school system, this might be justified, but as we have pointed out before, when it comes to graduation rates, middle school EXPLORE and high school ACT test scores, No Child Left Behind performance, and increasing performance and participation on the Advanced Placement tests, the facts are that Corbin Independent provides a much better education than Knox County does.

Given the sudden surprise about how many kids are impacted, look for this battle to get even more heated as Knox County’s lust for power faces off against what is best for (a lot more) students.