Cuyahoga Falls City School District is planning to no longer offer open enrollment for students living outside its boundaries beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.
The Board of Education directed the district’s administration to discontinue open enrollment after a discussion of the five-year financial forecast at its Feb. 25 meeting, but the board must vote to change its open enrollment policy for it to officially take effect.
The first reading of the proposed new policy — which would only allow students whose families live within the district’s boundaries to enroll — took place at the March 18 meeting and will require an additional reading. The current open enrollment policy would also need to be rescinded, but it does not require two readings and would be considered a separate action at the board’s next meeting on April 1, said board president Anthony Gomez during the March 18 meeting.
Without additional spending reductions, the district is projected to face a $6 million deficit over the next four years, said Treasurer Kristy Stoicoiu during the Feb. 25 meeting.
Local taxes and state funding are the district’s two largest revenue sources, making up almost 92% of total revenues. Recent property tax reforms and ongoing changes in state funding formulas will have a significant impact on these two revenue sources, Stoicoiu said.
This year, the district received $1,798 per pupil from the state, according to the district’s financial forecast. In two years, the state will only fund about $822 per pupil. For open-enrolled students, the state’s annual reimbursements will decrease from $6,020 to $1,801.
Ending open enrollment will save the district $2.7 million, which would have been used to support current open-enrolled students over four years, according to a statement released by the district on Feb. 27.
Other cost-saving measures examined the last 2 years
Ending open enrollment is just one of the cost-saving measures the district has implemented in the last two years. The number of open-enrolled students has been significantly reduced, and no new open enrollment students were accepted for the 2025-2026 school year.
“At present, we have 254 open-enrolled students, representing approximately 6% of our total student population,” said Stewart via email. “Of these, about 17 are current juniors who were given the opportunity to return for their senior year in order to graduate from Cuyahoga Falls.”
The district does not know yet how many of the 17 students will return next year, but several students, parents and family members have spoken against ending open enrollment at subsequent board meetings.
Although not an open-enrolled student herself, Kadence Pelfrey’s best friend of 11 years is, and she is not able to move into the district, Pelfrey said during the March 4 board meeting.
Stay up to date: Read our recent coverage of the Akron Public Schools’ budget issues here.
“Given the fact this decision was made from a financial perspective, it still affects lives in so many ways that are so detrimental,” Pelfrey said.
If students, particularly high school students, must change schools, it can become a barrier or penalty, said Stephanie Vincent during the March 18 meeting. Under Ohio High School Athletic Association rules, students playing varsity sports who transfer to another school must sit out the second half of their next season, which could cost them a scholarship and ultimately a chance to attend college, she said.
Students may also lose out on career or technical programs, which they commit to their sophomore year.
“If a student is forced to change schools after that point, they’re effectively shut out. There’s no second chance, there’s no pathway back in,” Vincent said.
Other cost-cutting measures the district has taken in recent years have included staffing reductions, deferring the purchase of new curriculum materials, technology and buses, the repurposing of Preston Elementary School and a 10% budget reduction across all departments.
The decision to end open enrollment is not being made lightly, but district officials said that, without doing so, additional cuts in areas such as staffing, student services or programming would be necessary.
Akron Public Schools’ Superintendent Mary Outley said APS employees planned to knock on the doors of the Cuyahoga Falls students who live in Akron, bringing them information about why they might want to consider APS.