Study: Unintended Consequences of Open Enrollment [AUDIO]

ST. CLOUD - A new study from the University of Minnesota says the state's open enrollment policy may have an unintended consequence.

The study says it has increased racial segregation in districts like St. Cloud, because a majority of the students leaving for nearby districts are white.

St. Cloud Superintendent Bruce Watkins says the district is losing students because of open enrollment.

Watkins says the St. Cloud Area School District touches 10 other districts.  For example, he says students in the Clearwater and Clear Lake area are very close to the Becker and Annandale schools.

Open enrollment has been a part of the Minnesota school system since the late 1980s. Watkins says parents have come to expect it as an option.