Parents in the South Range Local School District are begging the school board to continue to allow open enrollment for some students on individualized education plans. 

21 News reported Tuesday that district capacity and funding are limiting open enrollment numbers for 7th and 8th grade students with an IEP.

That's now sparking legality concerns and leaving dozens of students' futures up in the air.

"My son is thirteen years old, and now you're telling him not to come back," Mark Bedenik said to the school board Wednesday. "You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. The only reason we are still here is because of the amazing teachers. The school district is only as good as the teachers they employ. I hope you keep these teachers after all of the terrible decisions you are making."

Capacity and funding concerns are leaving more than a dozen 7th and 8th-grade IEP open enrolled students locked out, leading to emotions running high.

"Three of our children have IEPs and two of them do not," explained Kurt Williams. "And three of them were asked to not come back. How could you sit and talk to your own child and say you are not good enough but you are?"

In an open enrollment & special education funding summary provided by the district, the general fund balance increased from $2.84 million to $3.69 million, a 29.8% rise. Also, the governmental fund balance rose by $833K, now sitting at $5.77 million. The summary also stated the district has 11.85% of its students with IEPs. The state average is 15.95%.

"This is not anything new," Williams said. "This is a moral failure of a decision. This has broken our hearts and our home. These are not just IEPs. They're kids. They're kids who laugh in your classrooms, who wear these school colors proudly. This is not how a community treats children."

Superintendent Jarred Zapolnik said the district is simply following state mandates.

"I fully understand this decision has prompted strong reactions," Zapolnik said to the crowd of 100 parents and families. "Prior to reaching a conclusion, our team carefully evaluated available options, engaging in a thorough decision-making process that ultimately led to a unanimous resolution. The written notification that our parents were provided was in accordance with our board policy on open enrollment. Although this decision was not made lightly, it was done with the intent of supporting the district as a whole."

Parents can opt out of their child's IEP if they want to stay in the district, but there's concern that the child wouldn't get a quality education and teachers would be overwhelmed.

"You could not see kicking out kids who have been a part of our family for their entire school careers. What's changed?" asked Laura Chismar.

"They deserve an education at a school they thought they could trust," said Autiana Alvarez. "Please, make your South Range family proud."

"Our team is committed to listening and taking all input into consideration," Zapolnik said. 

The school board made no action Wednesday to reconsider their decision. The open enrollment changes go into effect for the 2025-2026 school year.