A recent report based on U.S. Census data raised eyebrows among those with connections to the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District. It indicated that 39 percent of eligible K-12 students in the district are enrolled in private schools—the highest such rate in Ohio.

A look at more detailed projections from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that's only part of the story. There is a dramatic difference in the way the district's two communities Cleveland Heights and University Heights utilize the schools. 

While 72.6 percent of eligible students living in Cleveland Heights attend public schools, only 26.4 percent of University Heights residents do, according to the Census.

Nancy Peppler, president of the CH-UH Board of Education said, "I’m concerned that people with school-aged children are choosing not to live here because of a negative perception of our public schools. A gap exists between perception and reality, and if not addressed, it will continue to impact our district. Families need to see our public schools as a community asset and a real option."

CH-UH Superintendent Douglas Heuer offered a long-term perspective: "This is not a new issue. As far back as 40 years ago, a significant portion of the school-age population in CH-UH had chosen the private school option."

According to Eric Silverman, president of the Cleveland Heights High School Alumni Foundation and former school board member, one reason for declining enrollment is the number of private and parochial school options available to parents. "If you’re going for religious education," he said, "You’re not considering the public schools."

What none of these perspectives address is a one-year spike in 2005-'06 of children moving out of the public schools. Otherwise, enrollment data provided by the district for 2005-2010 shows enrollment is dropping by 2-3 percent each year a number that seems to have been fairly steady for decades.

But from 2005 to 2010, the portion of eligible kids enrolled in private schools climbed from 21 percent to 30 percent. Some have speculated that white students must be leaving the schools. That is not borne out by the data, which show that white enrollment, on a percentage basis, has remained constant over the last five years.

Patrick Mullen, executive director of Reaching Heights, noted that demographic shifts in the Cleveland Heights population historically have played a significant role in school enrollment, and his organization was created largely to fight the misperception of what was going on in public schools.

"There’s value in a child being part of a diverse student population," Mullen said. "It’s better preparation for the world they’re actually going to live in than what they might find in schools that are economically or racially homogeneous." He said that school closures, such as Coventry school in 2007 and Northwood Elementary in 1984, may have caused more parents to enroll their kids in private schools.

Data show a sharp uptick in private school enrollment following the 2005-06 school year a tumultuous time for the district. It was soon after the unexpected and unexplained dismissal of  Superintendent Carlton Moody, and also after the decision to close Coventry Elementary School. Just prior to this period, dissatisfaction with the district was expressed specifically from University Heights often led by Mayor Beryl Rothschild. A group of University Heights residents organized to oppose the 2004 school levy and, after it passed, unsuccessfully sued to have the levy reversed.

Since then, however, enrollment patterns have been stable.

Superintendent Heuer is examining ways in which the district can attract new students or bring former students back. On Feb. 10, the district is holding an invitation-only focus group for private and parochial school parents, conducted by research firm Burges & Burges a longtime srategic consultant to the district. The district hopes to collect qualitative information about why parents in the district send their children to private or parochial schools.

"Our goal is to see the number of students attending public school increase, and we intend to do that through consistently improving academic achievement and enhancing outreach to parents and residents," Heuer said.

In addition to partnering with the Ohio School Facilities Commission to complete a comprehensive audit of the educational capacity of the district’s school buildings, the district is planning longer school days and enhanced teacher training.

"When a parent takes into account the record of success of CH-UH students in scholarship awards, admittance to selective colleges, National Merit awards, state and national achievement in art, music, drama, and athletics, number of early college credit recipients, and ongoing success in college, the CH-UH school district compares favorably with the best of the best," Heuer said.

See the enrollment data sourced for this article at www.heightsobserver.org: private school enrollment by elementary school, private school enrollment by middle and high school, private school enrollment-total district, private school enrollment 2005-06 through 2009-10, total enrollment charts.

More information on public school enrollment is available at www.reachingheights.org and www.chuh.org.