Karnes City ISD is gaining far more students from incoming transfers than it is losing students to outgoing transfers, according to data recently obtained from the district.

The number of students moving from another school to Karnes City has continued to increase since 2002. During that school year, Karnes City accepted 79 students from other schools. In the following years, the numbers jumped up to 80 in 2003, 99 in 2004, 108 in 2005, and 123 in both 2006 and 2007.

Meanwhile, the number of students transferring out during that time period averages at around 49, indicating Karnes City is receiving far more students through transfers than it is letting go.

A large majority of the students coming to KCISD arrive from Kenedy, according to the report. While Falls City only accounts for 16 of the student transfers this year and Runge accounts for 12, 86 students from Kenedy ISD have chosen to leave their school and attend KCISD during 2007’s first semester.

By comparison, 30 students from Karnes City chose to leave their school to attend Kenedy during the same time period, along with eight students leaving for Falls City and five students leaving for Runge.

Students are coming in and going out for many different reasons, some of which have to do with where the students’ parents work, while others are seeking a better overall education.

"We get transfers for a variety of reasons and from a variety of districts," KCISD Superintendent Frances Penland said.

Each student transferring to Karnes City while still living in his or her old school district must go through an application process before being considered for admission at KCISD, according to the district’s policy.

Many factors are considered in the application, but Penland said one overriding factor is the state’s aim to balance ethnicity at schools. A transferring student’s ethnicity is entered into a computer program that analyzes his or her current school with Karnes City’s.

If the program indicates the student transferring would upset any ethnic balance, Karnes City is required by state law to deny his or her application.

"We have denied some transfers based on that," Penland said. "As soon as it’s put into (a computer program), it tells you right then if it’s acceptable. Both districts are taken into account. Whereas maybe I could take a certain ethnicity from Kenedy, I may not be able to take a different ethnicity from Falls City."

In the current atmosphere, Anglo students from Falls City have no trouble switching to attending Karnes City, while Anglo students in Kenedy have a much harder time being accepted.

Also, Hispanics transferring from Kenedy ISD generally are accepted while a Hispanic transferring from Falls City ISD would have much less of a chance of being granted the same transfer.

The policy which discriminates based on ethnicity which is enforced by the state is an attempt to ensure Texas school districts do not become segregated by differences in ethnicity.

Other factors can trump the "ethnicity" card, though.

A student with specific health needs may transfer to Karnes City if a written doctor’s opinion states that the student’s physical or mental needs can be provided for only by KCISD.

Also, any high school student wishing to take a course that is not offered in his or her current school district may be able to move to KCISD providing he or she can show the course is essential to his or her program of studies.

The number of incoming transfer students to KCISD does not vary much per grade.

For the current year, second-grade students are transferring to Karnes City the most with 16 being accepted so far.

Grades six, nine, and kindergarten have had the fewest incoming transfers this school year with six students transferring into each grade during the first semester.