LAGRANGE – Figures released last week by the Indiana Department of Education show who the net winners and losers are when it comes to school choice. The figures are for Spring 2018.

Westview, Middlebury, Angola, Fremont and Garrett gained more students than they lost, while Lakeland, Prairie Heights, West Noble, Central Noble, East Noble and DeKalb Central all lost more students than they gained.

The figures are important to the amount of state support each district gets.

The area district facing the steepest losses was Lakeland with a net loss of almost 9 percent of students living within the district. Lakeland had 250 students attending classes outside the district while 62 students transferred in. 190 of those 250 students who left attended a different public school based on parental choice. 25 attended a public charter school and 4 attended a private school through the Indiana Choice Scholarship.

Lakeland Superintendent Eva Merkel said this year’s loss was the smallest in three years. She said the state is doing a re-tally of categories. The next closest district in our area was DeKalb Central with a net loss of just over 7 percent.

West Noble is somewhat similar in size and demographics to Lakeland and had a net loss of 1.8 percent.

Prairie Heights had a net loss of 63 students, or 4.7 percent. Westview had a net gain of 128 students, or 6.1 percent.