Mountain Home Public Schools reported 17 student transfers out of the district and four transfers in at the school board meeting on August 6. However, Superintendent Dr. Jake Dewey clarified that the transfer figures do not represent a straightforward movement of students.
Many of those students listed as transferring out were never active enrollees in the district, Dewey explained to the board. Some had never attended Mountain Home schools, and others had previously gone inactive due to homeschooling or enrollment in Arkansas Virtual Academy.
“They might have been homeschooled or might have been Virtual Academy,” Dewey said. “They weren’t ours to begin with.”
This discrepancy arises from how the state of Arkansas defines and tracks student transfers. A student residing within Mountain Home's district boundaries who is homeschooled is still considered part of the district on paper. If they later enroll in another district, it is recorded as a transfer, even if the student was never enrolled in Mountain Home.
“For example, if I had been homeschooled and decided to go to Cotter, but I live in Mountain Home, that would be a transfer,” Dewey said. “But they never would have counted on our enrollment to begin with.”
Dewey acknowledged that she does not have an exact breakdown of how many of the 17 transfers fell into these categories, saying, “I don’t have the exact number, and I don’t want to give you a number in case I’m wrong.”
On the other hand, some student movement escapes the transfer report entirely. Students leaving Mountain Home for online schools, such as virtual academies, are instead marked as withdrawals and captured on a separate report, Dewey said. As a result, the monthly transfer figures reviewed by the board do not include one of the growing pathways families are using for education.
The reported transfers out of Mountain Home primarily involved neighboring districts. Dewey noted that one student who transferred has already returned to Mountain Home to participate in its alternative learning environment. When asked if proximity to work or home influenced these transfers, Dewey said location was not always a factor.
Timing also plays a role in shaping transfer numbers. Under Arkansas law, families seeking to switch public school districts under school choice must file applications by June 1 with both the resident and receiving districts. Districts can limit outbound transfers to 3% of their total student population. Families who miss this deadline must pursue a formal transfer, requiring joint approval from both districts.
Dewey emphasized that students using the school choice option bypass the transfer process entirely, adding another layer of complexity to the numbers.
The backdrop to these trends is a state where alternatives to public school have expanded significantly. Arkansas recently made its Educational Freedom Account program universally available, allowing any K-12 student to use state funds for private schooling, homeschooling, or microschools. During the last school year, approximately 46,600 students utilized these funds, including 18,500 for homeschooling or microschools. Homeschooling families receive roughly $6,864 annually, none of which appears on district transfer reports.
Despite these developments, Mountain Home’s overall enrollment figures remain stable for the moment. The district enrolled 3,642 students as of the meeting, an increase of 92 compared to the prior month, with five additional students enrolling on the morning of the meeting. However, Dewey noted that the final figures would likely dip as withdrawals are processed, which typically occurs the following month.
Enrollment matters significantly given its impact on state funding allocations. The 2026-27 budget approved by the board relies on approximately $450,000 in declining enrollment funding.
Dewey described the transfer scenario as less of a concern and more of an opportunity. “Lots of kids doing different things, but not necessarily ever were ours,” she said. “They could choose us, though, and that’s something to be aware of.”
The next update on student transfers and enrollment is expected to be presented at the school board’s September meeting.