Who Leaves? Interdistrict Magnet School Openings and Enrollment Dynamics in Nearby Schools

May 2026

Connecticut expanded interdistrict magnet schools (IMS) intending to reduce racial and socioeconomic segregation across districts, yet the potential unintended effects on student composition in nearby schools remains unclear. Leveraging the staggered rollout of IMS openings, this study finds that IMS openings reduce enrollment by about 5 percent in nearby private K8 and traditional public high schools (TPHS). In private K8, the share of White students declines, increasing racial isolation of Black and Hispanic students, with effects driven by Catholic schools. In TPHS, higher-income students are more likely to exit, with larger effects in a region under court-ordered desegregation. These findings suggest that policies designed to reduce segregation may unintentionally generate new forms of isolation within local education markets.

Keywords

Interdistrict Magnet School, School Choice, Enrollment, Racial Composition

Education level

K-12 Education

Topics

School Choice