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Littleton Public Schools Policy |
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Policy Code JFBA Policy Name Intradistrict Choice/Open Enrollment and Transfers Adoption June 21, 1994 Revised June 18, 2009 |
Purpose
It is the belief of the Board of Education that the interests of students, parents/guardians, and the community are best served by allowing families to choose the schools their children attend.
The Board of Education acknowledges that differences exist between schools in the organization and delivery of instruction and that individual students may be better served by one school than by another. Families are encouraged to examine the programs offered by all District schools and to choose those schools which they believe can best meet the needs of their children.
It is the intent of the Board of Education that this policy shall facilitate school choice.
Attendance Areas
Students are expected to attend the District school serving their attendance area determined by their residence unless a request to attend another school or program is approved. No student will be enrolled in a school or program outside his/her attendance area without prior approval in accordance with these regulations.
Providing Notice to Families
Resident students and their parents/guardians shall be notified by building principals of the options available and procedures to follow to be approved for open enrollment or transfer to a school outside their school attendance area. Such notice shall be made at the beginning of each school year and at other times as appropriate during the school year.
Open Enrollment and Transfers
In implementing the open enrollment/transfer program, the District is not required to:
Make alterations in the structure of a requested school or make alterations to the arrangement or function of rooms within a requested school;
Establish and offer any particular program in a school if such a program is not available; or
Alter or waive any established eligibility criteria for participation in a particular program, including age requirements, course prerequisites, and required levels of performance.
The open enrollment period is a window of time during which District resident students may apply to attend a school other than their home school (attendance area school) during the next school year. A transfer is a process available to District residents when a change in school during a current school year is desired. Both processes allow flexibility in choice of schools to District residents.
The Board of Education reserves the right to rescind and/or amend any or all approved open enrollments or transfers if, in its opinion, overcrowding of facilities, planned boundary changes, or other conditions which require Board of Education attention develop. In these cases, students approved for open enrollment or transfer shall have no greater rights than resident students of the attendance area. Except for such action by the Board of Education, approved applications for open enrollment and/or transfer shall be valid for attendance at that school throughout the grades served by the school and the student shall remain at the approved school unless he/she reapplies and is approved for another open enrollment or transfer to a different school at the same level or the next level.
Students seeking to return to the school of their attendance area for the next school year shall be given priority over resident students outside the attendance area and nonresident students. For students seeking to return to the school of their attendance area once the school year has begun, their parent or guardian, unless the student is 18, must make the request in writing to the principal of the school the student is currently attending as well as to the principal of the school of their attendance area. This request must be made no later than the second Friday following the first day of instruction for the school year.
Students within a designated attendance area shall have priority in registering in that school. Students who are residents of the District shall have priority consideration for open enrollment/transfer over students who are not District residents and are requesting interdistrict enrollment during the October 1 to January 31 Littleton Public Schools open enrollment period. After January 31, all enrollment requests, including nonresidents, will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis if statutory admission requirements are met.
Transportation
Transportation will not be provided by the District for students granted permission to attend a school outside their attendance area unless there is space available on District buses and approved open enrollment/transfer students can be accommodated without disruption of regular routes or changing school bus loading areas. Exceptions to this policy will be allowed as may be required to comply with federal or state laws and regulations.
Nondiscrimination
In considering and approving requests for open enrollment/transfers, the District shall not make any distinctions on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnic group, religion, or disability of applicants.
Criteria for Approval of Open Enrollment and Transfer Requests
The receiving school principal will make the decision as to whether an open enrollment or transfer application is approved or not approved based on criteria established in state law and Board policy. The receiving school principal is responsible for notifying the parents/guardians and students of approval or disapproval of the request.
Requests for open enrollment/transfer requests which are submitted in accordance with this policy and accompanying procedures shall be approved and granted unless one of the following circumstances is determined to exist:
The requested school (receiving school) has reached its maximum enrollment limit and lacks the necessary space within its building. The Superintendent shall determine and present for Board of Education approval maximum enrollment limits for each school;
The school in which the student is currently enrolled or school the student is scheduled to be enrolled in next year is at minimum enrollment to ensure continuance of some important instructional programs, or at which cost efficient use of facilities would no longer be possible;
Granting the request would have the immediate effect of causing enrollments in the requested program to exceed class size guidelines under Board Policy IIB or enrollment limits that have been established for that program;
The program cannot be expanded to accommodate added students without significant reallocation of school or District resources, including District staff;
The school requested does not offer appropriate programs or is not structured or equipped with the necessary facilities to meet special needs of the student or does not offer a particular program requested; or
The student does not meet the established school and District eligibility criteria for participation in a particular program, including age requirements, course prerequisites or required levels of performance.
Change in Residence
If a family changes its place of residence during the school year but relocates within the District, the children may remain at the current schools for the remainder of the current school year, provided the parents/guardians assume responsibility for transportation. They may request, through the open enrollment process, that their children remain at the current school for all future years at that level.
Families moving outside the District that do not apply for interdistrict enrollment must transfer to the school in their new district at the end of the current school year, except in the case of eleventh grade students who may be allowed to complete their twelfth grade year in their current school. Other students who become nonresidents through a change in residence may apply to return to the District as a nonresident student under the provisions of Board policy.
Athletics
Students granted permission to attend a school other than the school in their assigned attendance area shall have the same curricular and extracurricular status as all other students attending the school, limited only by rules of the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA).
Legal Reference: C.R.S. 22-1-102
C.R.S. 22-32-110 (1)(m)
C.R.S. 22-32-116
C.R.S. 22-36-101 et seq.
1CCR 301-1, Rule 2202-R-3.10 (2)
Cross Reference: IIB, Class Size
JC, School Attendance Areas
JFBB, Interdistrict Enrollment (Nonresident Students)
KCB, KCB-R, Review of Decisions at Request of Community Members