602.23 - Open Enrollment - Procedures as a Receiving District

The school district will participate in open enrollment as a receiving district. As a receiving district, the school board will allow non-resident students who meet the legal requirements to open enroll into the district. The school board will have complete discretion to determine the attendance center assignment for students attending the district under open enrollment. The policies of the district will apply to all students attending the district under open enrollment.

The school board will take action on the open enrollment request at the next regular board meeting. The superintendent [or designee] has authority to approve good cause applications in emergency or extenuating circumstances.

The superintendent [or designee] will notify the sending school district and the parents of the school board’s decision to approve or deny the open enrollment requests.

Open enrollment requests into the district will not be approved if insufficient classroom space exists. Open enrollment requests into the district will also not be approved for students who have been suspended or expelled by the administration or the board of the school district the student is (or was) attending until the student has been reinstated into the school district from which they were suspended or expelled. Once the student is reinstated, the student's open enrollment request will be considered in the same manner as other open enrollment requests; provided the required timelines are met.

Open enrollment requests into the district that, if denied, would result in students from the same nuclear family being enrolled in different school districts will be given highest priority. The school board, in its discretion, may waive the insufficient classroom space reason for denial for students of the same nuclear family to prevent the division of a nuclear family between two school districts. Other open enrollment requests into the district are considered in the order received by the district with the first open enrollment request given a higher priority than the second open enrollment request and so forth.

Students in grades 9 through 12 open enrolling into the school district will be eligible for participation in inter-scholastic athletics at the varsity level, in accordance with applicable laws.

Parents of students whose open enrollment requests are approved by the school board are responsible for providing transportation to and from the receiving school district without reimbursement. The school board will not approve transportation into the sending district.

Open enrollment requests into the district from parents of a student receiving special education services will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The determining factors for approval of such open enrollment requests will be whether the special education program available in the district is appropriate for the student's special education needs and whether the enrollment of the student will cause the class size to exceed the maximum allowed. The area education agency director of special education serving the school district will determine whether the program is appropriate. The student receiving special education services will remain in the sending district until final determination is made. For students requiring special education services, the receiving district will complete and provide to the resident district the documentation needed to seek Medicaid reimbursement for eligible services.

It is the responsibility of the superintendent [or designee] to develop appropriate office procedures and administrative regulations necessary for open enrollment requests.


Adopted: 3/99
Reviewed: 1/10; 6/12; 10/13; 4/15; 1/18; 2/21
Revised: 6/11; 9/21; 10/22; 2/24
Related Policy: 501.9-10; 602.2-3; 602.7; 602.24-26
Legal Reference (Code of Iowa): §§ 139A.8; 274.1; 279.11; 281.1, .3, .8, .18; 299.1; 281 IAC 17
IASB Reference: 501.15