The school district will participate in open enrollment as a receiving district. As a receiving district, the board will allow non-resident students who meet the legal requirements to open enroll into the school district. The board will have complete discretion to determine the attendance center of the students attending the school district under open enrollment.
The school board will take action on the open enrollment request no later than June 1st in the year preceding the first year desired for open enrollment. 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 parents within five days of the school district's action to approve or deny the open enrollment request.
Open enrollment requests into the school district will not be approved if insufficient classroom space exists. Open enrollment requests into the school 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. The district reserves the right to deny continued open enrollment to any student who meets the definition of truant. The district will notify the truant student's parent or guardian and district of residence of the decision to deny enrollment in the future in accordance with applicable laws.
Open enrollment requests into the school 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 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 school district are considered in the order received by the school 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 or superintendent [or designee] are responsible for providing transportation to and from the receiving school district without reimbursement.
A receiving district may send school vehicles into the sending district's boundaries to transport students to and from school in the receiving district if the total enrollment of the student's resident district is less than 2,000 students, the student's resident district is contiguous to the receiving district, and the student's resident district has sent school vehicles into the receiving district pursuant to Iowa Code 282.18(8)(b)(1).
An open enrollment request into the district from parents of a student receiving special education services is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The determining factors for approval of such an open enrollment request will be whether the special education program available in the school district is appropriate for the student's 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.
The policies of the school district will apply to students attending the school district under open enrollment.
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; 8/24
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
Mandatory Policy