| School District of Colfax |
| Bylaws & Policies |
5113 - OPEN ENROLLMENT PROGRAM
(Inter-District)The School District ("District") will participate in the Wisconsin Public School Open Enrollment Program in accordance with applicable law and the relevant policies and rules of the District, all as amended from time-to-time.
DEFINITIONS
The following definitions will apply to the District's Open Enrollment Program.
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A. |
Non-Resident District |
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A school district located in Wisconsin which is not a student's district of residence. |
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B. |
Non-Resident Student |
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A student who is a legal resident or otherwise legally entitled to attend school in another school district in Wisconsin and who seeks admission to this District under the Open Enrollment Program. |
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C. |
Tuition Student |
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A non-resident student who is a resident of the State of Wisconsin and who pays tuition in accordance with State law. |
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D. |
Full-Time Enrollment |
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A student is enrolled for the entire school day and receives all of his/her required education in this District. |
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E. |
Class Size |
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The District's determination of the maximum number of students who can be accommodated properly in a particular classroom without jeopardizing the quality of the instructional program and mitigating circumstances for a particular school, class, or program, including enrollment projections established by the District Administrator. |
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F. |
Program Size |
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The enrollment or size restrictions in a specific program within a class or building. The District reserves the exclusive right to establish program size and to limit enrollment based upon the capability to properly allocate available resources, create and maintain a proper learning environment, and comply with contracts, grants, and applicable laws and regulations. |
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G. |
Resident Student |
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A student who is a legal resident of this District and is consequently entitled to attend school in this District in accordance with Policy 5111 - Eligibility of Resident/Non-resident Students. |
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FULL TIME OPEN ENROLLMENT
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A. |
Procedures for Processing of Open Enrollment Applications |
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If there are more applications than spaces, the Board will fill the available spaces by random selection, provided that first priority will be given to non-resident students already attending District schools. |
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If the District determines that space is not otherwise available for open enrollment students in the grade or program to which an individual has applied, the District may nevertheless accept a student or the sibling of a student who is already attending in the District. |
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B. |
Decisional Criteria for Non-Resident Applications |
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Decisions on non-resident open enrollment applications will be based only on the following criteria: |
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1. |
Whether there is space available for non-resident transfer students. The School Board shall determine during a regular meeting each January the anticipated space available for the next school year in the schools, programs, classes and grades of the District. In determining the amount of space available, the District will count resident students, tuition waiver students under 121.84 Wis. Stats., and may include in its counted occupied spaces students and siblings of students who have applied under Section 118.51(3)(a) and are already attending public school in the District. |
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Other factors the District Administrator shall consider include, but shall not be limited to the following: |
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a. |
District practices, policies, procedures or other factors regarding class size ranges for particular programs or classes. |
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b. |
District practices, policies, procedures or other factors regarding faculty-student ratio ranges for particular programs, classes or buildings. |
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c. |
Enrollment projections for the schools of the District which include, but are not limited to, the following factors: the likely short and long-term economic development in the community, projected student transfers in and out of the District, preference requirements for siblings of non-resident open enrollment students, the required length of K-12 attendance opportunities for open enrollment students and current and future space needs for special programs, laboratories (e.g. in technology or foreign languages) or similar District educational initiatives. |
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d. |
The number of non-resident students currently attending the schools of the District for whom tuition is paid by another district under Section 121.78(1)(a), Wis. Stats. |
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e. |
The number of resident home schooled or private school students likely to attend the schools of the District in accordance with Section 118.415, Wis. Stats. |
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2. |
Whether an applicant for a pre-kindergarten, early childhood or school operated day care program resides in a district which offers the program for which application is made. |
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3. |
Whether the non-resident student has been expelled from any school district within the current school year or the two (2) preceding school years, or is pending any disciplinary proceeding, based on any of the following activities: |
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a. |
Conveying or causing to be conveyed any threat or false information concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made to destroy school property by means of explosives. |
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b. |
Engaging in conduct while at school or under school supervision that endangered the health, safety or property of others. |
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c. |
Engaging in conduct while not at school or while not under the supervision of a school authority that endangered the health, safety, or property of others at school or under the supervision of a school authority or of any school employee or Board member. |
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d. |
Possessing a dangerous weapon (as defined in Section 939.22(10), Wis. Stats.) while on school property or under school supervision. |
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Notwithstanding the Board’s acceptance of a non-resident student’s application, the Board may withdraw acceptance if, prior to the beginning of the first school year in which the non-resident student will attend a school in the District, s/he is determined to fall under paragraph B. 3. |
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The Board may request a copy of a non-resident student’s disciplinary records from the resident School Board. |
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Whether the special education program or related services described in the non-resident student’s individualized education program ("IEP"), if any, are available in the District. The District shall prepare an estimate of costs associated with providing the special education or related services required by a non-resident student’s IEP to the resident school district no later than the 3rd Friday following the first Monday in May, or within ten (10) days of receipt of an application from a student with an IEP under the alternative procedures. |
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Whether there is space available in the District for the special education program identified in the non-resident student’s IEP, after consideration of class size limits, student-teacher ratios, and enrollment projections. (See paragraph B. 1. above). |
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6. |
Whether the non-resident student has been screened by the resident School Board to determine if there is reasonable cause to believe that s/he is a child with exceptional educational needs. |
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7. |
Whether the resident School Board has been informed that the non-resident student may have exceptional education needs that have not yet been evaluated by a multi-disciplinary team. |
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8. |
Whether the application of a non-resident student has been denied by the District of which s/he is a resident. |
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(Note: If a non-resident student’s IEP is developed or changed after starting in the District, and it is then discovered that the District does not have necessary programs available or does not have space in the special education program, the non-resident may be returned to the resident school district.) |
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9. |
Whether the non-resident school board has made a determination that a student attending the non-resident school district is habitually truant from the non-resident school district during either semester of the current school year, the non-resident school board may prohibit the student from attending the non-resident school district in the succeeding semester or school year. |
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C. |
Procedure for Evaluating Applications by District Residents to Transfer to Another District |
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The Board will consider only whether the resident student is a special education student and the implementation of his/her IEP in the other district would impose an undue financial burden on the District for denying resident applications. |
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Financial burden is determined through review of actual increased expenses relative to providing services specific to the student in question, not including pro-rated costs of facilities and materials and including expenses for instructional faculty only if those faculty are added as a result of the student and devoted primarily to that student. |
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(Note: Notwithstanding the Board’s approval of a resident student’s application, the Board may withdraw approval if, after the District student has begun in the other school district, the IEP as implemented by the non-resident school district would impose an undue financial burden on the District.) |
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D. |
Reapplication Procedures |
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The Board will not require accepted non-resident students to reapply under the open enrollment policy when the non-resident student enters middle school, or high school. A non-resident student may be required to reapply only once. |
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E. |
Transportation |
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The parents or guardians of a student attending a non-resident school district will be solely responsible for providing transportation to and from the school site, if space is available or to a scheduled in-District bus stop, unless the non-resident student is a special education student and transportation is required by his/her IEP. |
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F. |
The Board will not permit a neighboring District to bus resident students from within its boundaries for attendance at the non-resident neighboring District. The District Administrator shall develop procedures for implementing this provision. |
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ALTERNATIVE APPLICATION PROCEDURES
The parent of a non-resident student who wishes to attend a school in the District may apply at any time throughout the year by submitting an application under the alternative application procedure if the student satisfies at least one of the statutory criteria and has not applied to more than three non-resident school districts. (See AG 5113 – Admission of Students Participating Under Open Enrollment)
ANNUAL REVIEW
The Board shall review its Open Enrollment Program annually.
General Provisions
The District's Policy 2260 – Nondiscrimination and Access to Equal Educational Opportunity shall apply to all applicants under this program. In addition, the District will not discriminate on the basis of an applicant's intellectual, academic, artistic, athletic, or other ability, talent, or accomplishment, or based on a mental or physical disability, except as provided for in the statute authorizing this program.
118.145(4), 118.51,
118.51(3), 118.52, Wis. Stats.© Neola 2014