This policy is established in order to allow elementary, middle, and high school parents, or guardians, under specified conditions, to choose among the schools of the District as to the enrollment of their children. It is to be implemented in concert with School Board Policy 5120, Out-of-Zone School Assignment, in order that the specific conditions of school assignment dealt with in that policy may continue to be addressed by the District. Parents exercising choice under this policy must provide transportation to and from any school other than that to which the student is regularly assigned.

Parents or guardians exercising choice under this policy may do so without respect to or limitation upon their reasons for their specific choices.

Parental choice shall be limited by space available in the school, or program requested. The Superintendent, or designee, based upon building and/or program capacity, shall determine available space. After students qualifying for out-of-zone attendance by January 15th through Policy 5120 are considered, choice applicants will be processed. Staffing for schools will be done after the January choice requests are approved. When projected enrollment exceeds capacity, approval of choice applications into a school will be limited to the number of students leaving that school through choice or Out-of-Zone assignments. Parents may make only one (1) choice of schools and no waiting list will be maintained. Once a choice request is honored and a student is in attendance, the student shall not be withdrawn during the school year due to excesses in student population in the school or program. There will be no special limitations on choice due to a student’s academic, behavioral, or social history.

With the exception of students who are enrolling in the District for the first time, no choice applications will be approved for the current school year. Applications for the next school year must be submitted no later than the last student day of the current school year. Students enrolling for the first time in the District have a one time option to apply for choice at the time of their enrollment. Applications will be approved on a space and staff available basis.

For priority consideration, the period for submission of parental choice applications shall be during the month of January. Applications submitted prior to the month of January will be held and considered with the January applicants. Parents shall be notified relative to action taken on the request as soon as possible. Where choices are limited due to space available, priority for spaces shall be given to rising eighth graders who have been rezoned to a different middle school for the subsequent school year. For all other spaces, a lottery shall be conducted with all choice applications received during January having the same priority.

The lottery shall be conducted by levels and by family in order to avoid splitting families with two (2) or more children concurrently in the same level. A family shall have only one (1) entry in the lottery at each level regardless of the number of children.

Choice approved for one (1) year does not guarantee continuing approval for subsequent years. Students approved for one (1) year, their siblings concurrently enrolled in the same level, and siblings of students approved for an out of zone assignment will be given first priority for the subsequent years. If limited space does not allow continuation of all choice students, those to remain will be determined by a lottery.

Applications for choice received on or after February 1st will be considered on a space and staff available basis after the January applications have been processed. For these applications priority will be based on the date received. Any student whose application is received on or after February 1st will not be eligible for interscholastic competitive athletics for the next school year.

Families leaving the District and returning during one (1) school year may return to the previously approved choice school for the remainder of that school year and be given the same choice priority in any subsequent year as they would have had if attendance had not been interrupted.

Parents of students in Exceptional Student Education, Limited English Proficient, Dropout Prevention, and other programs with limited access and availability may exercise choice within those programs with the same limitations as other programs, including the provision of transportation by the parents.

All parents of currently enrolled kindergarten through eleventh grade students are to be notified that the District has a choice policy at all levels and that they may read and/or discuss the policy, as well as receive a copy, if desired, by contacting their current school.

Athletic and activity eligibility at the high school level shall be governed by the Florida High School Activities Association guidelines. Approval of choice applications does not guarantee eligibility.

In no case is an employee of the District to initiate contact with anyone in an effort to recruit students for a particular school or program or to discourage participation in another school or program. District employees who take part in such activities are subject to disciplinary action as per Policy 2430.

Some parents and students may be limited in their ability to take advantage of the school choice plan. Therefore, the District will use other means and resources to ensure that all students have equal access to as many educational programs as possible.