All children residing in an attendance area established by the School Board must attend the school or schools in that attendance area unless a waiver has been granted.

Requests for waivers of the attendance area will be considered by a committee composed of the Director of Special Programs, the Director of Supportive Services, the middle school principal, and one (1) elementary school principal.

The assignment of an elementary principal will be made on a rotating annual basis. The assigned elementary principal cannot be from a sending or receiving school. Therefore, more than one (1) elementary school principal may need to be made to be available to serve on this committee.

The waiver request will be approved or denied by the committee. For residents of the Corporation, waiver requests must be submitted annually by April 1st prior to the school year in which the waiver is to be used. Emergency situations may arise and the committee, on a case-by-case basis, may accept waiver requests after April 1st.

Decisions made by the committee are final. All reasons for waiver requests must be listed on the waiver application. Waivers are subject to limitations upon class size and financial impact upon the School Corporation. If a waiver is granted, parents are responsible for all transportation to and from the school. Students receiving a waiver cannot ride any bus between home and the school of assignment, unless a waiver has been granted due to extenuating circumstances.

If a waiver is denied and an attempt is made to enter the child in a school other than their home school (as per the approved Corporation guidelines), the child will be excluded from that school and returned to their home school. The residence of the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) is to be used to determine where the child attends school. The use of any other person's address will not be permitted. In the event that this is discovered, the child will immediately be excluded from the school and will not be permitted to participate in the waiver process again.

Waivers will be revoked for not providing the child's transportation as stipulated or having been granted a waiver due to extenuating circumstances.

Waivers may be utilized to assist parents that have a child with a medical problem. The School Corporation may require written documentation from the child's physician when considering the waiver.

Convenience of the parent to work or before and after school child care is not to be utilized as a factor in determining waivers without evidence of extenuating circumstances. School staffing and bus route availability are factors considered in the waiver process.

Adopted 9/13/10