The Teays Valley Local School District Board of Education believes that students may, under certain prescribed circumstances, benefit from interdistrict open enrollment. Therefore, the following guidelines have been established for the open enrollment of nonresident students, based upon criteria established by the school’s administration, consistent with O.R.C. 3313.98 and 3313.981.
APPLICATION PROCESS:
1. An application from a nonresident student for inter-district open enrollment must be submitted to the Teays Valley Local School District Superintendent’s office between April 1 and May 15 each year. However, applications received after May 15 will be considered on a case by case basis. Applications will be acted upon no later than July 1 of each year, based on the procedures listed below. Notification to the applicant’s parents and to the Superintendent of the applicant’s district of residence will be made after action has been taken on the application. Parents will have ten (10) days in which to accept the intended action to be taken and must notify the Teays Valley Local School District of their intent to enroll their child in the Teays Valley Local School District. Failure to notify the Teays Valley Local School District within the ten (10) day period of time will result in this offer being withdrawn, thus allowing other nonresident students to be considered for an available opening.
2. A separate application must be submitted for each student who request inter-district open enrollment.
3. Applications must be resubmitted annually for any student previously enrolled in the Teays Valley Local School District inter-district open enrollment program. All approvals are on an annual basis and must be reapproved in accordance with the interdistrict open enrollment guidelines in effect for the succeeding school year.
APPLICATION APPROVAL GUIDELINES:
1. Applications of nonresident students will be considered provided that a balance of the class sizes in grades K-8, buildings, and programs can be maintained. At the elementary level, building capacity will be determined by the number of available teachers and classroom spaces. Building capacity will be reviewed annually and appropriate changes will be made if necessary. The District will continue to strive for low student/teacher ratios at all levels. Therefore, the parent and student must complete the section on the application regarding classes the high school the student intends to take to enable school officials to determine the availability of space prior to acceptance of the student.
2. Students accepted in the interdistrict open enrollment program must comply with the student code of conduct, and all rules, policies, and procedures of the Teays Valley Local School District. Nonresident students who are suspended for more than 10 consecutive school days or are expelled from the Teays Valley Local School District will not be permitted to continue in the interdistrict open enrollment program. The Superintendent will notify the nonresident student’s district of residence of the removal.
3. The Teays Valley Local School District shall not be required to institute any special education program solely for the purpose of serving nonresident students admitted through interdistrict open enrollment. Acceptance of nonresident students with disabilities shall be governed by the program capacity limits established by the Ohio Department of Education.
4. Applications shall be considered on a first come, first served (date of receipt) basis with an assurance that the following order for placement will be followed:
a. Employee children will be given priority in the inter-district open enrollment program and will be considered first.
b. Nonresident students currently enrolled in the inter-district open enrollment program will be considered second.
c. Nonresident students applying for inter-district open enrollment for the first time will then be considered next.
5. Applications shall be revoked in reverse order of acceptance (last in-first out), if the enrollment, at any time, of a new student who is a district resident or if an application from a nonresident student at the start of the school year, brings the enrollment of district students to optimum size.
6. Applicants may be rejected if the racial balance of either the Teays Valley Local School District of the other school district would be negatively impacted.
7. Students with discipline problems may be rejected for interdistrict open enrollment only if they have been suspended or expelled by their district of residence for ten (10) or more consecutive days during the term for which admission is sought or in the term immediately preceding the term for which admission is sought. A student currently enrolled in the interdistrict open enrollment program that has been suspended or expelled for ten (10) or more days during the school year may be denied enrollment for the next school year.
8. Students who are currently enrolled in the interdistrict open enrollment program and have an attendance problem, may have their request for open enrollment for the next school year denied due to poor attendance.
9. There shall be no requirements of applicants regarding academic ability, athletic, artistic, or other extracurricular skill, or any requirement that applicants be proficient in the English language.
10. Each principal shall notify the Superintendent by June 1 of the programs and classrooms which have space available for students. Projected enrollment of resident students is to be determined by the principal no later than June 10.
11. The parent(s) of the student, and the Superintendent of that student’s district of residence, will be notified of the status of their application for inter-district open enrollment by the Superintendent of the Teays Valley Local School District no later July 15.
12. The Teays Valley Local School District shall not discriminate against students with disabilities identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Teays Valley Local School District shall not be required to provide any services or adapt any facilities not already provided to resident students with disabilities. Accordingly, the Teays Valley Local School District reserves the right to assign a nonresident student with a disability to the school in which needed services are currently available. If any services must be obtained elsewhere, the Superintendent of the Teays Valley Local School District shall notify the student’s district of residence to determine if it wants to arrange for the services or have the Teays Valley Local School District arrange for them at the expense of the student’s district of residence.
MISCELLANEOUS:
1. Waiting List – Students whose applications are initially denied due to space limitations may request in writing to have their application placed on a waiting list. Such applicants shall have priority over any inter-district open enrollment applications which might have been filed after the standard application deadline. Applications from this waiting list will be processed inline with the first-come, first-served basis and priorities indicated above. The Superintendent of the Teays Valley Local School District may approve requests for inter-district open enrollment filed outside of the application deadlines. However, an application for a new school year requires the submission of a new application during the period in which applications are accepted.
2. Transportation – Transportation is the responsibility of the parent/guardian, however, the nonresident student’s family must contact the Transportation Director to check availability of transportation based on number of resident students on a given route and bus capacity. If the number of riders is at the maximum, the nonresident student’s family must provide transportation to and from the school. If approved, the nonresident student’s family must provide for the transportation of the nonresident student to an approved bus stop within the attendance area of the school the student would be attending. Additionally, the nonresident student’s family shall be responsible for the monitoring of that student’s safety and well being while waiting for the bus to arrive in the morning, and after being dropped off from the bus in the afternoon.
3. Athletic Eligibility – OHSAA athletic eligibility guidelines apply to students in grades 7-12 who seek admission under the Inter-district Open Enrollment Guidelines. Any nonresident student accepted for enrollment in the Teays Valley Local School District who is eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics and in grade 7, 8, or 9 may participate in sports if enrolled at the start of the school year. If the student is in grade 10, 11, or 12 the student must wait one school year before becoming eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics. Once the nonresident student is enrolled in the Teays Valley Local School District, that student may withdraw and return to the school district of residence in order to participate in sports, but may do this only one time without waiting one school year to participate. Students and parents are urged to become aware of and consider these athletic guidelines before making application for inter-district open enrollment.
4. Student Records – Students who have applied for and have been accepted in the inter-district open enrollment program will have records that include the application, evidence of parental knowledge of the program’s policies and guidelines, and evidence of notification of parents included in the student’s file. Upon approval of a student’s application, all school records for that student are to be forwarded to the school of attendance. All enrollment forms and documents needed for enrolling in the Teays Valley Local School District will be filled out and approved. The Teays Valley Local School District will accept credits toward graduation earned in the student’s district of residence.