Policy
5111.1
Students
Option Enrollment
A. Process and Time Lines to Option In
For a student to attend Ashland-Greenwood
Public Schools as an option enrollment student, the student’s parent or legal
guardian must submit an application to the Board of Education of the Ashland-Greenwood
Public School District between September 1 and March 15 for enrollment during
the following and subsequent school years (the “application period”).
Upon receipt of an application, the Superintendent
or the Superintendent’s designee shall provide the resident school district
with the name of the applicant on or before April 1 or, in the case of an
application submitted after March 15, within sixty days after submission.
Provisions for Waiver of Application Deadline:
The
application deadline will be waived by the School Board for applications to
option into the
B. Rejection of Applications; Reasons
1. Capacity:
An option enrollment application shall be rejected in the event the capacity of
a program, class, grade level, or school building or the availability of
appropriate special education programs operated by the School District would be
exceeded by acceptance of the application, and an option enrollment application
shall be rejected in the event the application is for enrollment in a program,
class, grade level, or school building which has been declared unavailable to
option students due to lack of capacity.
2. Timeliness:
An option enrollment application shall be rejected in the event the application
is not filed on a timely basis and the filing deadline has not been waived.
3. Previous
Option Enrollment: An option enrollment application shall be rejected in
the event the student has previously filed an option enrollment application for
enrollment in any School District and has had such application accepted, unless
a statutory exception to the “one-time” rule is applicable to the student’s
circumstance.
4. Other
Reasons: An option enrollment application may be rejected in the event the
Superintendent, the Superintendent’s designee, or the School Board determines:
The application is not submitted on a form prescribed by the State Department
of Education, is not completely and accurately filled in, is not received
within the time required by law, or any additional information requested to be
supplied is not supplied to the School District within the time lines
indicated; or in the event acceptance of the application is not required
by law. Matters which are legally
prohibited from being considered as standards for acceptance or rejection of
applications (including “previous academic achievement, athletic or
extracurricular ability, disabilities, proficiency in the English language, or
previous disciplinary proceedings” and further including, without limitation,
race, national origin, and gender) shall not be considered as reasons for
acceptance or rejection.
C. Priority of Acceptance
Priority shall be accorded in the
following order: (1) first, to those applications required to be given priority
by law, (2) second, to those with a sibling in attendance at Ashland-Greenwood
Public Schools, with priority within this group being given to those who had
earliest filed applications, and (3) third to those without an option student
sibling in attendance at Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools, with priority to
those within this group to those who had earliest filed applications.
Filing
date determinations are made by the Superintendent, or the Superintendent’s
designee. In the event applications
within a group are received at the same or substantially the same time, priority
as between such same-date applications shall be determined on the basis of
random drawing.
D. Determination of Capacity
The School Board will determine and
set, on an annual basis, the maximum number of option enrollment applications
the School District will accept in any program, class, grade level or school
building or in any special education programs operated by this School District,
based upon available staff, facilities, projected enrollment of resident
students, projected number of students with which this School District will
contract based on existing contractual arrangements, and availability of
appropriate special education programs, and may declare a program, class or
school unavailable to option students due to lack of capacity. The determination and declaration made for
any school year shall continue in effect for the next and subsequent school
years unless otherwise determined and/or declared.
E. Releases for Options Out
Provisions for Release (Choose one or modify
as desired):
A request
for release of a resident student of the Ashland-Greenwood Public School
District who submits an enrollment option application after March 15 or any
other statutory deadline will be granted unless the release shall not be
granted if the administration is considering or has recommended expulsion of
the student at the time the application is filed, and the administration
determines it is appropriate to complete the expulsion process.
The
Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee is hereby authorized to execute
such releases on behalf of the School Board and the
F. Notification of Acceptance or Rejection
In the
case of an application to option enroll into the Ashland-Greenwood Public
School District, the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee shall notify,
in writing, the parent or legal guardian of the student, the resident school
district, and the State Department of Education whether the application is
accepted or rejected on or before April 1 or, in the case of an application
submitted after March 15, within sixty days after submission.
If an option
enrollment application or a request for release is rejected by the
G. Applications Subsequent to Relocations
or Mergers
An option enrollment application
does not require a release and shall be accepted or rejected within forty-five
days after filing in the following circumstances:
1.
the
student relocated to a different resident school district after February 1, or
2.
the
student’s option school district merged with another district effective after
February 1,
and,
3.
the application is for attendance during the
immediately following and subsequent school years.
H. Status
of Option Student
A
student who is admitted under the enrollment option program shall be treated as
a resident student, and in such regard shall be required to provide such
enrollment information and documentation as is required for enrollment of other
students (e.g., certified birth certificate and evidence of physical
examination, visual evaluation and immunization), shall be required to be
enrolled on a full-time basis, and shall be required to adhere to student conduct
rules. The building assignment for an
option student, as well as classroom and grade level assignments, shall be
determined by the administration.
An option student shall not be
entitled to transportation except as required by law. The school district will allow option
students to ride on school bus if the option student(s) meet the school bus at
a designated stop that is on the established route for the bus for resident
students provided that no option student will be provided transportation if the
bus is at capacity as established and determined by the school district.
I. Information
Regarding Schools, Programs, Policies and Procedures.
As part of the option enrollment
program, the administration shall make information about the
Legal Reference: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 79-232 to 79-246
Adopted 12-3-2001
Revised:
August 17, 2009
Revised:
July, 15th, 2013