State of Iowa |
| Question:
What is open enrollment? Answer: It is the process by which parents/guardians residing in one Iowa district may enroll their children in another Iowa school district under the terms and conditions of Iowa Code section 282.18 and the administrative rules of the Iowa Department of Education, 281 Iowa Administrative Code chapter 17. Question: How does a parent/guardian open enroll a child? Answer: The form to be used is available from the district of residence. The form is also available via the Department’s web site at www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/asis/index.html. At that site, the viewer will find an Open Enrollment handbook (including the application form) available in HTML, Word, and PDF format. The completed form must be filed with the district of residence by January 1 of the year preceding the school year for which open enrollment is desired. Iowa Code section 282.18(2). Question: Are there any exceptions to the January 1 deadline? Answer: Yes, there are two (2) primary categories of exceptions. (1) An open enrollment request for a prospective kindergarten student may be filed with the resident district up to the Thursday before the third Friday in September (“count date”) of the school year of enrollment into kindergarten. Iowa Code section 282.18(2); 281 IAC rule 17.7. (2) The other category is having “good cause” to file after January 1. In general, these reasons must relate to a change in the student’s residence or a change in the status of the student’s district of residence. More specifics can be found at Iowa Code section 282.18(16) and 281 IAC rule 17.4. Question: Who approves or disapproves open enrollment requests? Answer: The superintendent may approve an open enrollment request if the request is timely filed and if the district’s school board allows the superintendent to take this action without formal board approval. If the district has a desegregation plan that would be adversely affected by an open enrollment into or out of the district, the superintendent may deny the request. All other denials must be done by local board action. All approvals of late-filed requests must be done by local board action. Iowa Code section 282.18(2, 3). Question: What is the deadline by which the board or superintendent of the resident district must act? Answer: That deadline is February 1 for timely-filed requests; open enrollment requests filed after January 1 must be acted upon by the resident district within 30 days. Iowa Code section 282.18(2); 281 IAC rule 17.4(5). Question: Is there a deadline for action by the receiving district? Answer: Yes; the receiving district must take action to approve or deny a request, once approved by the resident district (also called the “sending district”) on or before March 1 for timely-filed requests. An open enrollment request filed after January 1 and approved by the resident district must be acted upon by the receiving district within 30 days of notification that the request was approved by the sending district. Iowa Code section 282.18(2); 281 IAC rule 17.4(5). Question: When may a receiving district deny an open enrollment request? Answer: The receiving district may disapprove a timely open enrollment request if the district has inadequate classroom space for the student or if the enrollment in of a student would adversely affect a desegregation plan duly adopted by the receiving district. If the student requires a special education instructional program, an additional reason is that the receiving district does not have an appropriate special education instructional program. Iowa Code section 282.18(2,3). Question: May a student who requires special education programs or services take advantage of open enrollment? Answer: Yes. The same rules apply, but in addition, the proposed receiving district must have an appropriate special education instructional program for the student and must have adequate classroom space. Iowa Code section 282.18(8); 281 IAC rule 17.11. Question: At what age is a student eligible for open enrollment? Answer: Regular education students are eligible for grades K – 12, as well as for pre-Kindergarten programs if the student is 5 years of age on or before September 15. In re Colby Miller, 20 D.o.E. App. Dec. 001. Students who require special education programs or services are eligible from birth to age 21. Iowa Code section 256B.2; 281 IAC rule 17.11. Question: May a student use open enrollment to attend a school district in another state? Answer: No. The open enrollment law is solely for attendance in Iowa school districts. In re Clarke Children, 20 D.o.E. App. Dec. 117. Question: Does an open enrollment request to the same receiving district, once approved, have to be renewed annually? Answer: No, as long as the receiving district remains the same, open enrollment to that district continues until the student graduates or until the parents/guardians notifies the district that they desire to terminate open enrollment. Iowa Code section 282.18(6). Question: When does a student’s open enrollment end? Answer: Open enrollment terminates when the student graduates, moves into the receiving district, moves out of state, moves into another Iowa district and chooses to attend the new resident district, attends an accredited nonpublic school, or drops out of school. If a student is placed temporarily in foster care, a juvenile detention center, a treatment facility, or similar placement, the open enrollment status will automatically be reinstated when the student returns. 281 IAC rule 17.8(10). Question: May a student who was suspended or expelled from one district open enroll into another district? Answer: No, not until the student has been reinstated in the district from which s/he was suspended or expelled. Iowa Code section 282.18(14). Question: What are the interscholastic athletic eligibility rules for high school students who open enroll? Answer: In most cases, a high school student who open enrolls is ineligible for interscholastic athletic competition during the student’s first 90 consecutive school days of enrollment in the receiving district. Some, but not all, exceptions to this general rule of ineligibility are as follows: 1. The sport in question is not offered by the sending district. 2. The sending district was dissolved and merged with one or more other districts. 3. The sending district whole grade shares with another district for the student’s grade level. 4. Before making the open enrollment request, the student has attended the receiving district for at least one year either by paying tuition or under a sharing agreement. Iowa Code section 282.18(13); 281 IAC rule 17.8(2). Question: Who is responsible for school transportation for an open enrolled student? Answer: The general rule is that the parent/guardian is responsible for transporting the student to and from a point on a school bus route of the receiving district. The receiving district may not send its buses into the sending district to transport an open enrolled student unless the boards of both districts agree. If an open enrolled student’s family qualifies economically for transportation assistance, and if the sending and receiving districts are contiguous, it is the responsibility of the sending district to provide transportation. Question: Must the sending and receiving districts be contiguous to each other? Answer: No. However, if a student qualifies economically for transportation assistance, the assistance is not required when open enrollment is to a non-contiguous receiving district. 281 IAC rule 17.9(2). Question: What options are available to an open enrolled student whose parent/guardian changes the district of residence? Answer: If the parent/guardian changes the district of residence, the options are to have the student stay in the current receiving district, open enroll the student to another district, enroll the student in a nonpublic school, or enroll the student in the new district of residence. If the student is to remain under the present open enrollment or open enroll to another district, the parent/guardian must given written notice on or by the Thursday before the third Friday in September (“count date”) to the original resident district, the new resident district and the receiving district(s). 281 IAC rule 17.8(6). Question: What is the “junior/senior rule?” Answer: This is the section of the Iowa Code that allows 11th and 12th grade non-residents who were residents of the district during the preceding school year to remain in the district, tuition-free, until they graduate. These students do not have to file open enrollment applications to attend their former districts of residence. Iowa Code section 257.6. |
