Humboldt County School District Superintendents have been meeting monthly throughout this past calendar year to come to agreement on interdistrict attendance enrollment for the 2018-19 school year and beyond. In a meeting on December 6, Superintendents settled on a draft agreement and are now awaiting feedback based on discussions with their respective boards.Read the Countywide Interdistrict Transfer Agreement Draft below:
Dialog has centered on maintaining an open enrollment policy in Humboldt County. Key topics of the conversations and draft agreement have included:
• Maintaining an open enrollment window;
• A specific process and timeline for interdistrict request approvals;
• A process for interdistrict renewals;
• Strategies for implementing the interdistrict enrollment process
“This process has shown to be collaborative with the Superintendents demonstrating a willingness to make compromises while also representing the best interests of their districts and students,” stated Dr. Chris Hartley, superintendent of Humboldt County schools. “I anticipate the next steps will include scheduling an opportunity to come back together to further debrief district feedback relative to reaching a formal agreement.”
Locally defined Enrollment Priorities: Districts will maintain enrollment priorities according to their district’s Board Policies when considering approving Interdistrict Transfers for students outside of their attendance boundary. Examples may include the following: sibling(s) attend, children of staff member, family had older sibling previously attend the school, as well as others locally defined.
Importance of Enrollment Numbers in Next Year’s Staffing: Districts recognize that this agreement structure is a departure from historic process and further recognize that a county-wide IDT process marketing strategy will be critical to this agreements success. Further, most Districts benefit from knowing what their projected enrollment will be by early February to determine if lay-off notices are warranted. With a March 15 deadline for teacher layoff notices, many districts need to do the analysis and bring the recommendation to their Trustees at the February Board meeting. Districts will agree to the following “Open Enrollment” timeframes when considering accepting Interdistrict Transfers. The timeframes will identify priorities of enrollment as follows:
Priority 1 –
A. December 1 – February 1 Enrollment Window - To be given approval by the DOR, IDT requests need to be received at the DOR from the parent/guardian by the first day of February at 4pm each year. If either of these days falls on a weekend, the actual day will be the next school day.
B. The DOR will have 10 school days after the close of the window to approve the request and forward the request to the DOA. DOR may deny a parent/guardian request for an IDT if the parent/guardian does not participate in a DOR Reasonable Enrollment Information Activities, absent good cause. Reasonable Enrollment Information Activities include a discussion with school administration / designee, orientation meeting, site visitation, or informational literature. All forms will be approved by the DOR assuming parent/guardian does not withdraw form after meeting with DOR.
C. The DOA will have 15 school days after the close of the window (or 5 school days after receipt of the request from the DOR if not received within the 10 school day window in B above) to approve or deny the request and notify requesting party and DOR of decision affording both the DOR and DOA the opportunity to consider the impact of these decisions relative to the March 15th layoff notification deadline and have the necessary time to prepare Board Packets and hold a regularly scheduled Board meeting or special Board meeting if necessary.
D. Renewals and new sibling requests (students who will have a sibling enrolled in the same school year) will be approved and will follow the same timelines listed above. Renewals may be required to participate in Enrollment Information Activities based upon DOR school level transitions (e.g. DOR from elementary school to middle school or middle school to high school).
Priority 2 –
A. IDT requests received from parent/guardian after February 1 will receive approval by the DOR due to the following circumstances. Parent/guardian may be required to participate in Enrollment Information Activities as outlined in Part B of Priority 1. The DOR has 30 days to approve or deny IDT requests received after February 1. If approved by the DOR, requests will be approved or denied by the DOA within 30 calendar days.
• For the 2018/19 school year only, parent/guardian missed the IDT Priority 1 deadline as long as the IDT is submitted to the DOR before September 1, 2018.
• Parent/guardian did not reside in Humboldt County schools prior to Priority 1 deadline thus was unable to request IDT
• Parent/guardian moved from one District of Residence to another subsequent to the Priority 1 deadline
• Parent/guardian has a reasonable argument for why the Priority 1 deadline was not met
• Parent/guardian has a reasonable explanation for not being able to participate in DOR Enrollment Information Activity
For schools with wait lists: If a student has received an approved IDT from the DOR, it will be valid until the commencement of the DOA’s new school year. This is to allow students on a DOA wait list time to determine if there is capacity. The DOA is limited to accepting the equivalent of 2 students per grade level or 7% of their total enrollment, whichever is greater on a wait list. The wait list must be established at the time of the DOA’s lottery or capacity determination.
The countywide agreement will be in effect for the 2018-19 school year with a review of this agreement to occur September of 2018 by District superintendents. The collective goal will then be to work on a multi-year agreement that takes into consideration the impacts of the county wide IDT process marketing campaign.
Regardless of the duration of the permit, the permit may be revoked pursuant to the policies and regulations of either of the districts, as permitted by law.
If a district rejects a request for an interdistrict transfer in the current year, parent/guardian has 30 calendar days from a district’s refusal to issue a permit to appeal to the Humboldt County Board of Education. If a district does not respond to the request for a permit in the current year within 30 calendar days, parent/guardian has 30 calendar days to appeal to the Humboldt County Board of Education.”
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