Nonresident Students Policy 3141
Students
NONRESIDENT (OUT-OF-DISTRICT) STUDENTS
Any student who resides outside of the Longview School District may apply to attend a school in the District or file the parental declaration of the intent to provide home-based instruction and enroll for ancillary services, if any. For priority consideration, nonresident transfer applications should be submitted beginning September 1 of each school year for the following school year. Applications for transfer into the District will be considered in the order received by the office of the superintendent or designee and according to the priorities provided in this policy.
The superintendent or designee will develop an application form that contains information including, but not limited to, the current legal residence of the child and the school district in which he or she is currently enrolled or receiving home-based instruction, the reason for requesting release from the resident district, and the specific building and grade level (elementary) or course offerings (secondary) in which the student desires to be enrolled.
Staff members may provide routine information about the programs of the school involved but will not engage in any form of recruiting related to academics, athletics, or activities.
Homeless children will be allowed to attend school in the District in accordance with federal and state law and District policy.
Standards for accepting or rejecting an application
The superintendent or designee will accept or reject an application for nonresident admission based upon the following standards:
- Whether space is available in the class, grade level, courses, school, and/or program where the student desires to be enrolled.
- Whether appropriate educational programs or services are available to improve the student's condition as stated in requesting release from his or her district of residence.
- Whether the student’s attendance in the District is likely to create a risk to the health or safety of other students or staff.
- Whether the proposed entrance date provides sufficient time to expect probable success during that quarter or semester.
- Whether there is a reasonable chance that the student’s attendance, citizenship, and academic progress will be unsatisfactory, taking into account the records from the student’s previous school.
- Whether the student participates in all state/district testing.
- Whether a student is ostensibly applying for entrance for the sole purpose of graduating. Such a student will be required to enter at the beginning of the semester prior to commencement.
- Whether acceptance of the student would result in the District experiencing a financial hardship.
- Whether the student’s disciplinary records indicate a history of violent or disruptive behavior or gang membership (a gang means a group of three or more persons with identifiable leadership that on an ongoing basis regularly conspires and acts in concert mainly for criminal purposes).
- Whether the student has been expelled or suspended from a public school for more than 10 consecutive days, in which case the student may apply for admission under the District’s policy for readmission of expelled students.
Children of full-time employees
Students of full-time certificated and classified school employees must be allowed to enroll at a school where the employee is assigned or at a school in the District’s K-12 continuum that includes the school to which the employee is assigned unless:
- The student’s disciplinary records indicate a history of convictions for offenses or crimes, violent or disruptive behavior, or gang membership;
- The student has been expelled or suspended from school for more than 10 consecutive days;
- Enrollment of the student would displace a child who is a resident of the District, except that if a student of a full-time employee is admitted, he or she will be permitted to remain enrolled at that school, or in the District’s kindergarten through twelfth grade continuum until he or she has completed his or her schooling; or
- The student has repeatedly failed to comply with requirements for participation in an online school program, such as participating in weekly direct contact with the teacher or monthly progress evaluations.
These mandatory transfer provisions regarding the children of employees do not apply to students who reside outside the State of Washington.
Admission conditions and appeal of decision
The acceptance of a student who is the child of a full-time employee will be for one school year or until the parent is no longer a District employee, whichever is earlier. Should the employee cease employment during an academic term, the employee’s child will be permitted to remain enrolled in the District until the end of that academic term.
The acceptance of other nonresident students will be for the designated school year or a stated period of time of lesser duration. Acceptance of all nonresident students is subject to the conditions listed on the District’s prescribed application form and must be renewed prior to the student’s enrollment for any subsequent school year.
A nonresident student transfer may be revoked at any time during the school year if the student has one or more failing grades as of the conclusion of an academic term, has demonstrated a pattern of truancy/non-attendance, misrepresented information on his or her transfer application, or needs a different educational program, setting, or placement and there is not room where the student would be placed.
A student who resides in a district that does not operate a secondary program will be permitted to enroll in secondary schools in the District in accordance with state laws and regulations relating to the financial responsibility of the resident district.
A student who has dropped out of high school for six weeks or longer, has returned from participation in a substance-abuse treatment program, is about to become or is a teen parent, or has returned from hospitalization due to a mental health problem may attend high school in the District regardless of residence. Such a student, with completed application, will be admitted provided that appropriate educational programs are available to accommodate the needs of the student.
Eligibility of transfer students for participation in extracurricular activities will be subject to rules adopted by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and Policy 2151 on eligibility.
The superintendent or designee in a timely manner will provide all applicants with written notification of the approval or denial of the application. If the student is to be admitted, the superintendent or designee will notify the resident district and make necessary arrangements for the transfer of student records.
The decision of the District to deny the admission of a nonresident student may be appealed to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) or its designee.
Legal References: RCW 28A.225.215 Enrollment of children without legal residences
28A.225.220 Adults, children from other districts, agreements
for attending school—Tuition
28A.225.225 Applications from school employees’ children, nonresident students, or students receiving home-based instruction to attend district school—Acceptance and rejection standards—Notification
28A.225.230 Appeal from certain decisions to deny student’s request to attend nonresident district—Procedure
28A.225.240 Apportionment credit
28A.225.270 Intradistrict enrollment options policies
28A.225.280 Transfer students’ eligibility for extracurricular activities
28A.225.290 Enrollment options information booklet
28A.225.300 Enrollment options information to parents
Chapter 392-137 WAC Finance—Nonresident Attendance
Cross Reference: Board Policy 2151 Interscholastic Activities
Policy 3115 Homeless Students: Enrollment Rights and Services
Initially Adopted: June 11, 1990
Adopted: February 8, 2010
Amended: April 11, 2011
Amended: September 11, 2023