Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 281 - Education Department › Title II - Accredited Schools and School Districts › Chapter 17 - Open Enrollment and Other Enrollment Options › Rule 281-17.6 - Limitations on Open Enrollment Requests

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
A district board may apply the following provisions related
				  to open enrollment requests:
(1)
Court-ordered desegregation plans.
If the resident district
				has a court-ordered desegregation plan, the superintendent of the resident
				district may act upon the request for transfer as outlined in Iowa Code section
				282.18(3)
"a."
A denial by the superintendent may be appealed
				following the procedures outlined in Iowa Code section
				282.18(3)
"b."
(2)
Policy on insufficient classroom space.
No receiving district
				is required to accept an open enrollment request if it has insufficient
				classroom space to accommodate the pupil(s). Each district board must adopt a
				policy which defines the term "insufficient classroom space" for that district.
				This policy will establish a basis for the district to make determinations on
				the acceptance or denial, as a receiving district, of an open enrollment
				request. This policy may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the
				following: nature of the educational program, grade level, available
				instructional staff, instructional method, physical space, pupil-teacher ratio,
				equipment and materials, facilities either being planned or under construction,
				facilities planned to be closed, finances available, sharing agreement in force
				or planned, bargaining agreement in force, special education class size or
				caseload established pursuant to rule
				281-41.408 (256B,273, 34CFR300
				), or board-adopted district educational goals and objectives. This policy will
				be reviewed annually by the district board.
(3)
Designation of attendance
				center.
The right of a parent/guardian to request open enrollment is
				to a district other than the district of residence, not to an attendance center
				within the nonresident district. In accepting an open enrollment pupil, the
				receiving district board has the same authority it has in regard to its
				resident pupils as provided by Iowa Code section
				279.11, to "determine the
				particular school which each child shall attend." In the application process,
				however, the parent or guardian may request an attendance center of
				preference.
(4)
Expelled or
				suspended students.
A pupil who has been suspended or expelled by
				action of the administration or board of the resident district is not permitted
				to enroll if an open enrollment request is filed until the pupil is reinstated
				for school attendance in the resident district. Once reinstated, the
				application for open enrollment will be considered in the same manner as any
				other open enrollment request. If a pupil for whom an open enrollment request
				has been filed is subsequently expelled by action of the resident district
				board, the pupil may be denied enrollment by the receiving district board until
				the pupil is reinstated for school attendance by the resident district. The
				provisions of this subrule also apply to a pupil who has been suspended or
				expelled in a receiving district and is requesting open enrollment to an
				alternative receiving district or is seeking to return to the resident district
				as outlined in subrule 17.2(3).
(5)
Participation in interscholastic athletic contests and
				competitions.
A student in grades 9 through 12 whose transfer of
				schools had occurred due to a request for open enrollment by the student's
				parent or guardian is ineligible to compete in interscholastic athletics during
				the first 90 school days of transfer except that a student may participate
				immediately if the student is entering grade 9 for the first time and did not
				participate in an interscholastic athletic competition for another school
				during the summer immediately following eighth grade. The period of
				ineligibility applies only to varsity-level contests and competitions.
				("Varsity" means the highest level of competition offered by one school or
				school district against the highest level of competition offered by an opposing
				school or school district.) If a pupil is declared ineligible for
				interscholastic athletic contests and athletic competitions in the pupil's
				district of residence due to the pupil's academic performance, upon
				participating in open enrollment, in addition to any other period of
				ineligibility under this rule, the pupil will be ineligible in the receiving
				district for the remaining period of ineligibility declared by the district of
				residence.
a. The period of ineligibility does
				not apply if the board of directors of the district of residence and the board
				of directors of the receiving district both agree to waive the ineligibility
				period or under any reason outlined in Iowa Code section
				282.18(9).
b. The resident district may charge the
				receiving district for participation in cocurricular or extracurricular
				activities in accordance with Iowa Code section
				282.18(5).