FILE: JBCC
STUDENT ASSIGNMENT
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board shall have authority and responsibility for the assignment, placement, transfer, and continued education of all students attending schools within its jurisdiction. The School Board shall require a student to attend the appropriate school as determined by the domicile of the parent or legal guardian. Each student shall have only one residence (domicile) which is determined to be the place where he/she predominantly sleeps, takes meals, and maintains personal belongings. When legal custody has been awarded by a court of law, the domicile shall be the principal residence of the parent awarded primary or domiciliary custody, or if he/she is eighteen years old or has been emancipated by a court order, by the student's own domicile, if not specifically contrary to the provisions of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction providing for the assignment of students. However, the School Board reserves the authority to assign a student living in one school district to attend school in another district, if circumstances warrant. The parent or legal guardian of a student may file in writing to the School Board an objection to the assignment of the student, in which case the School Board shall review the assignment and investigate the circumstances in order to render a decision. However, no decision of the School Board in response to an objection to the assignment of the student shall conflict with the student assignment provisions of any court-ordered Consent Judgment.
Legal custody is defined as the legal status created by a court order which establishes in a custodian the right to have physical custody of the child or minor. The school principal or his/her designee shall be responsible for monitoring the school enrollment list and shall immediately refer to the Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance the determination of proper school assignment.
Any child temporarily residing within the school district who has no permanent address or who has been abandoned by his/her parent, or who are in foster care, shall be enrolled and allowed to attend school in the zone appropriate to the special circumstance of the child.
A student who does not actually reside in the geographical boundaries of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system shall not attend a school in the system. However, if in the opinion of the principal, the child of an employee can enroll without creating an undue hardship in respect to overcrowding, or materially impacting the racial balance at the school, he/she may attend school in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system.
ATTENDANCE OUT OF ZONE
Attendance out of zone is allowable whenever a mental or physical impairment, medical condition, or other exceptional condition requires services which are unavailable at the school in the child's regular attendance zone, provided that a student requesting transfer for medical reasons and taking elective courses not offered at his/her regular school satisfies the following criteria:
Transfers requested for medical reasons must be verified by
a physician's statement.
The parent or legal guardian must provide transportation.
The transfer must not create an overcrowded condition.
MAGNET SCHOOLS
Students living anywhere within the boundaries of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system are eligible for admittance to magnet schools throughout the parish school system. Admittance is based on submission of an application and documentation of the student meeting certain academic requirements, and approval of the magnet.
VERIFICATION OF DOMICILE
The principal shall be responsible for monitoring school enrollment and shall have authority to remove or transfer any student attending school out of district or out of zone. When investigating the domicile of a student, the School Board, through the principal, shall attempt to verify the primary place of residence of the legal parent or legal or provisional guardian. Such verification of domicile shall be based on such items as the following:
Affidavit of residence, or
Certified copy of any judicially ordered tutorship, custody
or guardianship of any minor child student not domiciled or in the
custody of their natural and/or legal parents. Verification
of the physical residency of the legal custodian, tutor/tutrix or
nonparent shall also be required, or
Any other documentation as may be stipulated by the School Board.
ASSIGNMENTS FOR DISABLED STUDENTS
The School Board shall require that disabled students be assigned to programs within their attendance zones, if possible. However, if an appropriate program is unavailable within a student's attendance zone, the student may be placed in a school specifically designed to provide for the appropriate needs of the student.
CLASSROOM ASSIGNMENT
Selection of courses of study in grades 9 through 12 shall be made by individual students. Assistance in planning for a student’s course of study and selection of classes shall be provided by teachers, counselors, parents, and administrators. Each student shall be furnished a schedule of classes offered and requirements for graduation. Some classes may have prerequisites for enrollment.
In grades kindergarten through second grade, the parent of twins, triplets, etc. (more than one child at a single birth event) may request that their children be placed initially in the same, or separate, classrooms, if the children are in the same grade at the same school. Such a request shall be presented to the Superintendent or his/her designee no later than fourteen (14) days either after the first day of the school year or after the first day of attendance if the child enrolls after the fourteenth day of the school year. Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or School Board policy to the contrary, the request of the parent for initial placement shall be granted subject to further review.
As soon as possible after the end of the student’s first grading period, the Superintendent or his/her designee shall review the initial placement of the child. If the Superintendent or his/her designee, in consultation with the school principal, the child’s(ren’s) teacher(s), and the parent, determines that the initial placement of the children is disruptive to the school or is not in the best educational interests of the child(ren), the initial placement of the child shall be modified, and the child(ren) shall be placed in accordance with School Board policy otherwise applicable to the child(ren).
Revised: September, 2008
Approved: October 16, 2008
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§9:951, 9:952, 9:953, 9:954, 17:81, 17:104.1, 17:221.2, 17:221.4, 17:221.5
Board minutes, 10-16-08
East Baton Rouge Parish School Board