FILE:  JBCE

PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE

PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE

Public School Choice allows eligible students to transfer to an academically acceptable school.

Once schools eligible to receive students have been identified, a school-site utilization study shall be conducted as needed in all schools to determine the extent to which capacity exists to possibly accommodate students from schools offering choice, including students with special needs and/or students with disabilities.  Only those schools that are labeled academically acceptable shall be considered eligible to receive students.

The Superintendent and staff shall be responsible for developing and managing a School Choice Plan, which shall determine the schools to which students may transfer, which students shall have priority in transferring, and all other regulations and procedures for supervising school choice within the school district.

Notification

Notification of parents of their school choice options shall be sent as early as possible, but not later than the first day of the school year for the schools that are required to offer choice.  If there are no choice options available, this information shall be included in the notification sent parents.

Eligibility of Students

All students in a school required to offer choice shall be eligible to transfer.  However, the priority is to the students from the lowest performing schools.

LOUISIANA PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE

Unless doing so would violate the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, the parent or legal guardian of any student may seek to enroll his/her child in the public school of his/her choice, without regard to residence, school system geographic boundaries, or attendance zones, provided that:

1. The public school in which the student was most recently enrolled, or would otherwise attend, received a school performance letter grade of D or F for the most recent school year, and
   
   

2. The school to which the student seeks to enroll received a school performance letter grade of A, B, or C, for the most recent school year, and has sufficient capacity at the appropriate grade level, or sufficient functional capacity if the school has a special program (magnet, gifted, or other).

“Capacity” for each school shall be defined as the number of students to be determined by applying the provisions of La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § CXV-913 regarding maximum student enrollment numbers for each classroom (grades K-3 shall be 26 students and in grades 4-12, 33 students or as amended) of a school site to determine the maximum number of students allowed by multiplying the number of classrooms by the appropriate grade level allowed student enrollment number.  Functional capacity for each school with a special program, shall be defined as the number of students per classroom to be determined by the Superintendent and staff based on the needs and characteristics of the special program within the school.  

The transfer request period shall begin no later than March first and end no earlier than March twenty-eighth, annually.  The request period each school year shall be posted on the School Board’s website.  Prior to the transfer request period, parents and legal guardians of students enrolled in schools that received a D or F school performance letter grade shall be notified by the principal of said schools of the following:

1. The provisions of La. Rev. Stat. Ann §17:4035.1, Louisiana Public School Choice Law;
   
   

2. Schools under the jurisdiction of the School Board that received an A, B, or C school performance letter grade, if any;
   
   

3. The process for submitting student transfer requests; and,
   
   

4. The page on the Louisiana Department of Education’s website that contains school performance data.

ADJOINING LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The Superintendent shall be authorized to develop pertinent administrative regulations and procedures governing students seeking enrollment under this section of this policy. Such regulations and procedures shall include entering into interdistrict agreements with other city, parish, or local school boards to provide for the admission of students, and the transfer of school funds or other payments by one school board to another for, or on account of, such attendance.

Transportation shall not be provided to a student who enrolls in a public school that is located outside the geographic boundaries of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board in which the student resides, if providing such transportation will result in additional cost to the School Board.

Enrollment under shall only be for one school year, or applicable portion thereof if a student enrolls after the start of the school year. 

Ref:    La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:105, 17:4035.1

Louisiana School, District, and State Accountability System, Bulletin 111, Louisiana Department of Education

Board minutes, 6-28-01, 10-15-15, 2-18-21, 10-21-21

East Baton Rouge Parish School Board