ASSIGNMENT TO SCHOOL, CLASS, AND GRADE | Administrative Guideline Manual

5120 - ASSIGNMENT TO SCHOOL, CLASS, AND GRADE

The following guidelines shall be followed in assigning students to schools, classes, and grades. All inquiries regarding elementary and secondary school boundaries are to be directed to the District Administrator.

School Assignment/Transfer
1. Fundamentally, student assignment to a school shall be determined by attendance areas. Such areas will be adjusted to balance class size, to provide for diversity, and to maintain teacher-student ratios.
  
  Elementary students may be assigned to the building which serves the area in which they live. The boundaries of the elementary schools shall be:
  1. West Elementary: Students residing west of the Rock River
  2. East Elementary: Students residing east of the Rock River and west of Paradise Road (south of Highway 18) and west of or on Coffee Road (north of Highway 18)
  3. Sullivan Elementary: Students residing east of or on Paradise Road (south of Highway 18) and east of Coffee Road (north of Highway 18)
2. When feasible, children in the same family will be assigned to the same school, but children may be assigned to different schools when they live in a divided area, an overloaded area, or when requested by a parent and transportation can be provided through existing bus routes.
3. Whenever possible, commitments made, in writing, to parents in earlier years - either implicitly by tradition or verbally - will be given priority in the process of assigning students for the year ahead. Placement policies and individual placements will be reviewed annually and adjusted when necessary.
4. A parent(s)/guardian(s) may request that his/her/their child be allowed to attend a school outside the student’s elementary school attendance area for an upcoming school year. Requests must be filed in writing with the Superintendent. (See AGForm 5120) Approval of said request will be made by the Superintendent in consultation with the building principal(s). A response to all written requests will take place within a timely fashion. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of response from Superintendent, a parent/guardian may submit a written request to appeal said response to the Board.
  
  The administration shall consider available space before responding to a request to attend a school outside the regular attendance area. Transportation will not be provided for outside the regular attendance area requests unless the administration, in consultation with the District's transportation provider, determines that busing can be provided at no additional cost to the district. Once a request to attend a school outside the established attendance boundary is approved, the student shall remain in that elementary school until the parent(s)/guardian(s) requests a transfer or the student moves to the middle school. Parent/guardian requests that result from the Board’s decision to restructure elementary school grade configuration shall be considered outside this policy. Specific guidelines and considerations shall be developed as part of any reconfiguration planning.
5. When families relocate from one neighborhood to another within the District during the school year, the children affected may continue their education at their original school if:
  1. the transportation can be provided through existing bus routes, or
  2. parents provide transportation to/from school.

Such determinations will be made by the District Administrator in consultation with the building principal.

Class and Grade Assignment/Transfer
1. Assignments to class and grade shall be made by the principal after consultation with relevant staff.
2. Placement will be based on several factors including the intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of the student as revealed by the use of available data and observations of the staff.
3. The District shall establish the criteria, including the intellectual, social, and emotional characteristics, by which students are assigned to classes and/or teachers or are transferred after initial assignment.
  
  The following procedures shall be followed in a transfer of a student within a school:
  1. A written request shall be made to the principal by the parent of the student, a professional staff member, or by a student. Transfer requests may also be initiated by the principal.
  2. After consultation with the appropriate personnel, a determination regarding the validity of the request shall be made by the District Administrator.
  3. If the transfer request is initiated by the District or a minor student, parents shall be advised of the request and the reasons it will be beneficial to the student or is necessary to maintain program effectiveness. They shall be advised of their rights of appeal if they do not agree with the transfer.

Revised 2/12/24