Approved: September 12, 2018 429
Revised: August 14, 2019
PART-TIME OPEN ENROLLMENT
The Evansville Community School District Board of Education supports the requirement that any student enrolled full-time in a public high school in the District may apply to take a course(s) in another educational institution under the Part-time Open Enrollment program in accordance with state law. A student may attend no more than two courses at any time in another educational institution under this program.
Provisions Applicable to All Students Seeking to Attend Courses under this Policy:
If a student wishes to participate in the part-time open enrollment program, the student and their parent or guardian are solely responsible for:
- Following all application procedures
- Providing express notice to the applicable school districts that confirms the student’s intent to attend a course into which the student has been accepted
- Meeting relevant deadlines, as such requirements are further defined in state law, any applicable state regulations, or the policies and procedures of the applicable school districts. Failure to submit a timely and complete application or a failure to follow other mandatory procedures is grounds for loss of the opportunity to participate in the course(s).
The District Administrator or designee shall be responsible for:
- Ensuring that the District appropriately processes all resident and nonresident student applications for the part-time open enrollment program; and
- Determining whether the District will approve or deny individual applications based on criteria established in state law, any applicable state regulations, and applicable District policies and procedures.
Transportation to and from any course(s) taken under this policy shall be the sole responsibility of the student’s parent or guardian, unless state or federal law otherwise requires the student’s resident school district or the educational institution that is offering the course to provide transportation.
Resident Evansville Community School District Student Applications to Take Courses Outside the District:
For purpose of this policy, the “resident school district” means the district in which the pupil resides, unless the pupil attends a different school district pursuant to a whole grade sharing agreement or under full-time open enrollment, in which case the resident school district is the pupil’s district of attendance. In the event a full-time open enrollment student wishes to participate in part-time open enrollment, the student’s primary school of attendance will serve as the “resident school district” and the school district in which the full-time open enrollment student actually resides would be one of the “nonresident school districts” at which the student could take courses under part-time open enrollment.
- District high school students who are seeking to take a course outside of the District under the part-time open enrollment shall use the DPI-approved application form and shall initially submit the application form to the Wisconsin Public School District that is offering the course at least six weeks prior to the date of which the course is scheduled to begin. The public school district offering the course is responsible for forwarding a copy of the application to the District, but the District recommends that the applicant contact the Registrar to confirm that the District has, in fact, received a copy of the application.
- Upon receipt of a copy of a resident student's application to attend a course(s) in another public school district under the part-time open enrollment law, school office staff shall forward the application to the District Registrar’s office for review and action. For students with disabilities who have an individualized education program (IEP), a staff person with sufficient knowledge of the requirements of the student’s IEP shall be involved in processing the course application(s).
- All applications received shall be reviewed using the criteria outlined in state law and district policy:
A) If the student’s application was not submitted in the manner and within the time limits established by state law, it shall be denied. For purpose of this policy, the Evansville Community School District starting dates for each semester are determined by the district approved school calendar. Applications for part-time open enrollment courses are due six weeks prior to these dates.
B)If the course application is from a student with a disability who has an IEP, the application shall be reviewed with the IEP to determine whether the student’s attendance in the course would result in a denial of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) as defined with reference to the IEP, or otherwise conflict with the goals, placement, or other material provisions within IEP. The course application shall be denied if it conflicts with the student’s IEP.
C)If the administrator who is processing the application determines that the cost of the course may impose an undue financial burden on the District in light of the District’s total economic circumstances (including the District’s revenue limit, its ability to pay tuition costs for the student and the per student cost for continuing to be served by the District), the administrator will make a determination as to whether the application will be denied on the basis of an undue financial burden.
- If the application is denied, the applicant's parent or guardian and the educational institution to which the application was made shall be notified, in writing by the District Registrar, that the application has been denied. This notification shall be made no later than one week prior to the date the course is scheduled to commence and shall include the reason(s) for the denial and notify the parent or guardian of the applicant’s right to appeal the denial to DPI.
- The District Administrator or designee shall determine whether or not each proposed out-of-district course will satisfy District graduation requirements. If it is determined that a proposed course does not satisfy District graduation requirements, the applicant’s parent or guardian shall be notified of that fact no later than one week prior to the date the course is scheduled to commence. Such a determination is not a basis on which the District may deny the application. If the District notifies the applicant that their application has been accepted, then the applicant’s parent or guardian must provide timely written notice to the District and to the school district that is offering the course(s) that confirms the student’s intent to attend the specific course(s). For purposes of providing this confirming notice to the District, the notice shall be provided to the Registrar prior to the date on which the course is scheduled to begin. Failure to provide the confirmation notices on a timely basis may result in revocation of approval to attend the course under the part-time open enrollment program.
- The District shall pay for the cost of a resident student’s approved course(s) to the extent required by state law and by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Nonresident Student Applications to take Courses in the Evansville Community School District:
- The parent or guardian of a nonresident high school student who wishes to take a course(s) in the District shall submit the DPI-approved application form to the District Registrar’s office. The application shall specify the course that the student wishes to take and may specify the school(s) at which the student wishes to take the course. The District will deny the application if it is submitted more than 16 weeks or less than six weeks prior to the date the course is scheduled to commence.
- The District shall promptly send a copy of the application to the student’s resident school district, along with a request that the resident school district immediately send the District a copy of the student’s relevant education records, including applicable disciplinary records.
- Upon receipt of the application, it will also be forwarded internally to the appropriate School Administration, who will be responsible for reviewing and acting on the course application. All applications shall be reviewed and acted upon using the eligibility criteria outlined in state law and district policy.
First Priority: District students, who shall be approved to attend the course on a rolling basis pursuant to the District’s regular course registration procedures.
Second Priority: Students who, although not District students, are residents of the District and are otherwise entitled to apply to take the course under state law or under any applicable Board policy, including resident private school students and District residents attending home-based private education programs who apply to attend the course under any part-time public school attendance option established by state law, provided that the District has received the student’s application or registration request at least six weeks prior to the date the course is scheduled to begin.
Third Priority: Grouping shall be made on a random basis identical to that conducted for determining full-time Open Enrollment selection in the District Registrar’s office.
- Not earlier than after the District processes the “Second Priority” group of District residents, as identified above, and no later than one week prior to the date the course is scheduled to commence, the District shall notify the nonresident applicant and the resident school board, in writing, of whether the application has been accepted or denied. If accepted, the acceptance shall identify the school at which the student may attend the course. The acceptance applies only for the following semester, school year, or other session in which the course is offered. If the application is denied, the notice shall include the reason for the denial and notify the parent or guardian of the applicant’s right to appeal the denial to the DPI.
- If the District notifies the applicant that their application has been accepted, then the applicant’s parent or guardian must provide timely written notice to the District confirming the student’s intent to attend the specific course(s) and to the applicant’s resident school district that confirms the student’s intent to attend the specific course(s). For purposes of providing this confirming notice to the District, the notice shall be provided to registrar’s office prior to the date on which the course is scheduled to begin. To the extent permitted by state law, if this confirming notice is not received by the District prior to the date the course is scheduled to begin, the student will not be permitted to attend the course under the part-time open enrollment program.
- A pupil who is taking a course through the part-time open enrollment program must be in physical attendance in the nonresident school district (i.e., the pupil must attend the course within the physical boundaries of the nonresident school district), unless the pupil is attending a course in a virtual program.
- A nonresident student shall not be permitted to take a course under this policy during the term of their expulsion from the District or from another school to the same extent that the District would deny the student’s request, if he/she were a resident of the District, to enroll and take courses as a full-time student during the term of their expulsion. Other conduct-related criteria that the District would apply to determine the course eligibility of a resident student shall also be applied to non-resident student applicants.
- The District shall provide equal opportunities for students with disabilities to attend courses in the District under part-time open enrollment program. However, if a question arises as to possible services or course accommodations or modifications for a student with a disability, the District shall contact the student’s parent or guardian and involve representatives of the school(s) responsible for the students current IEP or other services plan to the extent necessary and appropriate.
- Nonresident students attending courses in the District will have all of the rights and privileges of similarly-situated resident students and will be subject to the same policies and rules as similarly-situated resident students, except that the District shall not charge to or receive from the student any payment other than the payment that the student’s resident school district makes to the District pursuant to state law.
Appeals of Course Denial Decisions:
The parent or guardian of any student whose course application was denied by the District may appeal the decision to the DPI within 30 days of notification of denial from the District.
Legal Ref. Sections:
118.13 (Pupil Discrimination Prohibited)
118.145(4) (Admission to High School)
118.51 (Full-time Open Enrollment)
118.52 (Part-time Open Enrollment)
118.53 (Attendance by Pupils Enrolled in a Home-based Private Education Program)
118.55 (Early College Credit Program)
115.787 (Individualized Educational Programs)
Local Ref.:
Policy #425 –Participation of Non-Public School Students in District Courses, Programs and Activities
Policy #428 – Full-time Public School Open Enrollment
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