Section 167.898

Title XI EDUCATION AND LIBRARIES

Chapter 167

Effective - 28 Aug 2019   

  167.898.  Available enrollment slots to be reported to department, when - procedure for students seeking transfer. — 1.  (1)  By July 15, 2019, and by January first annually, each accredited district, any portion of which is located in the same county as or in an adjoining county to an unaccredited district, shall report to the department of elementary and secondary education or its designee the number of available enrollment slots by grade level.

  (2)  By July 15, 2019, and by January first annually, each unaccredited district shall report to the department of elementary and secondary education or its designee the number of available enrollment slots in the schools of its district that have received annual performance report scores consistent with a classification of accredited.

  (3)  By July 15, 2019, and by January first annually, each approved charter school that is eligible to receive transfer students under section 167.895 shall report to the department of elementary and secondary education or its designee the number of available enrollment slots.

  2.  The department of elementary and secondary education or its designee shall make information and assistance available to parents or guardians who intend to transfer their child to an accredited district or to an approved charter school as described under section 167.895.

  3.  The parent or guardian of a student who intends to transfer his or her child to an accredited district or to an approved charter school as described under section 167.895 for enrollment in that district or charter school in any school year after the 2019-20 school year shall send initial notification to the department of elementary and secondary education or its designee by March first for enrollment in the subsequent school year.

  4.  The department of elementary and secondary education or its designee shall assign those students who seek to transfer to an accredited district or to an approved charter school as described under section 167.895.  When assigning transfer students to approved charter schools, the department of elementary and secondary education or its designee shall coordinate with each approved charter school and its admissions process if capacity is insufficient to enroll all students who submit a timely application.  An approved charter school shall not be required to institute a lottery procedure for determining the admission of resident students.  The department of elementary and secondary education or its designee shall give first priority to students who live in the same household with any family member within the first or second degree of consanguinity or affinity who already attends a school with an annual performance report score consistent with a classification of accredited and who apply to attend the same school.  If insufficient grade-appropriate enrollment slots are available for a student to be able to transfer, the student shall receive first priority the following school year.  The department of elementary and secondary education or its designee shall consider the following factors in assigning school districts and charter schools:

  (1)  The student's or parent's choice of the receiving school district or charter school;

  (2)  The best interests of the student;

  (3)  The availability of transportation funding, as provided under section 167.241; and

  (4)  Distance and travel time to a receiving school.

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The department of elementary and secondary education or its designee shall not consider student academic performance, free and reduced price lunch status, or athletic ability in assigning a student to a school.  The parent or guardian may make an application for a specific building assignment within the district or approved charter school.  Final building assignment shall be determined by the receiving school district or approved charter school.

  5.  (1)  The department of elementary and secondary education or its designee may deny a transfer to a student who in the most recent school year has been suspended from school two or more times or who has been suspended for an act of school violence under subsection 2 of section 160.261.  A student whose transfer is initially precluded under this subsection may be permitted to transfer on a provisional basis as a probationary transfer student, subject to no further disruptive behavior, upon a statement from the student's current school that the student is not disruptive.  A student who is denied a transfer under this subsection has the right to an in-person meeting with an employee of the department of elementary and secondary education or its designee.

  (2)  The department of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate rules to provide common standards for determining disruptive behavior that shall include, but not be limited to, criteria under section 160.261.  Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028.  This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable, and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2019, shall be invalid and void.

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(L. 2019 H.B. 604)