DES MOINES PUBLIC SCHOOLS

INTER-OFFICE LETTER

DATE: June 28, 2018

TO: All Principals and Secretaries

FROM: Eleanor Shirley, Enrollment Supervisor

SUBJECT: Open Enrollment Patron Notification

Districts are required by State Law to annually notify patrons of open enrollment deadlines and the possibility of transportation assistance. As a district we have determined that this could best be accomplished through each school’s newsletter. Since notification is required for the 2019-2020 school year, the publication must be distributed after July 1, 2018 and prior to March 1, 2019. Please include this notice in your August/September and your October/November newsletter. Thank you for your attention.

2019-2020 School Year

PATRON NOTIFICATION

Between District Open Enrollment

Iowa Administrative Code 281-17.3(2)

Parents/Guardians considering the use of the open enrollment option to enroll their children in another public school district in the state of Iowa should be aware of the following dates:

DEADLINES:

March 1, 2019 is the last date for regular open enrollment requests for the 2019-2020 school year.

September 1, 2019 is the last date for open enrollment requests for entering kindergarten students and those students falling under the “good cause” definition for the 2019-2020 school year. To insure that the transfer of individual students does not adversely affect the diversity plan of the District, certain limitations to open enrollment have been established. Parents of kindergarten students are therefore encouraged to make application requests prior to March 1, 2019.

APPEALS:

Within 30 days of a denial of an open enrollment request by the DMPS Board of Education, a parent/guardian may file an appeal with the state board of education only if the open enrollment request was based on repeated acts of harassment or a serious health condition of the student that the district cannot adequately address. All other denials must be appealed to the district court in Polk County.

ATHLETIC ELIGIBILITY:

In most cases, a high school student who open enrolls is ineligible for varsity athletic competition during the student’s first 90 consecutive school days of enrollment in the receiving district. Some, but not all, exceptions to this general rule of ineligibility are as follows:

1. The sending district does not offer the sport in question.

2. The sending district was dissolved and merged with one or more other districts.

3. The sending district whole-grade shares with another district for the student’s grade level.

TRANSPORTATION:

Parents/Guardians of students open enrolled from another school district are eligible for transportation assistance if the household income of the parent/guardian is at or below the federal poverty guidelines for household size. The two districts must be contiguous. Assistance may be in the form of actual transportation or in the form of a cash stipend. Information regarding transportation eligibility and a complete copy of the District’s open enrollment policy and procedures may be obtained from the Open Enrollment Office, 2100 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, IA 50321

IMPORTANT – Please check addresses for all of your families. If a family has moved outside of the Des Moines District area, the student cannot enroll in the fall without having a current open enrollment application on file. Be sure the family has turned in this application prior to allowing the student to start school in the fall. This is very important for Certified Count. Continuation is automatic per the state code; the application just needs to be completed. The only exception to this is students who move AFTER completing their 10^th grade year.