CHAPTER 15.1-31 OPEN ENROLLMENT 15.1-31-01. Open enrollment - Procedure

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By March first of the school year preceding the year of enrollment, a parent who wishes to enroll a student in a North Dakota school district other than the student's district of residence shall file an application for approval with the board of the admitting district and shall file a copy of the application with the student's district of residence. The superintendent of public instruction shall make the application forms available in each school district

By April first of the school year preceding the year of enrollment, the board of the admitting district shall approve or deny the application. The board of the admitting district shall notify the board of the district of residence and the student's parent of its decision within five days

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3. Notice of intent to enroll in the admitting district obligates the student to attend the admitting district during the following school year unless the school boards of the resident and the admitting districts agree in writing to allow the student to transfer back to the resident district or the student's parent relocates to another district

All applications must be reviewed in the order they are received

A student whose school district of residence does not offer the grade level in which the student requires enrollment may not participate in open enrollment. For purposes of determining whether the grade level in which the student requires enrollment is offered, the several school districts cooperating with each other for the joint provision of education services under a plan approved by the superintendent of public instruction must be considered to be a single district

A child placed for purposes other than education in a group or residential care facility or in a psychiatric residential treatment facility is not eligible for open enrollment under this section

The board of a school district of residence and the board of an admitting district shall waive the application, consideration, and approval dates in this section for any student who, together with the student's parent, moves from the student's school district of residence to another school district and who wishes to enroll in a school district other than the district to which the student moved

The board of a school district of residence and the board of an admitting district shall waive the application, consideration, and approval dates in this section for any student who, together with the student's parent, moves into this state from out of state and who wishes to enroll in a school district other than the district to which the student moved

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15.1-31-02. Open enrollment - Grounds for denial - Exception

Repealed by S.L. 2007, ch. 181, ยง 3

15.1-31-03. Open enrollment - State aid

1. Once a student is enrolled in an admitting district, the student must remain enrolled in the admitting district until: a

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The student graduates; The student relocates to another district; The student's parent applies for enrollment in another school district; or The student's parent notifies the student's school district of residence that the student will attend school in the school district of residence the following year

Except as specifically provided in this chapter, chapter 15.1-29 does not apply to students involved in open enrollment

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15.1-31-04. Open enrollment - Students with disabilities - Additional costs

If an application under this chapter is approved for a student with a disability, the board of the student's school district of residence shall pay to the admitting district the costs incurred by Page No. 1 the admitting district in providing special education and related services to the student. The superintendent of public instruction shall reimburse the student's school district of residence for all excess costs, as defined in section 15.1-32-18

15.1-31-05. Open enrollment - Transportation

A school district of residence may provide transportation to a student participating in open enrollment. If a district of residence does not provide transportation to a student participating in open enrollment, transportation may be provided by the admitting district

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15.1-31-06. Open enrollment - School boards - Standards

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The board of each school district shall set standards for the acceptance and denial of applications for admittance under open enrollment as provided in section 15.1-31-01. The standards may address the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or school building. The standards may not address previous academic achievement, participation in extracurricular activities, disabilities, English language proficiency, or previous disciplinary proceedings

A board may also determine that applications for admittance under open enrollment, in accordance with this chapter, will not be considered

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A school district participating in an open enrollment program may not give or offer to give a student remuneration, or directly exert influence on the student or the student's family, in order to encourage participation in the open enrollment program

For purposes of this subsection, directly exerting influence means providing information about the school district to individuals who are not residents of that district unless the information is requested

If the members of the board of a school district believe that another school district has violated this subsection, the board may file a complaint with the superintendent of public instruction. Upon receipt of a complaint alleging a violation of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall hold a hearing and accept testimony and evidence regarding the complaint. If the superintendent finds that a school district has violated this subsection, the superintendent may withhold some or all of the state aid payments to which the district would be otherwise entitled for a period of one year from the date of the finding. A decision by the superintendent under this subsection is appealable to the state board of public school education. A decision by the state board of public school education is final

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15.1-31-07. Students not subject to this chapter

If a student, as a result of a school district dissolution or reorganization, resides in a district other than the one the student chooses to attend at the time of the dissolution or reorganization, the student is not subject to this chapter and may attend school in the chosen school district

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15.1-31-08. Open enrollment - Transfer of students - Responsibility of district of 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 15.1-31, a student's parent may apply to a contiguous school district for admission of the student at any time during the school year if: a

The student was a victim of violence occurring within the school in which the student was enrolled and the violence was documented; The superintendent of public instruction has declared the school in which the student was enrolled to be an unsafe school; or The superintendent of public instruction has identified the school in which the student was enrolled as one that requires program improvement for six consecutive years

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The school district receiving an application under subsection 1 shall review the application to ensure compliance with the provisions of subsection 1 and shall notify the student's parent and the student's school district of residence of the arrangements for the student's transfer within five days from the date the application was received

The student's school district of residence shall consider the student transferred as of the date of enrollment by the admitting district

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4. Upon transfer of a student under this section, the board of the admitting district and the board of the student's school district of residence shall enter into a tuition agreement. The student's school district of residence shall reimburse the admitting district for all costs incurred by the admitting district in providing education for the student

The student's school district of residence shall transport the student to school in the admitting district or shall reimburse the admitting district for all costs incurred in transporting the student or providing for the transportation of the student to school in the admitting district. These transportation costs are not reimbursable through state transportation funds

The provisions of this section are applicable to a student until the conclusion of the school year in which the superintendent of public instruction declares that the school in the student's district of residence is no longer an unsafe school or that the school no longer requires program improvement

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