Administrative Rules and Procedures to Implement Policy 502.03

Administrative Rules and Procedures to Implement Policy 502.03

A. Process and Time Lines to Option In
For a student to attend Elkhorn Public Schools as an option enrollment student, the student’s parent or legal guardian must submit an application to the Board of Education of the Elkhorn Public School District between September 1 and March 15 for enrollment during the following and subsequent school years (the “application period”).

Upon receipt of an application, the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee shall provide the resident school district with the name of the applicant on or before April 1 or, in the case of an application submitted after March 15, within sixty days after submission. The application of a student who relocates in a different school district but wants to continue attending his or her original resident school district and who has been enrolled in his or her original school district for the immediate preceding two years shall be automatically accepted and the deadlines prescribed in section 79-237 shall be waived.

Provisions for Waiver of Application Deadline:
The application deadline will be waived by the School Board for applications to option into the Elkhorn Public School District, provided that the application contains a release approval fromthe resident district and satisfies any other requirements of law. Further, the application deadline shall not be waived if the application is for enrollment in any program, class, grade level or school building or in any special education programs operated by this School District which have been determined by the School Board to be at capacity in accordance with the capacity standards (Appendix “1”), and no waiver of the deadline shall be made for such an application regardless of whether such capacity determinations are declared invalid for any reason.

B. Rejection of Applications; Reasons
1. Capacity: An option enrollment application shall be rejected in the event the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or school building or the availability of appropriate special education programs operated by the School District would be exceeded by acceptance of the application, and an option enrollment application shall be rejected in the event the application is for enrollment in a program, class, grade level, or school building which has been declared unavailable to option students due to lack of capacity.
2. Timeliness: An option enrollment application shall be rejected in the event the application is not filed on a timely basis and the filing deadline has not been waived.
3. Previous Option Enrollment: An option enrollment application shall be rejected in the event the student has previously filed an option enrollment application for enrollment in any School District and has had such application accepted, unless a statutory exception to the
“one-time” rule is applicable to the student’s circumstance.
4. Other Reasons: An option enrollment application may be rejected in the event the Superintendent, the Superintendent’s designee, or the School Board determines: The application is not submitted on a form prescribed by the State Department of Education, is not completely and accurately filled in, is not received within the time required by law, or any additional information requested to be supplied is not supplied to the School District within the time lines indicated; or in the event acceptance of the application is not required by law. Matters which are legally prohibited from being considered as standards for acceptance or rejection of applications (including “previous academic achievement, athletic or extracurricular ability, disabilities, proficiency in the English language, or previous disciplinary proceedings” and further including, without limitation, race, national origin, and gender) shall not be considered as reasons for acceptance or rejection.

C. Priority of Acceptance

Priority shall be accorded in the following order: (1) first, to those applications required to be given priority by law, (2) second, to those with a sibling in attendance at Elkhorn Public Schools, with priority within this group being given to those who had earliest filed applications, and (3) third to those without an option student sibling in attendance at Elkhorn Public Schools, with priority within this group to those who had earliest filed applications.

Filing date determinations are made by the Superintendent, or the Superintendent’s designee. In the event applications within a group are received at the same or substantially the same time, priority as between such same-date applications shall be determined on the basis of random drawing.

D. Determination of Capacity

The School Board will determine and set, on an annual basis, the maximum number ofoption enrollment applications the School District will accept in any program, class, grade level or school building or in any special education programs operated by this School District, based upon available staff, facilities, projected enrollment of resident students, projected number of students with which this School District will contract based on existing contractual arrangements, and availability of appropriate special education programs, and may declare a program, class or school unavailable to option students due to lack of capacity. Such determinations may be made in the form of an Appendix to this Policy. The determination and declaration made for any school year shall be made annually for the next school year.

E. Releases for Options Out

Provisions for Release:
A request for release of a resident student of the Elkhorn Public School District who submits an enrollment option application after March 15 or any other statutory deadline will be granted unless the release shall not be granted if the administration is considering or has recommended expulsion of the student at the time the application is filed, and the administration determines it is appropriate to complete the expulsion process.

The Superintendent or designee is hereby authorized to execute such releases on behalf of the School Board and the School District, subject to subsequent ratification by the School Board.

F. Notification of Acceptance or Rejection

In the case of an application to option enroll into the Elkhorn Public School District, the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee shall notify, in writing, the parent or legal guardian of the student and the resident school district whether the application is accepted or rejected on or before April 1 or, in the case of an application submitted after March 15, within sixty days after submission.

If an option enrollment application or a request for release is rejected by the Elkhorn Public School District, the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee shall provide written notification to the parent or guardian stating the reasons for the rejection and the process for appealing such rejection to the State Board of Education. Such notification shall be sent by certified
mail.

G. Applications Subsequent to Relocations or Mergers

An option enrollment application does not require a release and shall be accepted or rejected within forty-five days after filing in the following circumstances:

1. the student relocated to a different resident school district after February 1, or
2. the student’s option school district merged with another district effective after
February 1, and
3. the application is for attendance during the immediately following and subsequent school years.

H. Status of Option Student

A student who is admitted under the enrollment option program shall be treated as a resident student, and in such regard shall be required to provide such enrollment information and documentation as is required for enrollment of other students (e.g., certified birth certificate and evidence of physical examination, visual evaluation and immunization), shall be required to be enrolled on a full-time basis, and shall be required to adhere to student conduct rules. The building assignment for an option student, as well as classroom and grade level assignments, shall be determined by the administration.

An option student shall not be entitled to transportation except as required by law. For option students receiving special education services, the transportation services required in the student’s Individualized Education Plan shall be provided by the resident school district.

I. Information Regarding Schools, Programs, Policies and Procedures.

As part of the option enrollment program, the administration shall make information about the Elkhorn Public Schools and its school, programs, policies, and procedures available to all interested persons and shall have a copy of the option enrollment policy and regulations.

Legal Reference: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 79-232 to 79-246

Adopted:October12,1992
Revised:November15,1993
Revised:December11,1995
Revised:September12,1996
Revised:April10,2006
Revised: March 8, 2010
Revised: January 19, 2019
Revised: December 14, 2020