SF 2011 (LSB 5155XS (5) 90)

SENATE FILE 2011

BY  COURNOYER

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to open enrollment and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 282.18, subsection 2, paragraphs a and b, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  A By March 1 of the preceding school year for students entering grades one through twelve, or by September 1 of the current school year for students entering kindergarten or for prekindergarten students enrolled in special education programs and included in the school district’s basic enrollment under section 257.6, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (1), a parent or guardian shall send notification to the district of residence and the receiving district, on forms prescribed by the department of education, that the parent or guardian intends to enroll the parent’s or guardian’s child in a public school in another school district. If a parent or guardian fails to file a notification that the parent or guardian intends to enroll the parent’s or guardian’s child in a public school in another district by the deadline specified in this paragraph, the procedures of subsection 3A apply.
   b.  The board of the receiving district shall enroll the pupil in a school in the receiving district for the following school year unless the receiving district has insufficient classroom space for the pupil. The board of directors of a receiving district may adopt a policy granting the superintendent of the school district authority to approve open enrollment applications. If the request is granted, the board shall transmit a copy of the form to the parent or guardian and the school district of residence within five days after board action, but not later than June 1 of the preceding school year. The parent or guardian may withdraw the request at any time prior to the board’s action on the application start of the school year. A denial of a request by the board of a receiving district is not subject to appeal.
    Sec. 2.  Section 282.18, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The superintendent of a district subject to court-ordered desegregation may deny a request for transfer under this section if the superintendent finds that enrollment or release of a pupil will adversely affect the district’s implementation of the desegregation order, unless the transfer is requested by a pupil whose sibling is already participating in open enrollment to another district, or unless the request for transfer is submitted to the district in a timely manner as required under subsection 2 prior to implementation of the desegregation order by the district. If a transfer request would facilitate implementation of a desegregation order, the district shall give priority to granting the request over other requests.
    Sec. 3.  Section 282.18, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3A.  a.  After March 1 of the preceding school year and until the date specified in section 257.6, subsection 1, the parent or guardian shall send notification to the district of residence and the receiving district, on forms prescribed by the department of education, that good cause exists for failure to meet the March 1 deadline. The board of directors of a receiving school district may adopt a policy granting the superintendent of the school district authority to approve open enrollment applications submitted after the March 1 deadline. The board of the receiving district shall take action to approve the request if good cause exists. If the request is granted, the board shall transmit a copy of the form to the parent or guardian and the school district of residence within five days after board action. A denial of a request by the board of a receiving district is not subject to appeal.
   b.  If a resident district believes that a receiving district is violating this subsection, the resident district may, within fifteen days after board action by the receiving district, submit an appeal to the director of the department of education.
   c.  The director of the department of education, or the director’s designee, shall attempt to mediate the dispute to reach approval by both boards as provided in subsection 12A. If approval is not reached under mediation, the director or the director’s designee shall conduct a hearing and shall hear testimony from both boards. Within ten days following the hearing, the director shall render a decision upholding or reversing the decision by the board of the receiving district. Within five days of the director’s decision, the board may appeal the decision of the director to the state board of education under the procedures set forth in chapter 290.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3B.  Open enrollment applications filed after March 1 of the preceding school year that do not qualify for good cause as provided in subsection 3A shall be subject to the approval of the board of the resident district and the board of the receiving district. The parent or guardian shall send notification to the district of residence and the receiving district that the parent or guardian seeks to enroll the parent’s or guardian’s child in the receiving district. A decision of either board to deny an application filed under this subsection involving repeated acts of harassment of the student or serious health condition of the student that the resident district cannot adequately address is subject to appeal under section 290.1. The state board shall exercise broad discretion to achieve just and equitable results that are in the best interest of the affected child or children.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  12A.  An application for open enrollment may be granted at any time with approval of the resident and receiving districts.
    Sec. 4.  Section 282.18, subsection 4, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  A request under this section is for a period of not less than one year. If the request is for more than one year and the parent or guardian desires to have the pupil enroll in a different district, the parent or guardian may petition the current receiving district by March 1 of the previous school year for permission to enroll the pupil in a different district for a period of not less than one year. Upon receipt of such a request, the current receiving district board may act on the request to transfer to the other school district at the next regularly scheduled board meeting after the receipt of the request. The new receiving district shall enroll the pupil in the district unless there is insufficient classroom space in the district or the district is subject to court-ordered desegregation and enrollment of the pupil would adversely affect implementation of the desegregation order. A denial of a request to change district enrollment within the approval period is not subject to appeal. A  However, a pupil who has been in attendance in another district under this section may return to the district of residence and enroll at any time, once the parent or guardian has notified the district of residence and the receiving district in writing of the decision to enroll the pupil in the district of residence.
    Sec. 5.  Section 282.18, subsection 9, paragraph a, subparagraph (8), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   (8)  If the pupil participates in open enrollment because of circumstances that meet the definition of good cause. For purposes of this subparagraph section, “good cause” means a change in a child’s residence due to a change in family residence, a change in a child’s residence from the residence of one parent or guardian to the residence of a different parent or guardian, a change in the state in which the family residence is located, a change in a child’s parents’ marital status, a guardianship or custody proceeding, placement in foster care, adoption, participation in a foreign exchange program, initial placement of a prekindergarten student in a special education program requiring specially designed instruction, or participation in a substance use disorder or mental health treatment program, a change in the status of a child’s resident district such as removal of accreditation by the state board, surrender of accreditation, or permanent closure of a nonpublic school, revocation of a charter school contract as provided in section 256E.10 or 256F.8, the failure of negotiations for a whole grade sharing, reorganization, dissolution agreement, or the rejection of a current whole grade sharing agreement, or reorganization plan.
    Sec. 6.  Section 290.1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   290.1  Appeal to state board.
   An affected pupil, or the parent or guardian of an affected pupil who is a minor, who is aggrieved by a decision or order of the board of directors of a school corporation in a matter of law or fact, or a decision or order of a board of directors under section 282.18, subsection 3B, may, within thirty days after the rendition of the decision or the making of the order, appeal the decision or order to the state board of education; the basis of the proceedings shall be an affidavit filed with the state board by the party aggrieved within the time for taking the appeal, which affidavit shall set forth any error complained of in a plain and concise manner.
    Sec. 7.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to applications and notifications related to open enrollment submitted under section 282.18 on or after the effective date of this Act.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to open enrollment. Current law authorizes a parent or guardian to enroll the parent’s or guardian’s child in a public school in another school district at any time, subject to certain limited exceptions. The bill establishes that, in order for a parent or guardian to open enroll the parent’s or guardian’s child, the parent or guardian is required to send a notification to that effect to both the district of residence and the receiving district by March 1 of the preceding school year for students entering grades 1 through 12, or by September 1 of the current school year for students entering kindergarten or for prekindergarten students enrolled in special education programs and included in the school district’s basic enrollment. The bill provides that, if a parent or guardian fails to send the notification when required, the parent or guardian may still be able to open enroll the parent’s or guardian’s child if “good cause”, as defined in Code section 282.18(9)(a)(8), exists for failure to meet the March 1 deadline. If good cause does not exist for failure to meet the March 1 deadline, the bill establishes that open enrollment applications are subject to the approval of the board of the resident district and the board of the receiving district and provides for the right to appeal the decision of either board to the state board of education.
   The bill provides that an application for open enrollment may be granted at any time with approval of the resident and receiving districts.
   The bill establishes appeal and mediation mechanisms, involving both the department of education and the state board of education, to resolve disputes between school districts related to applications for open enrollment.
   The bill applies to applications and notifications related to open enrollment submitted on or after the effective date of the bill.