Policies and Administrative Procedures

The Guilford County Board of Education will adopt attendance zones for the schools within the district. School attendance zones shall be recommended by the Superintendent and adopted by the Board of Education, incorporation the guiding principles as noted in Section III.

I.   Student Assignment and Transfer Within the School System

A. Assignment

1. It is the intent of the Board that all students who qualify for admission to its schools shall be assigned to the schools in the attendance area of their domicile. However, students may be assigned to schools based on administrative or programmatic issues such as specialized programs or classrooms, handicap accessibility, student safety, discipline or issues deemed in the best interest of the student and/or effective administration of the schools. An out-of-district student who has been accepted for admission shall be assigned to a school within a reasonable proximity to the student's domicile that meets the best interest of the student and the orderly and efficient administration of the public schools.  The district is under no obligation to furnish school transportation for students living outside the district.

2. Students whose parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian change their domicile within the school district during a school year may be permitted to complete the remainder of the school year in their initial school, provided they submit necessary request forms to the Student Assignment Office, have no attendance or behavior problems and furnish their own transportation.

3. Students whose parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian change their domicile to outside the county during the school year may be permitted to complete the remainder of the year in their present school location provided they meet the requirements stated in SCHOOL ADMISSION POLICY: JBC, furnish their own transportation, and pay tuition when applicable.

B. Transfers/Assignment within the School System

The Superintendent or his/her designee (Director of Student Assignment) shall have the authority to approve or deny requests for transfers/assignments based upon the following factors:

1.   the best interest of the child includes but is not limited to:

a. documentation of extreme and unusual hardship which affects the student's achievement and/or behavior.

b. sibling preference.  In cases where a child in a family has been granted a transfer/assignment, preference will be considered for a sibling whenever possible

c. weighing such factors as the following: capacity of the school, capacity of the given grade level, a continuance of the family's need that allowed the other child's transfer/assignment to be granted, and continued enrollment of the other child at the requested school.

d. documented child care situations

2.   the orderly and efficient administration of the public schools includes but is not limited to:

a. change of domicile during the school year.  Students whose domicile changes from one school attendance area to another within the district during the same school year may choose to complete that school year in the same school or attend school in the area to which they have moved.  If they elect to remain in the first school in order to complete that year, they shall be required to attend the school according to the area in which they live at the beginning of the next school year.  The student who is moving from one school district and is a rising 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th or 12th grader, may choose either to complete his/her elementary, middle, or high school education in the school he or she is currently attending or to attend school in the new attendance area.  Students whose domicile has changed but who choose to complete the school year at their first school shall be responsible for their own transportation to and from school.

b. when the Board of Education adopts new attendance zones, the district will give students who will be in the 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades for the year that their schools' attendance zones are scheduled to be implemented the option to remain in their previously assigned school or to attend their newly-assigned school.  The District will not provide transportation to students who exercise the option to remain at their previously assigned school.

3.   the proper administration of the school to which reassignment is requested includes but is not limited to:

a.  school enrollment capacity; students will not be reassigned to schools that are identified as already exceeding core facility capacity or where appropriate class size will be jeopardized.

b.  employee hardship.  Employees of the school system may request a transfer for their children in order to facilitate the performance of their work and parental responsibilities. Employee-requested transfers may be granted after considering the convenience to the employee, the program and/or facility availability, and the concerns of the employee's supervisor.

4.   the instruction, health and safety of all students includes but is not limited to:

a.  documented severe medical reasons

b.  program availability (each case will be reviewed based on the educational intent for the student)

c. safety issues as a result of past or threatened conduct or other documented concerns

C.   Procedure for Requesting Transfer includes but is not limited to:

1.  Requests for transfers for the upcoming year must be made in writing to the Superintendent or his/her designee (Director of Student Assignment) by the parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian between May 1 and July 1. 

2.  Any documentation that the parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian wishes to present to support the request for reassignment must be presented at the time of the original request.  The Board of Education may, at its discretion, consider additional documentation regarding the request for reassignment.

3.  The Superintendent or his/her designee (Director of Student Assignment) shall notify the parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian of the decision in writing.  If the request for transfer is disapproved, the notice shall be given to the applicant by certified or registered mail.

4.  Transfers granted by the Superintendent or his/her designee (Director of Student Assignment) only cover one school year.  Applicants for a transfer must reapply each year.

5.  Except for changes of domicile during the year as noted in Section B.2.a., once reassigned by the Superintendent, his/her designee (Director of Student Assignment) or the Board, it is the intent to allow the student to remain in that school assignment through its highest grade in so long as the reason for the legitimate reassignment exists each successive year, and is predicated on good attendance and behavior, and on space availability.  These items will be reviewed when the request form is submitted each year.

D. Appeal to the Board

 If the application for reassignment or transfer is denied, the applicant may, within five (5) days after receiving notice of the denial, apply in writing to the Director of Student Assignment for a hearing with a Board of Education panel and shall be entitled to a prompt and fair hearing on the question of the reassignment or transfer of the child to a different school.  The Board of Education panel may, at its discretion, consider additional documentation regarding the request for reassignment.  The hearing officer shall have responsibility for scheduling Board panel hearings.  At the hearing, the panel shall consider the applicants written documentation as previously provided (C.2) and the applicant will be given ten (10) minutes to provide oral presentation to the panel citing why the initial decision was in error of supporting the reassignment request.  Five (5) minutes will be allotted for the panel to pose questions.  The applicant will then be excused and the panel will deliberate after receiving instructions and advice from designated counsel.  The panel decision will be forwarded to the Board.  The applicant will be advised of the decision following a meeting of the Board.  Persons wishing to appeal their assignment requests tothe Board shall be granted the opportunity to appeal each decision one (1) time during the school year.

To facilitate the efficient and effective administration of education to students, generally students will not be reassigned during the school year. In unusual circumstances such as medical emergency or extreme safety risk the Superintendent's designee may assign a student to a school other than the original school of assignment for that school year. No appeal shall lie from a request for special assignment made outside the stated application period in c.1.

II.   Releases to Other School Systems

A. The Superintendent or his/her designee (Director of Student Assignment) shall have authority to approve or deny requests for releases based upon the following factors:

1.   documented medical reasons,

2.  documented evidence of extreme and unusual hardship which affects the student's achievement and/or behavior,

3.  change of domicile during the school year, and

4.  program availability.

B. Students whose parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian establish their domicile within the school district during a school year may be granted a release to complete the remainder of the school year in their present school location provided they pay any fees required by that school, and furnish their own transportation.

C.   Students released to other school systems must meet financial obligations required by their new school systems and provide their own transportation.

D. Procedure for requesting release:

1.  Except in emergency circumstances affecting the health, safety, or welfare of the child, applications for releases must be made to the Superintendent or his/her designee (Director of Student Assignment) by the parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian between May 1 and July 1.

2.  The Superintendent or his/her designee (Director of Student Assignment) shall notify the parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian and the other school system of the decision in writing.  If the request for a release is disapproved, the notice shall be given to the applicant by certified or registered mail.

E.  Appeal to the Board

If the application for release is denied, the applicant may, within five (5) days after receiving notice of the denial, apply to the Director of Student Assignment for a hearing with a Board ofEducation panel in writing on the question of the release of the child to a different school district.

III.  Attendance Zone Considerations

A. The school attendance plan for Guilford County Schools is designed to foster the mission of public education, to include promotion of higher levels of academic achievement and good citizenship development, by:

1.   recognizing and valuing diversity;

2.   using  clearly defined boundaries, where practical;

3.   working toward common feeder patterns throughout the district;

4.   organizing schools in a K-5, K-8, 6-8, and 9-12 pattern generally;

5.   seeking to avoid changing an attendance zone more often than every four (4) years; and

6.   encouraging participation by all citizens in our schools.

B. The plan should serve the economic interest of taxpayers by:

1.  efficiently utilizing transportation dollars;

2.  anticipating needs for additional schools or additions to existing facilities in areas of high growth and communicating to the public these needs in a timely way;

3.  anticipating and communicating to the public the need to have all facilities meet approved health, safety, environmental, and educational standards applicable to public schools; and

4.  seeking to utilize school facilities fully and efficiently

LEGAL REFERENCE:   G.S. 115C-367-369

NOTE:  This Board Policy revises and replaces the previous Administrative Policy JBCC issued by the Superintendent 4-15-02.