Chapter 4. School District Enrollment Choice Program
TITLE 14
Education
Free Public Schools
CHAPTER 4. SCHOOL DISTRICT ENROLLMENT CHOICE PROGRAM
§ 401. Establishment; statement of purpose.
(a) There is hereby established an enrollment choice program within the public school system of this State.
(b) In establishing this program, it is the goal of the General Assembly to increase access to educational opportunity for all children throughout the State regardless of where they may live. It is therefore the intent of the General Assembly that this chapter be construed broadly to maximize parental choice in obtaining access to educational opportunities for their children.
(c) For the school year commencing July 1, 1996, and each succeeding school year, a parent residing within this State may enroll that parent's child in a public school in any school district in the manner provided in this chapter.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.;
§ 402. Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "District of residence" shall mean any reorganized school district in which the parent of a student resides.
(2) "Good cause" shall mean a change in a child's residence due to a change in family residence, a change in the state in which the family residence is located, a change in a child's parent's marital status, a change caused by a guardianship proceeding, placement of a child in foster care, adoption, participation by a child in a foreign exchange program, or participation by a child in a substance abuse or mental health treatment program, or a set of circumstances consistent with this definition of "good cause."
(3) "Parent" shall mean parent, relative caregiver pursuant to § 202(f) of this title or legal guardian of the person of the child.
(4) "Receiving district" shall mean any reorganized school district other than the district of residence in which a student seeks to enroll. Where the district of residence includes more than one school or more than one program within any school providing instruction at a given grade level, and a parent of a child entering such grade level applies to enroll that parent's child in a public school program within the district of residence other than the program in which the child would normally be enrolled based on the child's place of residence, the district of residence shall also be considered to be the receiving district for all purposes of this chapter, except for the purposes of § 408 of this title.
(5) "Working days" shall mean working days as determined by a school district's administrative calendar.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 242, § 6; 75 Del. Laws, c. 48, § 1.;
§ 403. Pupil application; withdrawal.
(a) Any parent of a school age child may apply to enroll that parent's own child in a school or program in a receiving district by submitting a written application, on a form provided by the Department of Education, to the receiving district and to the district of residence on or before the second Wednesday in January for enrollment during the following school year in a program in grades 1 through 12, or on or before the first day of the school year for enrollment in a kindergarten program during that school year.
(b) If a parent of a school age child fails to file an application by the deadline established in subsection (a) of this section, and good cause exists for the failure to meet the deadline, the receiving district and the district of residence shall accept and consider the application in the same manner as if the deadline had been met.
(c) The parent of a school age child may withdraw the application at any time prior to action on the application by the board of the receiving district by giving written notice to the boards of the receiving district and the district of residence.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 387, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 20; 71 Del. Laws, c. 242, §§ 4, 5; 75 Del. Laws, c. 48, § 2.;
§ 404. Receiving district procedures.
(a) Within 10 working days of receiving an application, the receiving district shall transmit a notice to the district of residence that it has received the application.
(b) The board of the receiving district shall take action no later than the last day of February of the school year preceding enrollment to approve or disapprove an application for admission to a program in grades 1 through 12, and no later than June 15 of the school year preceding enrollment to approve or disapprove an application for admission to a kindergarten program.
(c) With respect to any application filed in accordance with the provisions of § 403(b) of this title, the board of the receiving district shall take action to approve or disapprove the application no later than 45 days after receipt thereof.
(d) The board of the receiving district shall transmit a notice of the board's action to the parent of the child, and to the board of the district of residence within 5 working days after board action.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 387, § 2.;
§ 405. Criteria for approval or disapproval.
(a) Each receiving district shall adopt and make available upon request a policy regarding the order in which applications for enrollment pursuant to this chapter shall be considered.
(b) Prior to the applicable application deadline established in § 403(a), each receiving district shall adopt and make available upon request a policy establishing criteria for acceptance or rejection of applications and setting priorities for acceptances. Such criteria shall be reasonably related to the nature of the program or school for which the application is submitted. Such criteria shall include the authority of the receiving district to reject an application based upon the requirements of any applicable existing individualized education plan relating to an applicant who has special needs. The policies adopted by each district shall, at a minimum, give priority to the following categories of students in the order listed:
(1) First, to returning students who continue to meet the requirements for the program or school, including students graduating from 1 school to another within a single program;
(2) Second, to students who meet the requirements for the program or school and who seek to attend based upon the residence of the student's parent within the designated feeder pattern, if any, for the school; and
(3) Third, to the siblings of students already enrolled in the school, provided that any siblings seeking priority under this paragraph meet the requirements for the program or school.
(c) A receiving district may disapprove an application because of lack of capacity in the district. It may also disapprove an application for a particular program or school because of lack of capacity in the program or school. For purposes of this subsection, "capacity" shall include but not be limited to such considerations as space, class size and enrollment restrictions reasonably related to the nature of the program or school for which the application is submitted.
(d) A district which is subject to a court-ordered desegregation plan may approve and disapprove applications in accordance with § 406(a) of this title.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 242, § 7.;
§ 406. Racial balance.
(a) If approval of all of the applications for transfer into or out of a district would result in the district being out of compliance with any applicable court-ordered desegregation plan, the district shall establish the number of majority and minority group pupils who may transfer into or out of the district.
(b) Any action by the board of the district of residence to disapprove the application pursuant to this section shall be taken no later than March 15 of the school year preceding enrollment.
(c) The board of the district of residence shall transmit a notice of the board's action pursuant to this section to the parent within 5 working days after board action.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3.;
§ 407. Duration of enrollment in receiving district.
(a)(1) A pupil accepted for enrollment in a school or program pursuant to this chapter shall be entitled to remain enrolled therein until graduation from the school or completion of the program provided that the pupil continues to meet the requirements for such school or program, provided however, that upon the concurrence of the boards of both the district of residence and the receiving district, a pupil's right to remain enrolled may be terminated prior to graduation from or completion of the program where such termination is based upon the pupil's
a. Failure to continue to comply with the receiving district's requirements for attending school or class, or
b. Multiple violations of, or one or more serious violations of, the receiving district's student code of conduct.
(2) A pupil accepted for enrollment in a school or program pursuant to this chapter shall remain enrolled therein for a minimum of 2 years unless, during that 2-year period,
a. A pupil graduates from the school or completes the program;
b. The pupil's parent or parents cease to be residents of the pupil's original district of residence;
c. At the conclusion of any academic year during such 2-year period, the pupil ceases to meet the academic requirements for such school or program;
d. If daycare was indicated on the relevant choice application as a reason for seeking enrollment, or if daycare was a reason for granting priority to consideration of or granting of the relevant choice application, or the provider of daycare services to the pupil ceases doing business or relocates to a location so distant from the original location as to render the original combination of daycare and choice enrollment no longer reasonably practicable for the pupil or the parent or parents of such pupil; or
e. The board of the district of residence, the board of the receiving district, and the parent or parents of the pupil agree for any reason to terminate such enrollment;
f. The provisions of paragraphs (a)(2)a. through (a)(2)e. of this section shall apply unless the receiving district, at its sole discretion, agrees to maintain a child in a choice placement. Due to the unique educational and developmental needs of primary age children, on a case by case basis, districts may grant exceptions to allow students in grades kindergarten through grade three to remain in school choice even if they fail to meet required educational standards.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a parent may apply to terminate that parent's own child's enrollment in the receiving district prior to the expiration of the minimum period established in subsection (a) of this section by submitting a written application, on a form provided by the Department of Education, to the child's then-existing district of enrollment no later than December 1 for enrollment during the following school year.
(c) If a parent of a child fails to file an application by the deadline of December 1 and good cause exists for the failure to meet the deadline, the child's then-existing district of enrollment shall accept and consider the application in the same manner as if the deadline had been met.
(d) The parent of a child may withdraw the application at any time prior to action on the application by the board of the child's then-existing district of enrollment.
(e) Within 10 working days of receiving an application to withdraw, the child's then-existing district of enrollment shall transmit a notice to the district of residence that it has received the application.
(f) The board of the child's then-existing district of enrollment shall take action to approve or disapprove the application no later than December 15 of the school year preceding enrollment.
(g) The board of the receiving district shall transmit a notice of the board's action to the parent of the child and to the board of the district of residence within 5 working days after board action.
(h) The action of a board in a child's then-existing district of enrollment to accept an application to terminate enrollment pursuant to this section shall be final; however, nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a board in its sole discretion from conditioning its approval of termination pursuant to this section upon acceptance of the child into another district or program pursuant to an application submitted in accordance with chapter.
(i) Unless accepted for enrollment in a school or program in another district pursuant to this chapter, a child whose enrollment in a receiving district concludes or terminates pursuant to this section shall automatically be re-enrolled in the child's district of residence for the ensuing school year. Any such student shall be enrolled by the district of residence according to the feeder pattern in which the child's parent resides unless, pursuant to the provisions of § 405(b) of this title, all available space has been filled by returning students, in which case the student shall apply and be considered for enrollment in any other school in the district of residence in which there is space available in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 20; 71 Del. Laws, c. 242, §§ 1, 2; 72 Del. Laws, 1st Sp. Sess., c. 258, § 138.;
§ 408. State and local education funding.
(a) A pupil enrolled in a receiving district pursuant to this chapter shall be included in the unit count of the receiving district for all purposes relating to the allocation of all state and federal education funding and shall not be included in the unit count of the district of residence for any such purposes.
(b) If a parent of a pupil enrolled outside the district of residence pursuant to this chapter moves during the school year to a district different from either the district of residence or the receiving district, the child's first district of residence shall continue to be responsible for payments to the receiving district for the balance of the school year pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. The child's new district of residence shall be responsible for all such payments during succeeding years, and such payments shall be calculated as the lower local cost per pupil, as defined in subsection (d) of this section, of the new district of residence and the receiving district.
(c) The Department of Education shall annually calculate the local cost per pupil expended by each school district for each type of pupil for the school year immediately preceding and shall annually certify each district's local cost per pupil expenditure by September 1 of each year.
(d) Local cost per pupil as used in this section shall be calculated as follows:
Total Operating Expenditure in Preceding Fiscal Year
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Division I Units minus Special School Units
Number of Pupils per Unit
Where:
Total local Operating = Sum of all expenditures
Expenditure in from local sources minus
Preceding FY local expenditures for
tuition minus local expend-
itures for debt service minus
local expenditures for Minor Capital
Improvement minus local cafeteria
expenditures minus any other local
expenditures deemed by the Secretary
of Education to be inappropriate for
inclusion for the purpose of this chapter.
Division I Units for each = Division I Units certified by
District or Special School the Department of Education
as of September 30 of each
year
Pupils per Unit = Number of Pupils required for
one particular unit of funding
as specified in § 1703 of this
title
(e) The district of residence shall, except as provided for in subsection (h) of this section, pay to the receiving district the lower local cost per pupil expenditure of the 2 districts, adjusted by an inflation factor specified annually in the annual appropriations act, such payment to be made by November 30 of each year. In the case of a district of residence that has a higher local cost per pupil than the receiving district, the district of residence shall pay in to a special fund to be known as the "School Choice Fund," the difference per pupil between their local cost per pupil expenditure and that of the receiving district. The Department of Education shall establish and administer the School Choice Fund as an appropriated special fund account. Deposits by districts of residence to this account shall also be completed by November 30 of each school year.
(f) Once all payments have been made pursuant to subsections (b) and (e) of this section, the full amount in the "School Choice Fund" account shall be allocated to all receiving districts that had a local cost per pupil, as defined in subsection (d) of this section, that was higher than the district of residence for pupils choosing to attend schools in districts other than their district of residence. These funds shall be provided in a pro-rata fashion so that the gap that exists in a receiving district between the local per pupil cost in the receiving district and the amount paid by the district of residence is closed by an equal percentage in each receiving district.
(g) Once all payments have been made pursuant to subsections (b), (e) and (f) of this section, the State, from the annual appropriations made for Division III Equalization and/or that portion of the Growth and Upgrade Contingency that represents actual Division III Equalization unit growth, will provide funding to all receiving districts that had a local cost per pupil, as defined in subsection (d) of this section, that was higher than the district of residence of pupils who choose to attend school in said receiving districts. This funding will be provided to each such receiving district so that the gap that exists in such receiving district between the local per pupil expenditures in the receiving district and the amount paid by the district of residence is closed by an equal percentage in each receiving district to the extent that the actual appropriations allow.
(h) Any pupil, who because of educational need, requires services that are appropriately financed pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 6 of this title, either at the outset or subsequent to a decision to enroll in a public school other than a school in the pupil's district of residence, shall remain the financial responsibility of the district of residence. The amount of the financial obligation shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 6 of this title.
(i) Any payment received by a local school district pursuant to this section may be used for current operations, local share of minor capital improvements, local debt service payments or to make tuition payments.
(j) In the event of any mid-year termination of a pupil's enrollment under this chapter, nothing contained in this section shall prevent the district of residence and the receiving district from entering into an agreement providing for the pro-ration of student funding between or among the district of residence, the receiving district, a successor district of residence and/or a successor receiving district.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 132, §§ 362, 363; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 21; 71 Del. Laws, c. 242, § 3; 71 Del. Laws, c. 354, § 384.;
§ 409. Transportation.
The parent of any child enrolled in a district other than the district of residence, or enrolled in a school within the district of residence other than the school in which the child would normally be enrolled based upon the residence of the child's parent(s), shall be responsible for transporting the child without reimbursement to and from a point on a regular bus route of the receiving district.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 132, § 369; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 22; 76 Del. Laws, c. 280, § 404.;
§ 410. Interscholastic sports.
A student enrolled in grades 10 through 12, inclusive, in a receiving district shall not be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletic contests or competitions during the 1st year of enrollment in any receiving district if the student was enrolled in a different receiving district during the preceding school year unless the interscholastic sport in which the student wishes to participate is not offered in the receiving district in which the student was enrolled in the previous school year.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3.;
§ 411. Pupils suspended or expelled in district of residence.
If a child for whom an application has been submitted pursuant to this chapter has been suspended or expelled in the district of residence, the board of the receiving district may, in its sole discretion, refuse to consider the application or refuse to approve the application, or refuse to enroll the child in the receiving district until the child has been reinstated in the district of residence, provided, however that nothing in this section shall be construed to enlarge upon the authority of any district to accept for re-enrollment any student who has been expelled from a school district in this State, as such authority is limited by the provisions of § 4130 of this title.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3.;
§ 412. Credits; graduation.
A pupil who has been enrolled in a receiving district and who has met that district's graduation requirements shall be granted a diploma by that district. That district shall accept credits toward graduation requirements that were awarded by another district.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3.;
§ 413. Discipline not affected.
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to affect or alter district policies with regard to disciplining students, including suspensions or expulsions.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3.;
§ 414. Intra-district choice.
Where the district of residence includes more than one school or more than one program within any school providing instruction at a given grade level, a parent of a child entering such grade level may apply to enroll that parent's own child in any public school program within the district of residence other than the program in which the child would normally be enrolled based on the child's place of residence in the manner provided in this chapter, and in such cases, the district of residence shall also be considered to be the receiving district for all purposes of this chapter, except that the provisions of § 408 of this title shall not apply to any such applications or changes in enrollment.
70 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.;