ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session
schools; attendance boundaries; open enrollment
Purpose
Modifies open enrollment policies adopted by school district governing boards (governing boards) and establishes open enrollment reporting requirements and public information efforts.
Background
Statute defines open enrollment as a policy adopted and implemented by a governing board to allow resident transfer pupils to enroll in any school within the school district, to allow resident pupils to enroll in any school located within other school districts in Arizona and to allow nonresident pupils to enroll in any school within the district (A.R.S. 15-816).
Each governing board is required to establish and implement an open enrollment policy without charging tuition, with prescribed exemptions. These policies must include admission criteria, application procedures and transportation provisions. A school district may give enrollment preference to children who are in foster care and may give enrollment preference and reserve capacity for children of school or school district employees. A copy of the district's policies for open enrollment must be posted on its website and made available upon request (A.R.S. 15-816.01).
A governing board may provide transportation limited to 20 miles each way to and from the school of attendance or a pickup point or for the total miles traveled each day to an adjacent district for eligible nonresident pupils who meet the economic eligibility requirements or nonresident pupils with disabilities whose individualized education program specifies that transportation is necessary for fulfillment of the program (A.R.S. 15-816.01).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
Open Enrollment Polices
1. Requires governing board open enrollment policies to:
a) include basic information needed to request enrollment as determined by the State Board of Education (SBE) that is consistent with guidance regarding pupil privacy and civil rights;
b) include information regarding the provision of transportation or resources for transportation; and
c) be easily accessible from the school's web page and available in English and Spanish.
2. Directs schools to accept pupils throughout the school year as capacity allows through open enrollment policies and to select pupils on the wait list as seats become available.
3. Requires pupils who are denied access to a school due to capacity limits to be informed that they are on a wait list and provided applicable selection process details.
4. Prohibits schools from asking parents for information needed for pupil registration until enrollment is approved.
5. Requires school districts to give enrollment preference to and reserve capacity for:
a) resident pupils;
b) pupils returning to the school from the prior year; and
c) siblings of pupils already enrolled.
6. Allows school districts to give enrollment preference to children who meet the definition of unaccompanied youth prescribed in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
7. Allows school districts to give enrollment preference to and reserve capacity for resident transfer pupils and their siblings.
8. Requires a school, if the number of enrollment requests or applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level or building, to select pupils through an equitable selection process, such as a transparent lottery, with preference given to siblings of selected pupils.
9. Prohibits a school from:
a) limiting admission based on ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, English language proficiency or athletic ability; and
b) requiring the submission of any of the following until enrollment has been granted and the school begins the registration process for the accepted pupil:
i. test scores and placement tests;
ii. individualized education programs;
iii. Section 504 plans;
iv. English language paperwork;
v. free or reduced-price lunch paperwork;
vi. documents related to tax credit opportunities;
vii. parent teacher association contributions; and
viii. extracurricular activity fees.
10. Removes the 20-mile each way limitation on transportation provided to and from a pupil's school of attendance for eligible pupils or pupils with disabilities.
Governing Board Policies
11. Requires governing boards to prescribe and enforce policies and procedures regarding changing or adopting attendance boundaries for enrollment preference if the school or a grade level reaches capacity.
12. Requires governing board-adopted policies regarding attendance boundaries to include an assurance that pupils assigned to a new attendance area may stay enrolled in their current school if that school remains open as part of the boundary change.
13. Prohibits attendance boundaries from being used to require pupils to attend certain schools based on the pupil's place of residence.
Enrollment Information Reporting
14. Directs the SBE to prescribe a standard format for describing open enrollment options to ensure clarity and consistency for parents to understand their options, enrollment capacity at each school and the ability to choose any school within their district of residence, other school districts or charter schools.
15. Requires local education agencies (LEAs) to share the SBE-prescribed information with each enrolled household each January, or at least one month before the first opportunity to enroll in the LEA for the following school year.
16. Requires the SBE to recommend the frequency an LEA must update its website on school capacity and the number of pupils on the wait list.
17. Requires LEAs to update specified capacity information on their website at least once every eight weeks by grade level and school, unless there are no changes to report.
18. Requires the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to develop a reporting process that informs the public and policymakers of the open enrollment participation rate by school district, school and county.
19. Requires the ADE reporting process to include:
a) the number of pupils open enrolled as resident pupils, resident transfer pupils or nonresident pupils in each school and school district;
b) the school districts and zip codes from which pupils are enrolling; and
c) by FY 2023, the number of pupils enrolled in charter schools and the school districts from which those pupils are enrolling.
20. Requires, subject to available appropriated monies, the SBE to design a public awareness effort by January of each year and distribute materials that:
a) communicate to the public the ability to choose any public school in Arizona;
b) direct the public to resources to learn about school choice options in Arizona; and
c) instruct the public on how to request enrollment for pupils.
21. Allows the SBE to include other options in its informational materials and messaging, including Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.
22. Allows the SBE, in designing the public awareness effort and distributing materials, to collaborate with:
a) public and private partners to assist in achieving prescribed objectives; and
b) ADE to connect parents and public to resources.
Miscellaneous
23. Defines changing or adopting attendance boundaries as defining the geographic area for each school within the school district for the purposes of establishing enrollment preferences for pupils within the attendance area if a school or grade level within the district reaches capacity.
24. Defines resident pupil as a pupil whose residence is within the attendance area of a school.
25. Makes technical and conforming changes.
26. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 5, 2021
JO/JP/gs