Online Grandfathering Period Runs Through April 25
April 19, 2010 - From Monday, April 19, through Sunday, April 25, eligible families may request online that their children remain at their current school under the school system’s grandfathering rules.
The simple online request that worked well last year will be used again this year as a way of reducing paperwork for families and reducing processing time for staff. Families eligible to participate in this online grandfathering process will receive a letter of notification in the next few days.
For families who use the online grandfather process to submit their transfer request, no additional paper "Request for Transfer" is needed.
Families who miss the online grandfather window can still submit a paper Request for Transfer during the May 14 - June 1 transfer period.
Between February 3, 2009 and April 6, 2010, the Board of Education approved changes in school assignments for the 2010-11 school year. Student's eligible under the board's grandfathering policy to remain at his or her current school for the 2010-11 school year may submit an on-line Request for Transfer. Per Board Policy, all approved transfers are WITHOUT school district transportation.
Grandfathering Guidelines
On March 23, the board approved the following guidelines for grandfathering of students impacted by reassignment.
Transfer requests will be automatically approved if the following three conditions apply:
If they are submitted during the annual transfer application period (In 2010 the transfer application period will occur between May 14 and June 1.)
And
If the application is for a student who has been attending a WCPSS school and the Board’s action has changed the student’s assignment for the subsequent year to a school and the Board’s action has changed the student’s assignment for the subsequent year to a school different from the current school
And
If one of the following statements is true:
- The student is rising into grades 4 or 5 (and is reassigned to either an existing or a new school), or
- The student is rising into grades 7, 8, 10, 11, or 12 and the change in assignment is from an existing school to an existing school, or
- The student is rising into grade 8 and the reassignment is to a new school
Younger Sibling Transfer Requests
- Transfer requests for rising KI, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students will be automatically approved if the student will be attending the same school with an older sibling eligible for a “grandfathered” transfer.
- Transfer requests for rising 6th grade students will be automatically approved if the student will be attending the same school with an older sibling eligible for a grandfathered transfer.
- Transfer requests for rising 9th grade students will be automatically approved by the student will be attending the same school with an older sibling eligible for a grandfathered transfer.
A transfer request to remain at the current school will be automatically approved if it is for a student who will be impacted by district assignment decisions twice within a three-year period. For example, if a student was in School A as either a base or a calendar applicant and board action changes that student’s assignment to School B and then subsequent board action would change the student’s assignment to School C after less than three years in School B, a transfer request for the student to remain in School B would be automatically approved.
Green Hope Elementary
The conversion of Green Hope Elementary to a traditional calendar form a year-round calendar in 2010-11 creates a special circumstance. Students were reassigned from Morrisville YR Elementary to Green Hope YR Elementary in 2007 in grades 1-3. When Green Hope changes to a traditional calendar, Carpenter Elementary will be the year-round application school for Green Hope nodes. For some children who want to stay on the year-round calendar, this could mean a third school to follow a year-round calendar in their elementary years. A transfer request to return to Morrisville will be automatically approved for the students who previously attended Morrisville. Because of projected crowding at Morrisville, transfer requests for younger siblings who did not attend Morrisville will not be automatically approved. Such requests will be evaluated by staff based upon crowding at the school.
Mills Park Elementary, Leesville Road Elementary and Leesville Road Middle
A similar situation may exist at other schools, Mills Park Elementary, Leesville Road Elementary and Leesville Road Middle that are converted from traditional to year-round calendars or visa versa. Students who are kindergarten year-round or calendar applicants at an application school and were brought back to their base school in 1st grade when it changed to a calendar choice school may be impacted in 3rd grade by reassignment from their base to another school. Staff will give special consideration to families that are in this situation and will make an effort to approve transfer requests to remain at the current application school if the request does not lead to overcrowding.
The adoption of a multi-year student assignment plan creates a situation in which parents may want to request a transfer to a school other than their base school because that school will become their base school in a future year. Staff will give special consideration to requests for transfers that are made in anticipation of a new assignment in a future year. Such requests will not be automatically approved because the requested school may not have space for additional students prior to the year in which assignment changes are scheduled to occur. However, if school crowding is not a problem, staff will normally approve such requests.
Per Board Policy 6203.8, high school students on transfer waive the right to participate in athletic activities for 365 days. If a student is approved for transfer under the grandfather provisions, however, the student is not required to appeal for athletic participation. If growth management allows the student to stay at the previous school due to grandfathering, then the student is eligible for athletics.
-wcpss-