FILE: JBCC
STUDENT ASSIGNMENT
ATTENDANCE ZONE REQUIREMENTS
The Richland Parish School Board shall have authority and responsibility for the assignment, placement, transfer, and continued education of all students attending schools within its jurisdiction. The School Board shall require a student to attend the appropriate school as determined by the domicile of the student or the parent, legal guardian, or if he/she is eighteen years old or has been emancipated by a court order, by the student's own domicile. Exceptions to this provision include approved transfers.
Legal custody is defined as the legal status created by a court order which establishes in a custodian the right to have physical custody of the child or minor. The school principal or his/her designee shall be responsible for monitoring the school enrollment list and shall immediately terminate and/or transfer an unauthorized student.
Any child temporarily residing within the district who has no permanent address, or who has been abandoned by his/her parent, or who is in foster care, shall be enrolled and allowed to attend school in the zone appropriate to the special circumstance of the child. Surrogate parents may be appointed when appropriate for special needs students.
VERIFICATION OF DOMICILE
The School Board shall require three (3) documents of verification of domicile of students for the attendance zone of the school the student is attending. When investigating the domicile of a student, the principal shall verify the primary place of residence of the legal parent or legal guardian. Such verification of domicile shall be based on three (3) such items as the following:
Voter registration card of parent or custodian, or
Property tax statement of parent or custodian showing homestead exemption, or
Certified copy of any judicially ordered tutorship, custody or guardianship of any minor child student not domiciled or in the custody of their natural and/or legal parents. Verification of the physical residency of the legal custodian, tutor/tutrix or nonparent shall also be required, or
Rent receipt, deed of property, record of payment toward loan,
Any other documentation as may be stipulated by the School Board.
TRANSFERS FOR OPEN ENROLLMENT
A student who desires to attend a school outside of his/her zone of residency may apply for a transfer to another grade-appropriate school in another zone, which transfer will be granted with the following conditions:
The student and/or his/her parent/legal guardian/custodian shall be responsible for transportation to and from the schools within the receiving zone;
The student's application is received on or before the deadline set by the Superintendent;
Capacity is available within the grade-level at the receiving school;
The receiving school zone will be the student's home school zone for all purposes;
The transferred student shall continue to be enrolled in the grade appropriate school in the receiving zone until and if a transfer back to the zone of residency is approved;
No transfer from the receiving school back to the zone of residency shall be available except for a subsequent school year, which application must meet the deadline requirement;
A student who is newly enrolled to a school will be eligible to access a transfer for the subsequent school year;
A student granted a transfer remains subject to the rules and regulations of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association; and
The transfer must not violate but must be in compliance with any placement or other requirement of a student's Individualized Education Plan or Section 504 Plan.
The Superintendent shall develop an administrative procedure which provides for the efficient, effective, and equitable implementation of this transfer policy.
CHILDREN OF EMPLOYEES
A student who is a child of a School Board regular employee, regardless of parish or zone of residence, may be admitted and attend school at the grade-appropriate school within the feeder-zone of the school in which the employee is assigned but such admission and attendance shall be subject to all of the same conditions as applicable for student transfers.
ASSIGNMENT OF STUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES
Unless the Individualized Education Program (IEP) of a student with an exceptionality, except a gifted and talented student, requires some other arrangement, the School Board shall require the student with such an exceptionality to be educated in the school that the student would attend if he/she did not have an exceptionality. However, if the educational needs of the student cannot be achieved satisfactorily in a regular class setting, the student may be placed in an educational environment designed to meet the appropriate needs of the student, as determined by the IEP committee.
However, a student with an exceptionality, except a gifted and talented student, shall be assigned to a school as requested by the parent, in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:1944, if all the following conditions are met:
The parent submits a written request to the School Board responsible for the student and the respective School Board having jurisdiction over the school being requested, by not later than April first of the school year preceding the school year for which the parent is requesting the school assignment. The request shall include a recommendation from at least two (2) licensed physicians who have treated the student during the year prior to the submission of the request.
The School Board responsible for the student and the respective School Board having jurisdiction over the school being requested by the parent enter into an agreement for the assignment of the student to the requested school.
The requested school is located at least ten (10) miles from the school to which the student is assigned, in accordance with applicable school attendance zone requirements.
he requested school is located at least fifteen (15) miles from the student’s home.
The requested school is not located in a public school district in which fifty percent (50%) or more of the public schools in the district are charter schools and fifty percent (50%) or more of the public schools in the district participate in a single application and enrollment process for public school enrollment.
CLASSROOM ASSIGNMENT
Student assignments in K through 8 will be made by the principal of the school. The placement of a student shall be based on grades, achievement test scores, and participation in special programs and made in accordance with the Richland Parish Pupil Progression Plan.
High School
Selection of courses of study in grades 9 through 12 shall be made by individual students with parental approval. Assistance in planning course of study and selection of classes shall be provided by teachers, counselors, and administrators. Each student shall be furnished a schedule of classes offered and requirements for graduation. Some classes may have prerequisites for enrollment.
Multiple Siblings
In grades kindergarten through second grade, the parent of twins, triplets, etc. (more than one child at a single birth event) may request that their children be placed initially in the same, or separate, classrooms, if the children are in the same grade at the same school. Such a request shall be presented to the Superintendent or his/her designee no later than fourteen (14) days either after the first day of the school year or after the first day of attendance if the child enrolls after the fourteenth day of the school year. Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or School Board policy to the contrary, the request of the parent for initial placement shall be granted subject to further review.
As soon as possible after the end of the student’s first grading period, the Superintendent or his/her designee shall review the initial placement of the child. If the Superintendent or his/her designee, in consultation with the school principal, the child’s(ren’s) teacher(s), and the parent, determines that the initial placement of the children is disruptive to the school or is not in the best educational interests of the child(ren), the initial placement of the child shall be modified, and the child(ren) shall be placed in accordance with School Board policy otherwise applicable to the child(ren).
| Revised: July 10, 2007 | Revised: January 11, 2011 |
| Revised: September, 2008 | Revised: February 14, 2017 |
| Approved: November 11, 2008 | Revised: February 12, 2019 |
| Revised: February 9, 2010 |
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§9:951, 9:952, 9:953, 9:954, 17:15, 17:81, 17:104.1, 17:221, 17:221.2, 17:221.3, 17:221.4, 17:221.5, 17:238, 17:1944
Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators, Bulletin 741, Louisiana Department of Education
Board minutes, 12-12-04, 7-10-07, 11-11-08, 2-9-10, 1-11-11, 2-14-17, 2-12-19
Richland Parish School Board