Student Eligibility for Choice

All students enrolled in Title I schools identified for school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring are eligible to transfer to another public school (which may include a charter school) that is not in school improvement, even if that student meets the state AYP expectations or is not a low income student.

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 A school district may not use lack of capacity to deny students the option to transfer, but may take capacity into consideration in deciding which individual schools to make available for choice. If the district does not have sufficient capacity in its schools that are not identified for improvement (or persistently dangerous) to accommodate the demand for transfers, the district must create additional capacity or provide choice of other schools
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 The school district must offer more than one choice of schools to parents if more than one school meets the NCLB guidelines and criteria.
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 Charter schools that fall within the boundaries of the school district, but not authorized by the school district, could be included in the transfer options with agreement of the individual charter school. (See Charter School Action Brief)
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 In the case of a school that is a Title I targeted assistance school, all students in the school, not just those receiving Title I services, must have the opportunity to transfer.
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 The ONLY exception applies in situations where there are no other schools in the district (or outside the district) to which the students can transfer (as may be the case in rural districts).
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 A student who plans to attend a Title I school that offers choice provisions, but is not yet enrolled, may or may not be eligible to chose another school depending on the State and/or school district definition of when a student is officially enrolled. This may pertain to students planning to enter a school for the first time such as kindergartners, or students moving from another school, or those who have just moved into the school district.
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 In some cases, a school district may have to give priority or rank order those students who are the lowest achieving from the lowest income families. Such instances may include circumstances when not all students can attend their first choice school or where a school district does not have sufficient funding to provide transportation to all of the students who wish to transfer. Students cannot be rank ordered on the basis of family income level, because this would not give priority to the lowest achieving students.
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 In determining the achievement ranking of students for prioritization purposes, a school district might allow all eligible students who receive less than a certain score on State assessments to change schools, or base determination on student grades, or on the scores students receive on other tests.
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 Parents may select a “virtual school” (schools that offer instruction through distance learning technology) so long as that school has been defined as a public elementary and secondary school and has not been identified for school improvement.