FILE: JBCD
STUDENT TRANSFER AND WITHDRAWAL
TRANSFER
Students shall be required to attend the school in the attendance area in which their residence is located. Students who wish to attend a school other than the one designated for their resident attendance zone may apply for transfer when circumstances warrant. All requests for transfer shall be in writing and shall include reasons for the transfer as well as other pertinent information that the Caddo Parish School Board may require.
The Superintendent shall consider for approval all requests for student transfer if such transfer is determined to be in the best interests of the student and the school system. All transfers shall be in accordance with regulations of the court-ordered desegregation plan for Caddo Parish School Board. No school shall accept a student not residing in that school's attendance zone unless the student has an approved transfer request on file. Approved transfer requests shall be for one (1) school year only and must be renewed for subsequent years. Any decision made by the Superintendent regarding the transfer of a student may be appealed to the School Board for a final determination in accordance with state law.
Transfers of students from a mandatory assignment school district may be made under the following circumstances:
Majority to minority
Attendance at a magnet or laboratory school
Certified medical need
Hardship
Curriculum necessity
Student transfer requests shall be submitted by April 15th of each year. The only exceptions shall be as follows:
Parent(s) or person with legal custody has made a bona fide move either inside the parish or from another city to Caddo Parish by April 15th or after.
Child was enrolled in a private or parochial school on April 15th.
A medical emergency substantiated by a physician’s statement.
Parent(s) was/were notified that child could not return to a magnet program by April 15th or later.
The Executive Committee of the School Board shall be authorized to act on behalf of the School Board on transfer appeals. The decision of the Executive Committee may be appealed to the School Board within ten (10) days.
Majority to Minority Transfers
The Caddo Parish School Board shall permit majority-to-minority transfers of students. Such transfers involve the transfer of a student who is legally zoned at a school where his/her race is in the majority to another school where he/she would be in the minority race. Requests for majority-to-minority transfer shall only be accepted during the application period, which shall be designated and publicized parish-wide. Only requests submitted during the application period shall be considered. Approved transfers shall be effective with the following school year, and once registered at the requested school, that child shall remain there for the entire year.
Students who are granted a majority-to-minority transfer may remain at the school to which transferred through graduation or the highest grade available, even when the racial composition of the school changes, provided there is no change in that school district in which the student resides.
Transportation for students approved for majority-to-minority transfer shall be provided to the school nearest their residence to which the majority-to-minority transfer would apply. Transportation shall be provided from the closest designated pickup point to the student’s residence. Students granted permission for a majority-to-minority transfer to a school other than the school nearest their residence to which the majority-to-minority transfer would apply shall not be provided transportation.
Magnet School Transfer
The Caddo Parish School Board may grant magnet transfers for students who have applied and met the acceptance requirements and student selection procedures set forth by the School Board. The process shall ensure diversity by selecting students from different socio-economic backgrounds and career/academic interests.
Students attending a magnet school outside their attendance zone shall be granted priority to continue attending that magnet school as long as they meet the published requirements for remaining in the program.
Once a student reaches the highest grade level of the magnet program, he/she must apply for the next grade level magnet program or return to his/her attendance zone school.
Hardship Transfers
Each hardship transfer request shall be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Medical Transfers
In granting medical transfers, the Superintendent and/or appropriate staff personnel shall have the authority to make placement decisions.
RETURN TO NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL FOR CONDUCT VIOLATIONS
Any student attending a school by reason of a majority-to-minority transfer, medical transfer, curriculum transfer or hardship transfer who receives four (4) out of school suspensions within one single school year shall, pending a hearing, either be expelled to an alternative setting in accordance with state law or returned to the neighborhood school in the student’s original attendance zone at the beginning of the next school year or immediately after serving the expulsion term. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit a principal from denying the renewal of a hardship, medical, or curriculum necessity transfer when there has been a decline in student attendance and behavior.
Notwithstanding the contract signed by the student and/or the parent governing a student’s attendance at a magnet school or a school with a magnet component, any student attending a magnet school or a school with a magnet component who receives four (4) out of school suspensions within one single school year shall, pending a hearing, be either expelled to an alternative setting or returned to the neighborhood school in the student’s attendance zone at the beginning of the next school year or immediately after serving the expulsion term. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit a principal from not renewing the student contract for attendance at the magnet school or participating in a magnet program at a school when the student fails to abide by the contract provisions.
Unless otherwise required by state or federal law, any student expelled for violating state law and/or the Student Code of Conduct shall be returned to the neighborhood school in the student’s attendance zone after serving the expulsion term or upon approval of the School Board.
Students who have been removed from a school based on this policy shall not be eligible for a majority to minority transfer, medical transfer, hardship transfer, curriculum transfer, magnet school or magnet component placement unless and until student has completed two (2) full semesters at his/her neighborhood school with a satisfactory disciplinary record.
WITHDRAWAL
Students shall be required to attend school in accordance with statutory provisions. Students may be permitted to withdraw from school however, if approved by the Superintendent and School Board. Such withdrawal must be in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the School Board.
Adopted: April 20, 2021
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 17:104.1, 17:105, 17:106, 17:108, 17:109, 17:111, 17:221, 17:226, 17:227
Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators, Bulletin 741, Louisiana Department of Education
Board minutes, 6-1-73, 8-5-73, 9-5-73, 8-20-75, 5-20-81, 12-2-81, 4-7-82, 11-16-83, 1-16-85, 4-4-90, 8-21-91, 12-18-01, 4-16-02, 6-16-09, 4-20-21
Caddo Parish School Board