6200 R&P

STUDENT ASSIGNMENT

6200 R&P

It is the intent of the Wake County Board of Education to promote a variety of educational program choices for students and families, and to:

1.

Preserve the integrity of the instructional program at all schools.

2.

Adhere to appropriate grade structures.

3.

Achieve student diversity in all schools.

4.

Utilize facilities as efficiently as practical.

To meet these goals, it is sometimes necessary to reassign students and to implement assignment strategies that cause a disruption in assignment stability for students and families. It is the desire of the Board to implement assignment plans in a manner that cause the least disruption to students and families while meeting these goals. The frequency and magnitude of reassignments is also a function of student membership growth and the school system's response to that growth.

The following regulations and procedures are designed to assist in the implementation of the school assignment plan:

A.

Base School Assignments

1.

Parents or legal custodians wishing to enroll a child in the base school should go directly to the base school with proof of domicile (closing statement from purchase of domicile (permanent residence), lease agreement, recent utility bill, i.e., electric, gas, water bill; no cable or telephone bills are accepted), and a certified copy of the birth certificate if the parent is enrolling from outside Wake County schools. The school will check the address and school assignment carefully to ensure appropriate enrollment based upon address. Parents or legal custodians wishing to enroll a child in the base school but who are unable to provide proof of domicile should be sent to the Office of Growth Management.

An exception to the above stated enrollment requirements should be made if the student meets the qualifications of the McKinney­-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. In such case, the school shall enroll the student immediately and shall request any necessary records on behalf of the student

2.

Students, other than those with special needs are assigned to their "base school"; that is the school assignment based on the parent's or legal custodian's domicile. In some instances the base school may be a magnet or year round school since these schools may have base populations in addition to accepting students through applications. Base school assignment, using the student's address, can be determined from the current edition of the "STREET DIRECTORY" which is published by Information Systems or from the mainframe data base. The Growth Management staff will provide assistance if the specific address is not included in the Directory or on the mainframe.

3.

In some cases, a student may be assigned to a school other than the regular base school. For example, a child may have a special need that requires a program not available at the base school. Information regarding programs for children with special needs is available from the special programs department. Information about which magnet or year-round school serve a particular address may be found using the student assignment link at www.wcpss.net or from the Office of Growth Management.

B.

Application and Assiqnment Process for Maqnet and Year Round Proqrams

1.

Any student enrolled in the Wake County Public School System is eligible for admission into one of the magnet or year round programs with no special performance standards or test scores required for admission, except for the academically gifted (AG) program. This includes gifted and talented magnet programs in which students enroll based on interests rather than on any academic criteria.

2.

Siblings, school capacity, classroom capacity, diversity, transportation patterns and date of postmark are the criteria used to accept students.

3.

Specific windows of time are established each year for the acceptance of magnet/year round applications. Only applications received and postmarked via US Mail or time-stamped via the online application process will be considered. Applications for siblings should be submitted in the same envelope.

4.

Applications submitted prior to the first official day for acceptance will be considered late. Faxed or incomplete applications will not be considered.

5.

Kindergarten and other students not currently-enrolled in Wake County Schools should be registered at their base school prior to the submission of an application in order to be considered. The date for kindergarten registration is established on an annual basis.

6.

Only the information on the application is considered during the selection process. Selection of applications is random based on stated criteria. Additional attachments and/or extenuating circumstances are not considered during the selection process.

7.

Applications are for programs, not specific schools.  Students will be assigned to a magnet or year round-school based on domicile or permanent home address. Requests for specific schools will not be considered.

8.

An applicant pool and not a waiting list is maintained of applicants who are not selected to a magnet or year round school. If openings occur in a magnet or year round school after acceptances are mailed, and before, the tenth day of school, applications from the original applicant pool will be considered to fill any available spaces before consideration of new requests.

9.

Current magnet students in the 5th and 8th grades must complete a magnet application in order to be accepted into the middle school magnet program or high school magnet program. All other current magnet students complete an intent to return form in order to remain in the magnet program. Current year round students in grade 8 must complete an application in order to be considered and accepted into a high school magnet program. Year round students in eighth grade (8th) receive priority to the magnet high school which is on a modified calendar only and not other magnet schools.

10.

Siblings who live within magnet/year round transportation patterns are given highest priority for acceptance.

11.

After siblings and current magnet/year round students have been accepted, applicants whose applications were received on time, who live within the transportation pattern, and who meet stated criteria are given next priority for acceptance to 90% of available seats. If there are more applications than available seats, a random selection is used to accept applicants. All on time applicants who live within the transportation pattern are eligible for random selection to 10% percent of the available seats in a magnet or year round school. The Growth Management staff has no input regarding who is selected except to insure all polices and procedures are followed.

12.

Late applications or applications outside the attendance patterns are considered only after all "on time" applicants living within transportation patterns have been considered.

13.

The Growth Management office will establish a time line for notification of selection or denial. If selected, the student will have the opportunity to accept or decline the offer.

14.

After June 1 a student accepted to or continuing in a magnet or year round school must remain in the assigned school for the full academic year.

15.

If accepted to a year round school, there can be no track changes during the first year.

16.

Certain magnet schools may not accept students for an academic year due to a large base population. This fact will be determined by the Growth Management staff prior to the acceptance of applications.

17.

If a student has not presented himself/herself for enrollment in the year-round school by the third day of school the student will lose his/her seat, and another applicant may be selected to fill the opening.

Issued: April 21, 1997 Revised: March 18, 2003

Revised: May 20, 2005 Revised: August 24, 2006