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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING
The Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), pursuant to the authority set forth in sections 103(c)(2) and 105(c)(5) of the Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007, effective June 12, 2007 (D.C. Law 17-9, D.C. Official Code §§ 38-172 and 38-174 (2011 Supp.)) (Act), and Mayor’s Order 2007-186, dated August 10, 2007, hereby gives notice of adoption of the following rule. The purpose of the amendment is to clarify and standardize throughout the District the calculation of the area defined as “within a reasonable walking distance” to a particular school in order for a student to receive the “within a reasonable walking distance” preference in the out-of-boundary lottery process. With this new and standardized method of calculation, parents automatically will know whether this preference applies to their child when they input their address in the on-line application for the lottery.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the D.C. Register on November 27, 2009, at 56 DCR 9093. A Notice of Emergency Rulemaking was published in the D.C. Register on January 1, 2010 (57 DCR 146). No substantive changes have been made to the text of the proposed rules. A technical change should be noted regarding the placement of the rules. Although some of DCPS’s rules are in subtitle B (District of Columbia Public Schools) of title 5 as indicated in the Notice Proposed Rulemaking, chapter 21 is codified in subtitle E (Old Title 5). For purposes of clarification only, it should be noted that this rulemaking amends chapter 21 of subtitle E of title 5 of the DCMR. This change does not alter the application of the rules or conflict with the agency’s initial intent.
On January 19, 2010, the “Out -of-Boundary Transfers Reasonable Walking Distance Regulations Approval Resolution of 2010” was submitted to the Council (PR-18-0679). The Council has neither approved nor disapproved during the forty-five (45)-day period of review and these rules are therefore deemed approved pursuant to section 103 of the Act.
These rules shall become effective on the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.
Section 2106 of (Out-of-Boundary Transfers) of chapter 21 (Attendance and Transfers) of subtitle E (Original Title 5) title 5 (Education) of the DCMR is repealed and replaced with a new section 2106 to read as follows:
2106 OUT-OF-BOUNDARY TRANSFERS
2106.1 Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to:(a) Supersede a measure adopted by the Chancellor that is necessary to comply with Federal requirements related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101, et seq., Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 6301, et seq., or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400, et seq.; or
(b) Require the displacement from his or her current school of any student attending a D.C. public school pursuant to an out-of-boundary transfer at the time this section becomes effective.
2106.2 An adult student, an emancipated student, or a minor student's parent or guardian may apply for an out-of-boundary transfer for any of the following reasons:
(a) The student’s sibling currently attends the requested school;
(b) The student resides within a reasonable walking distance of the requested school as determined in accordance with § 2106.3; or
(c) The adult student or minor student's parent or guardian prefers the requested school to his or her designated in-boundary school.
2106.3 A student shall be deemed to reside within a reasonable walking distance of the requested school if his or her residence is located within the perimeter of a theoretical square, with a north-south orientation, in which the school is in the center and the sides of the square are three thousand feet (3000 ft.) for elementary and k- eight (8) schools or five thousand feet (5000 ft.) for middle schools.
2106.4 An application for an out-of-boundary transfer for the following school year shall be submitted through the formal application process which shall be defined and publicized by DCPS. An application shall be submitted no earlier than January 28th and no later than February 28th of the then-current school year and shall state the reasons for the request. The Chancellor or his or her designee shall send a response to any such request no later than March 31st.
2106.5 In reviewing the request for out of boundary transfers, the Chancellor shall verify stated reasons for the request and fairly administer a lottery held in DCPS headquarters, giving preferences to students in accordance with the reasons for their transfer requests in the same order as those reasons appear in § 2106.2.
2106.6 The Chancellor, and only the Chancellor, is authorized to grant a discretionary transfer and set the duration of the approval of the transfer when the Chancellor determines that the transfer would be in the best interests of the student, and that the transfer would promote the overall interests of the school system.
2106.7 The Chancellor may designate a given school, program, or academy, including an early childhood school or program, as a specialized school, program, or academy due to the unique academic character of the school, program, or academy and the importance of matching children's needs and strengths to the mission of a school, program, or academy. When applicable, the Chancellor shall determine admission criteria for any approved specialized school, program, or academy for adoption by the Board.
2106.8 Each year, the Chancellor shall inform all DCPS students and parents of the availability of all DCPS specialized schools, programs, and academies.
2106.9 Students applying to specialized schools, programs, or academies must meet the specific criteria established for the schools, programs, or academies to which they are applying. Eligibility requirements and selection criteria shall be published and made available upon request to parents. When there are more students than there are available vacancies, students who are ranked equally on the selection criteria shall be selected by lottery.
2106.10 The number of spaces available to students transferring from out of boundary schools shall be determined annually through a standardized process set forth by the Chancellor or designee. The number of vacancies and updated information about the application process shall be shared with parents and the public prior to the out-of-boundary transfer review period and in sufficient time to allow parents to make informed choices about school options for the coming academic year.
2106.11 Students who are admitted to schools outside the attendance zones established for their place of residence shall be entitled to attend these schools for the duration of their participation in the academic program except in the following circumstances:
(a) If the students are involuntarily transferred pursuant to § 2107 or;
(b) If the students are admitted to specialized schools, programs, or academies and the students no longer meet the criteria established for the specialized schools, programs, or academies.
2106.12 A student who has been admitted to a school outside the attendance zone for his or her place of residence which has been designated as a feeder school by the Chancellor shall be entitled to attend the next-level school in the designated feeder pattern upon the student's completion of the program at the feeder school.
2106.13 The Chancellor shall report annually on the impact of the implementation of § 2106.1 through 2106.5 by collecting data including, but not limited to:
(a) The number of children seeking out of boundary transfers from each school and zip code, the school(s) and zip code to which they sought to transfer, and the priority category under which each applied;
(b) The number of out of boundary applicants admitted and in attendance in each school and zip code and the category under which each was admitted;
(c) The number of students enrolled at each school pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act who reside outside of the school's attendance zone; and
(d) For students admitted pursuant to § 2106.2(c) above, a survey of parents to determine their reasons for seeking out of boundary transfer.
2106.15 Parents shall be entitled to appeal the denial of eligibility through the student grievance procedure set forth in § 2405. Any such grievance shall be resolved prior to the commencement of the lottery process.
