5254507 Public Schools, DC - Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking - Admission and Registration Procedures

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

 

NOTICE OF EMERGENCY AND PROPOSED RULEMAKING

 

The Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), pursuant to Section 103 of the District of Columbia Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007, effective June 12, 2007 (D.C. Law 17-9; D.C. Official Code § 38-172(c) (2012 Repl.)), and Mayor’s Order 2007-186, dated August 10, 2007, hereby gives notice of the adoption of the following emergency and proposed rulemaking amending Chapter 20 (Admission of Students) of Subtitle E of Title 5 (Education) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).

 

The rulemaking will delete Section 2002 of Chapter 20 and replace it with a new Section 2002.  This amendment is necessary to implement new requirements instituted by the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) regarding student assignment and attendance zones.   

 

Emergency rulemakings are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, welfare, or morals, pursuant to 1 DCMR § 311.4(e). The new requirements are being effectuated primarily through the out-of-boundary lottery process. The out-of-boundary lottery is utilized by a large number of DCPS parents each year to secure desired spots for their children in a school of their choice.  Allowing the amendment to be made as emergency rulemaking will ensure that the lottery can commence as early as possible and operate with the new requirements set forth by the Chancellor.

 

The emergency rules were adopted on December 8, 2014 and took effect at that time.  The rules will remain in effect for up to one hundred twenty (120) days, expiring on April 4, 2015, unless earlier superseded by a Notice of Final Rulemaking.

 

The proposed rulemaking will be submitted to the Council for a forty-five (45) day period of review.  The Chancellor also hereby gives notice of the intent to adopt this rulemaking, in final, in not less than thirty (30) days from the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register, or upon approval of the rulemaking by the Council, whichever occurs later.

 

Section 2002, ADMISSION AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURES, of Chapter 20, ADMISSION OF STUDENTS, of Title 5-E DCMR, EDUCATION, is deleted and replaced with a new Section 2002 to read as follows:

 

2002                ADMISSION AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURES

 

2002.1             Application for admission to the D.C. Public Schools shall be made by registering at the school for which the student is eligible which is located in the attendance zone within which the applicant resides or by application in the out-of-boundary lottery process pursuant to § 2106.

 

2002.2             Application for admission to the D.C. Public Schools by students who reside outside of the District of Columbia shall be made to the appropriate office to be designated by the Chancellor.  Approval of any applications shall be within the discretion of the official vested by the Chancellor with such authority.

 

2002.3             Residence attendance zone restrictions shall not apply to the following:

 

(a)        Career development centers;

 

(b)        Special education schools or programs;

 

(c)        Adult education day and evening schools; or

 

(d)       Schools and programs as defined in §§ 2106.8 and 2106.9.

 

2002.4             If admission to a particular school or program is not based upon residence in a particular attendance zone, initial registration may be required at the appropriate attendance zone school, as required in § 2002.1, or at another place designated by the Chancellor of Schools.

 

2002.5             The principal or other person in charge of registration for each school or program shall be responsible for the receipt of all applications for admission, the conduct of registration procedures, and the certification that all admission requirements and prerequisites have been properly met by the student and that each student is provided a copy of § 2401 (Student Bill of Rights) upon registration.

 

2002.6             Prior to the admission of a student the adult student, or the student’s parent or guardian shall be required to provide documentary proof of the date of birth of each registering student. Proof of age may include, but is not necessarily limited to, any one (1) of the following:

 

(a)        An original or certified true copy of the student’s official birth certificate;

 

(b)        A valid, unexpired passport which gives the student’s date of birth;

 

(c)        A sworn (notarized) affidavit of the student’s correct date of birth. Affidavit forms shall be available from each principal or other person responsible for admission and registration procedures;

 

(d)       An official transcript from the last school attended which includes the student’s date of birth; or

 

(e)        An original or certified true copy of the student’s baptismal certificate which includes the student’s date of birth.

 

2002.7             A minor student must be accompanied at registration by a parent or guardian.

 

2002.8             The parent or guardian shall provide the following information for each registering minor student:

 

(a)        Full name of the student;

 

(b)        Full name, home address, and work address of each parent, guardian, or other person having custody or control of the minor student for the purpose of admission;

 

(c)        The home and work telephone numbers of each parent, guardian, or other responsible adult or, in each case, the telephone number through which each person may be contacted at home and at work;

 

(d)       The name and telephone number of a person or persons who should be contacted in case of an emergency;

 

(e)        The name, address, and telephone number of the student’s physician, clinic, or other person or agency where the student’s medical records are located;

 

(f)        The date of registration; and

 

(g)        The manner or type of admission.

 

2002.9             An adult student shall not be required to provide information about the adult student’s parent or guardian, but shall provide the appropriate items of information about him or herself.

 

2002.10          The principal or other person responsible for admission or enrollment shall adhere to the following:

 

(a)        The principal or other person responsible for admission and enrollment procedures shall follow the requirements set forth in Title 38, Chapter 3 of the District of Columbia Official Code and Subtitle A, Chapter 50 of this title with respect to verification of District of Columbia residency for all enrolled students. 

 

(b)        For students enrolled through the out-of-boundary lottery process, the principal or other person responsible for admission and enrollment procedures shall require the parent, guardian, or other custodian to provide a copy of the Lottery Confirmation Letter confirming the student’s acceptance for enrollment at the out-of-boundary school.  

 

2002.11           District residency shall be determined pursuant to the District of Columbia Nonresident Tuition Act of 1960, effective September 8, 1960 (74 Stat. 853; D.C. Official Code §§ 38-302 et seq.).

 

2002.12           Any person who supplies false information to the D.C. Public Schools in connection with student residency verification may be subject to penalties in accordance with the provisions of D.C. Official Code § 38-312.

 

2002.13           The documents that shall be accepted for verification of residency for current D.C. Public School students shall be the same indicators of residency required to be submitted for a child/adult initially seeking admission to a D.C. public school.

 

2002.14           The parent, court-appointed guardian or custodian shall have ten (10) school days to provide the indicators of residency requested. If the required information is not provided in the requested time period, which can be extended at the discretion of the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee, arrangements shall be made to enroll as a non-resident student and pay all non-resident tuition, as set forth in § 2007.

 

2002.15           Failure to provide the requested information or pay the required tuition will result in exclusion from D.C. Public Schools, subject to the tuition waiver authority provided in § 2000.2(f).

 

2002.16           District of Columbia residency shall be established through the use of satisfactory documentation as follows:

 

(a)        One of the following items shall be required to establish District of Columbia residency:

 

(1)        Proof of payment of D.C. personal income tax by a parent or guardian for the tax period closest in time to the consideration of District of Columbia residency;

 

(2)        A current (i.e., issued less than forty-five (45) days prior to consideration of residency) tax withholding statement which contains a parent’s or guardian’s name and evidence of his or her District of Columbia residency; or

 

(3)        Current official documentation of financial assistance from the District government including, but not limited to, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), housing assistance or other programs, etc.;

 

(b)        In addition, two (2) or more of the following items shall be required to establish District residency:

 

(1)        A vehicle registration showing the parent’s or guardian’s name and evidencing District of Columbia residency;

 

(2)        Title to residential property in the District of Columbia, or a valid, unexpired lease agreement and paid receipts or canceled checks (for a period within the two (2) months immediately preceding consideration of residency) for payment of rent on a District residence in which applicant actually resides.

 

(3)        A valid, unexpired D.C. Motor Vehicle Operator’s Permit, or nondriver’s identification;

 

(4)        Maintenance of District of Columbia voter registration; and

 

(5)        One (1) or more utility bills and paid receipts or canceled checks (from a period within the two (2) months immediately preceding consideration of residency), showing the parent’s or guardian’s name and a District of Columbia residence; and

 

(c)        If the parent, court-appointed guardian or custodian cannot provide the documents described in this subsection (e.g., in the case of a homeless student), the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee has the discretion to grant an exemption to the required indicators of District of Columbia residency to permit attendance in a D.C. public school.

 

2002.17           The principal or other person responsible for admission and registration procedures shall keep a record of the removal of any student from the rolls of the school or program and any subsequent readmission of the student.

 

2002.18           All records and information received and maintained pursuant to this section shall be subject to the requirements and restrictions set forth in Chapter 26.

 

2002.19           Except as provided otherwise in this section, the entrance-level placement of each student shall be individually determined by the principal or other person in charge of the school or program.

 

2002.20           Entrance-level placements for students with disabilities shall be determined by referral of the student for assessment and evaluation pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 30.

 

2002.21           Bilingual and non-English speaking students shall be referred for placement determination to the Office of Bilingual Education, and the appropriate placement determination shall be transmitted to the principal or other person in charge of the school or program.

 

2002.22           Entrance-level placement determinations may be challenged under the rules and procedures set forth in Chapter 24, except for challenges to proposed placements for handicapped students which shall be made pursuant to the rules and procedures set forth in Chapter 30.

 

2002.23           A local school administrator shall not exclude from admission or attendance any compulsory school-aged minor who resides in his or her school’s attendance zone, gained a right to attend the school through the DCPS lottery, or who has been placed in his or her school by the Division of Special Education or the Division of Bilingual Education, unless the minor has been involuntarily transferred. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

 

(a)        All minors who will be five (5) years of age on or before September 30^th  in the current school year and have not yet reached the age of eighteen (18) years;

 

(b)        Teen-aged parents who have responsibility for the care of their children;

 

(c)        Adjudicated or previously incarcerated youth who return to school voluntarily or by legal mandate;

 

(d)       Minors awaiting special education evaluation for appropriate placement;

 

(e)        Compulsory school-aged minors residing temporarily in a shelter, halfway house or similar facility or having no fixed address. The minor may elect to continue enrollment in the local school serving his or her last permanent domicile;

 

(f)        Students attending the by-right alternative to their dual-language zoned school. 

 

2002.24           Administrators shall place the eligible students in appropriate educational programs compatible with their last grade completed pending evaluative studies or alternative placement when necessary.

 

 

Comments on this rulemaking should be submitted, in writing, to Kaya Henderson, Chancellor, DCPS, at 1200 First Street, N.E., 12^th Floor, Washington, D.C., 20002, [phone],  no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.  Additional copies of this rule are available from the above address.