Residency Dispute Process
Procedure for residency disputes of current students during the school year:
Board policy states: If at any time a district administrator has a reasonable belief that the reported residence may not be the residence of the child for purposes of school attendance, the administrator shall notify the student’s parent, guardian or person having legal custody of the child that there is a question regarding the student’s legal residency. The student’s parent, guardian, or person having legal custody of the child shall be given an opportunity to submit information regarding the student’s residency to the district’s residency officer. All notices required by this policy shall be in writing.
Step one: Based upon reasonable suspicion, a principal may send an email/letter to the parent/guardian requesting residency verification with a deadline of seven calendar days. This letter will provide the out-of-district transfer application stating that the out-of-district transfer will be approved for the duration of the school year, and will be reviewed again for renewal for the following school year in May. The parent will be notified by July 1 of acceptance or denial for the following school year.
Step two: The parent has seven calendar days to provide residency verification or the out-of-district transfer application to the site principal. If an out-of-district transfer application is returned, the principal will submit to Enrollment Services.
Step three: If the proof of residency submitted is not satisfactory, the principal will give the submitted documentation to the Executive Director of Enrollment. If the proof cannot be verified, no proof was submitted, no transfer application was submitted, or if there are still principal concerns, the residency investigator (Campus Security Coordinator) or designee will be contacted to make a home visit.
Step four: If the residency investigator cannot verify the student is a resident of Broken Arrow School District, the Executive Director of Enrollment Services will send a final warning letter notifying the parent/guardian that they have five school days to complete an out-of-district transfer form either at baschools.org/TransferRequests or by coming to the enrollment service center. The notice will inform them the student will be withdrawn on day six of this step if no application is submitted to the enrollment center.
If a new student or returning student for a new school year’s enrollment is denied based upon residency:
- The student’s parent, guardian or person having legal custody of the child must notify the residency officer in writing of the review request within three school days from the date of written denial of admittance or from the date of written notification that the student is considered not to be a resident of the district. Upon receipt of a request for review, the residency officer shall allow the parent, guardian or person having legal custody to provide additional pertinent information in accordance with the district’s criteria and the statutory provisions regarding residency. This information must be submitted with the request for review.
- The residency officer must render a decision and notify the student’s parent, guardian, or person having legal custody of the child of the decision and reasoning therefore in writing within three school days of receipt of the request for review.
- If the student’s parent, guardian, or person having legal custody of the child disagrees with the residency officer’s decision, such person shall notify the residency officer in writing within three school days of his or her receipt of the residency officer’s decision. The residency officer will submit his or her findings and all documents reviewed to the Board of Education. The Board of Education will review the decision and the documents submitted on behalf of the district and the student and will render a decision at the next board meeting. The decision of the Board of Education shall be the final administrative decision.
- In an effort to place students in school as quickly as possible, timelines shall be followed unless due to emergency circumstances both parties agree to an extension of timeliness.