School Admissions and Student Transfers To and From Non-District Schools
Age
To be eligible for admission, a child must be five years old on or before September 1 of that school term. A child entering first grade must be six years of age on or before September 1 of that school term. Based upon an assessment of the child’s readiness to attend school, the District may permit the student to attend school prior to these dates. A child will also be allowed to attend first grade based upon an assessment of the student’s readiness if the student attended a non-public preschool, continued their education at that school through kindergarten, was taught in kindergarten by an appropriately licensed teacher, and will be six years old on or before December 31. A child with exceptional needs who qualifies for special education services is eligible for admission at three years of age. Early entrance to kindergarten or first grade may also be available through Board policy 6:135, Accelerated Placement Program.
Admission Procedure
All students must register for school each year on the dates and at the place designated by the Superintendent. Parents/guardians of students enrolling in the District for the first time must present:
- A certified copy of the student’s birth certificate. If a birth certificate is not presented, the Superintendent or designee shall notify in writing the person enrolling the student that within 30 days the parent/guardian must provide a certified copy of the student’s birth certificate. A student will be enrolled without a birth certificate. When a certified copy of the birth certificate is presented, the school shall promptly make a copy for its records, place the copy in the student’s permanent record, and return the certified copy to the person enrolling the child. If a person enrolling a student fails to provide a certified copy of the student’s birth certificate within 30 days of enrollment, the Superintendent or designee shall (1) immediately notify the local law enforcement agency and (2) notify the person enrolling the student in writing that the person has 10 additional days to comply with the birth certificate requirement, but if the person fails to comply, the case will be referred to the local law enforcement authority for investigation. If compliance is not obtained within that ten-day period, the Superintendent or designee shall so refer the case. The Superintendent or designee shall immediately report to the local law enforcement authority any affidavit received during registration or enrollment that appears inaccurate or suspicious in form or content.
- Proof of residence, as required by Board policy 7:60, Residence.
- Proof of disease immunization or detection and the required physical examination, as required by state law and Board Policy 7:100, Health, Eye, and Dental Examinations; Immunizations; and Exclusion of Students.
The individual enrolling a student shall be given the opportunity to voluntarily state whether the student has a parent or guardian who is a member of a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and who is either deployed to active duty or expects to be deployed to active duty during the school year. Students who are children of active duty military personnel transferring will be allowed to enter: (a) the same grade level in which they studied at the school from which they transferred, if the transfer occurs during the District’s school year, or (b) the grade level following the last grade completed.
Homeless Children
Any homeless child shall be immediately admitted, even if the child or child’s parent/guardian is unable to produce records normally required for enrollment. Board Policy 6:140, Education of Homeless Children, and its implementing administrative procedure, govern the enrollment of homeless children.
Foster Care Students
The Superintendent will appoint at least one employee to act as a liaison to facilitate the enrollment and transfer of records of students in the legal custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services when enrolling in or changing schools. The District’s liaison ensures that DCFS’ Office of Education and Transition Services receives all written notices and records pertaining to students in the legal custody of DCFS as required by state law.
Student Transfers To and From Non-District Schools
A student may transfer into or out of the District according to state law and procedures developed by the Superintendent or designee. A student seeking to transfer into the District must serve the entire term of any suspension or expulsion, imposed for any reason by any public or private school, in this or any other state, before being admitted into the District.
Adopted: March 2, 1998
Revised: January 20, 2009; February 24, 2014; September 26, 2016; April 25, 2022; April 24, 2023
Reviewed: February 26, 2024