Only students who are residents of the District may attend a District school without a tuition charge, except as otherwise provided below or in state law. A student’s residence is the same as the person who has legal custody of the student.
A person asserting legal custody over a student, who is not the child’s natural or adoptive parent, shall complete a signed statement, stating:
If the District knows the current address of the child's natural or adoptive parent, the District shall request in writing that the person complete a signed statement or Power of Attorney stating:
A student whose family moves out of the District during the school year will be permitted to attend school for the remainder of the year without payment of tuition.
When a student’s change of residence is due to the military service obligation of the student’s legal custodian, the student’s residence is deemed to be unchanged for the duration of the custodian’s military service obligation if the student’s custodian made a written request. The District, however, is not responsible for the student’s transportation to or from school.
If, at the time of enrollment, a dependent child of military personnel is housed in temporary housing located outside of the District, but will be living within the District within 60 days after the time of initial enrollment, the child is allowed to enroll, subject to the requirements of state law, and must not be charged tuition.
The residence of a child with a disability, as defined in Section 14-1.02 of the School Code, is determined in accordance with 105 ILCS 5/14-1.11, 5/14-1.11a, and 5/14-1.11b.
Non-resident students may attend District schools tuition-free pursuant to:
Any homeless child shall be immediately admitted, even if the child or child’s parent/guardian is unable to produce records normally required to establish residency. Board policy 6:140, Education of Homeless Children, and its implementing administrative procedure, govern the enrollment of homeless children.
If the Superintendent or designee determines that a student attending school on a tuition-free basis is a nonresident of the District for whom tuition is required to be charged, the Board shall notify the person who enrolled the student of the tuition amount that is due. The notice shall detail the specific reasons why the Board believes that the student is a nonresident of the District and shall be given by certified mail, return receipt requested. The person who enrolled the student may challenge this determination and request a hearing as provided by the School Code, 105 ILCS 5/10 20.12b.
Under certain conditions, the Superintendent or designee may grant an exception to the residency requirement if the person seeking to enroll a student in the District plans to move into the District but will not take possession of the District residence until after the student is scheduled to begin school. A request for an exception must be submitted in writing to the Superintendent or designee, and the person seeking to enroll the student must comply with the following requirements:
Under no circumstances may this exception and tuition be extended beyond one full school year.
Adopted: November 10, 1997 Revised: May 3, 1999, February 16, 2010, November 18, 2013; May 22, 2017; September 27, 2021; February 26, 2024