Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 1; Title 49, Chapter 2 and Title 49, Chapter 6.

This bill removes the present law required open enrollment period for school enrollment and certain open enrollment requirements, and requires LEAs to create their open enrollment policy, all as discussed below. PRESENT LAW Under present law, a local education authority (LEA) must identify each school that, based on the school’s capacities at the building, grade, class, and program levels, has space available to enroll and serve additional students. An LEA must post the number of spaces available for enrollment in each school by grade, class and program levels on the LEA’s website at least 14 days before the beginning of the open enrollment period. Present law requires each LEA to conduct an open enrollment period before the start of each school year. The open enrollment period must last at least 30 days. During this period, a parent or guardian of a student residing within the LEA may apply for enrollment of the student in a school that the student is not zoned to attend. During the open enrollment period, a parent or guardian may apply for transfer to a school identified by the LEA as having space available to enroll and serve additional students. At the end of the open enrollment period, an LEA must approve an application for transfer if space is available for the student at the requested school. If the number of applications for transfer to a school exceeds the number of spaces available for enrollment in the school at the building, grade, class, or program level, as identified by the LEA, then the LEA must conduct a lottery to select the students who may transfer to the school. Present law prohibits an LEA from: (1) Denying a student who is zoned to attend or who was enrolled in a school during the previous school year enrollment and attendance in the school; and (2) Admitting a nonresident student seeking to transfer into the LEA from outside the LEA under the present law provisions that allow for local boards of education to arrange for the admittance and transfer of nonresident students into their respective school systems, before all applications submitted through the open enrollment period for transfer have been acted upon. THIS BILL This bill removes the required open enrollment period and the open enrollment requirements described above and instead requires each LEA to adopt and implement a policy that provides for an open enrollment during which a parent or guardian may choose from a list of the LEA’s schools with available space to enroll the child. The policy must: (1) Establish a process for the LEA to identify the number of spaces available for enrollment in each of the LEA’s schools by grade, class, and program levels; and (2) Allow a parent or guardian to request a transfer by applying to a school identified by the LEA as having space available to enroll and serve additional students. This bill retains the present law authorization for an LEA to reserve a reasonable number of enrollment spaces each school year from the number of spaces identified by the LEA as available for enrollment at a school within the LEA for reasons such as accommodating students relocating within the school zone or allowing a student to enroll in the same school where is a sibling is enrolled. This bill requires that a child applying to transfer to a school pursuant to the LEA’s open enrollment policy meet the school’s academic admission requirements to enroll in the school.