Virtual School Students

Non-resident students enrolled in the Wauwatosa Virtual School are not eligible to apply for a transfer into a physical school building within the District.  All transfer applications of non-resident Virtual School students will be denied.

Elementary School Intra-Transfer Administrative Procedures

Administrative procedures for Policy 5120 outline the guidelines used for reviewing intra-district transfers. These guidelines are aligned with the neighborhood school model in the District. Because every school has quality and comparable opportunities available to all students, resident students will be assigned to the neighborhood school in their boundary area. An exception to this practice is when an Individual Education Plan (IEP) team determines the special education needs of the child cannot be met at the neighborhood school and a school placement outside the child’s attendance boundary is necessary.

Families requesting intra-district transfer to attend a school outside of their enrollment area can submit paperwork to their neighborhood school, the school they are requesting a transfer to, or the Student Support Services office.  All requests should be directly routed to the Student Support Services office to review.

The intra-district transfer program is limited to transfers which do not: 1) negatively affect the overall enrollment balance in the school, 2) negatively affect the proportion of inter-district transfer students relative to the general population in either school, or 3) negatively affect the proportion of students with special education needs (defined as students receiving special education or English Language Learning [ELL] services) relative to the
general population in either school.

1. General Guidelines for all Transfer Requests

 

1. Any right to remain in a school after a move or remain in a school through the intra-district transfer program is negated if it is later determined that attendance at the school has
   occurred through deceit.
   
   

2. Intra-district transfers will remain in effect until completion of 5th grade.
   
   

3. Transfers may be withdrawn for failure to follow school rules and/or attendance policies.
   
   

4. If the request to transfer involves a student with a need for special education services, the director or supervisor of student services will review the IEP to determine if space is available.
   
   

5. If the request involves the transfer of a student with limited English proficiency who is
   receiving English Language Learner services (ELL), the Supervisor of Student Support Services will determine if space is available.
   
   

6. A parent may request return to the home attendance area school at a time mutually agreed upon between the school and the parent. Most returns will be required to occur at the start of a new semester or the beginning of the following school year.
   
   

7. Transfer requests to allow students to continue in their current school in spite of the family moving outside of the attendance area will be given preference.
   
   

8. For non-resident students, when an intra-district transfer at the elementary level is
   approved, the student’s middle and high school assignment is based on the original elementary school assignment.
   
   

9. Intra-district transfers into a school outside of the home attendance area will go into
   effect at the start of the school year and will remain in effect until the student has completed the grade level in compliance with the described guidelines.  Once the school year has started, intra-district transfer requests will only be approved that allows a student to remain in their current school placement because of a family move.  Intra-district transfers will not be considered once the school year is underway.

 

2. Guidelines for Space
   
   If a child has a sibling that is at a school they are requesting to transfer into, siblings will be approved for the following class sizes:

 

 JK-1st grade 23 students

 

 2nd-5th grade 25 students

 

New students who do not live in the boundary area they are requesting to transfer into will be approved based on the following class sizes:

  

JK-1st grade 18 students

 

 2nd-5th grade 20 students

Students with special education needs and/or ELL  needs will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Middle School Intra-Transfer Administrative Procedures

Administrative Procedures for Policy 5120 outline the guidelines used for reviewing intra-district transfers. These guidelines are aligned with the neighborhood school model in the District. Because every school has quality and comparable opportunities available to all students, resident students will be assigned to the neighborhood school in their boundary area. Exceptions to this practice are when an IEP team determines the special education needs of the child cannot be met at the neighborhood school and a school placement outside the child’s attendance boundary is necessary.

Families requesting intra-district transfer to attend a school outside of their enrollment area can submit paperwork to their neighborhood school, the school they are requesting a transfer to, or the Student Support  Services office. All requests should be directly routed to the Student Support Services office to review.

The intra-district transfer program is limited to transfers which do not: 1) negatively affect the overall enrollment balance in the school, 2) negatively affect the proportion of inter-district transfer students relative to the general population in either school, or 3) negatively affect the proportion of students with special education needs (defined as students receiving special education or ELL services) relative to the general population in either school.

General Guidelines for all Transfer Requests

1. Any right to remain in a school after a move or remain in a school through the intra-district transfer program is negated if it is later determined that attendance at the school has occurred through deceit.
   
   

2. Intra-district transfers will remain in effect until completion of 8th grade.
   
   

3. Transfers may be withdrawn for failure to follow school rules and/or attendance policies.
   
   

4. If the request to transfer involves a student with a need for special education services, the
   director or supervisor of student services will review the IEP to determine if space is available.
   
   

5. If the request involves the transfer of a student with limited English proficiency who is receiving ELL, Supervisor of Student Support Services will determine if space is available.
   
   

6. A parent may request return to the home attendance area school at a time mutually agreed upon between the school and the parent. Most returns will be required to occur at the start of a new semester or the beginning of the following school year.
   
   

7. Transfer requests to allow students to continue in their current school in spite??? of the family moving outside of the attendance area will be given preference.
   
   

8. For non-resident students, when an intra-district transfer at the elementary level is approved, the student’s middle and high school assignments based on the original elementary school
   assignment.
   
   

9. Because the middle school boundary is not congruent with the high school boundary, students may transfer between the middle schools as long as there is space available in the school/ grade requested. However, the student’s high school assignment is based on the elementary attendance boundaries.

High School Transfer Principles/Procedures

At the high school level, the intra-district transfer program is limited to transfers which do not:
1) negatively affect the overall enrollment balance in the school, 2) negatively affect the proportion of inter-district transfer students relative to the general population in either school, or 3) do not negatively affect the proportion of special needs students (defined as students receiving special education or ESL services) relative to the general population in either school. This policy does allow for "grand-fathering" of current intra-district transfer high school students and siblings of current (as of the 1997 policy) and past high school students so that they may attend the high school of their choice."

Wauwatosa School District Policy 5120, Transfers to Alternate Attendance Areas, Revised April, 1997

High School Assignment for Existing Students

Students that move out of the boundary area or out of the district after attending a high school for an entire school year (two [2] complete semesters) at either high school are allowed to remain at the building they have attended for their high school experience. Necessary paperwork (intra-district transfer or tuition waiver) must be completed.

1. Procedures for Transfer Requests/Student Assignments

 

1. General Procedures for All Transfer Requests
   
   

1. Any right to remain in a school after a move or remain in a school through the intra-district transfer program is negated if it is later determined that attendance at the school has occurred through deceit.
   
   

2. Transfers may be withdrawn for failure to follow school rules and/or attendance
   policies.
   
   

3. If the request to transfer involves a student with special education needs , the director or supervisor of student services will review the IEP to determine if the plan can be delivered in the school site requested.
   
   

4. If the request involves the transfer of a student identified as an ELL who receives services, the ELL teacher will be consulted.
   
   

5. A parent may request return to the home attendance area school at a time mutually agreed upon between the school and the parent. Most returns will be required to occur at the start of a new semester or the beginning of the following school year.

 

For Transfer Requests to the Larger High School

a. Transfers to the larger high school will not be approved as long as the size discrepancy between the two high schools remains at 100 or more students.

2. "Grandfathering" for initial assignment to East High School applies only to students who had a sibling attending East High School on or before the adoption of the transfer policy (April, 1997).

3. Siblings of students whose family moves out of the larger high school's attendance area or out of the school district and who plan to attend a Wauwatosa school through a tuition waiver or participation in the open enrollment program may attend the larger high school if the older sibling has attended the larger high school for two full semesters or has achieved senior status at the larger high school.  This does not apply if older siblings have graduated or will graduate within the same year that the request for tuition waiver or open enrollment has been submitted.

 

3. Senior Status Privilege
   
   According to Wisconsin State Statute, students who move from the District and have senior status are permitted to remain in/return to the district to complete the senior year of high school. In the case of students who move after completing the junior year, no paperwork is necessary to return. If a student moves prior to completing the junior year, an additional year tuition waiver form must be completed and submitted. The student will then be allowed to return to complete the final year of high school.

 

 

B.  Procedures for Secondary School Assignments

Open Enrollment / Chapter 220 Students

1.   Open Enrollment and Chapter 220 students will be assigned to a Wauwatosa school upon
entry to the program.  

2.   Students assigned to Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Washington and Wilson will be assigned to Longfellow Middle School and East High School.

3.   Students assigned to Eisenhower, Madison, McKinley and Underwood will be assigned to Whitman Middle School and West High School.

4.   Parents may request an intra-district transfer to another elementary school in the district, which will be granted as long as there is space available in the school and grade requested. However, the student’s middle and high school assignment is based on the original elementary school assignment.

5. Because the middle school boundary is not congruent with the high school boundary, students may transfer between the middle schools as long as there is space available in the school and grade requested. The student’s high school assignment is based on the original elementary school assignment.
   
   

6. At the high school level, the "grandfathering" clause of the high school transfer policy, which allows siblings of students who attended East High School on or before April 1997 to attend East High School, applies to both resident and transfer students.
   
   

7. If a student attending the larger high school through the Chapter 220 or open enrollment program moves into the school district, but to the smaller school’s attendance area during a school year, s/he will be permitted to complete his/her education at the larger school.
   
   

8. Siblings of high school students who move out of the school district and plan to attend the District through a tuition waiver or participation in the open enrollment program may attend the larger high school if the older sibling has attended the larger high school for two full semesters or has achieved senior status at the larger high school.  This does not apply if older siblings have graduated or will graduate within the same year that the request for tuition waiver or open enrollment has been submitted.

 

 All requirements that apply to transfers between the high schools as described on the first page of this document also apply to open enrollment and Chapter 220 student transfer requests.

  

3. Lottery Procedures for High School Enrollment Difference Less than 100
   
   The following procedures will be applied to determine when a general lottery is necessary to select students eligible for an intra-district transfer.
   
   

1. The district will use the second Friday in January to determine student enrollment for space availability. The number of seats available will be the number needed to bring enrollment within 100 students. Therefore, if School A has enrollment of 1000 students and School B has enrollment of 950 students, there are 25 seats available.
   
   

2. Preference will be granted based on year in school. Students that achieve junior status will have priority, students with sophomore status second priority and students that completed freshman year third priority.
   
   

3. If applications exceed space available, a general lottery will select students that have intra-district transfer requests on file. This lottery will occur on the first Friday in May.
   
   

4. Students that move out of the district during their first year at a high school will be allowed to finish the year at the school they enrolled, but then become part of the general lottery.
   
   

Approved/Adopted:  July 13, 2009

Revised:  February 3, 2015

Revised:  February 12, 2015

Revised December 14, 2015