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Parents –
Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment Periods for the 2008-09 School Year
The district open enrollment period is January 7, 2008, through
February 8, 2008. The Miller South open enrollment period is December
3, 2007, through January 11, 2008.
Open Enrollment
Application
The open enrollment application IS NOT on this Web site. All open enrollment
applications are available in all of the Akron public schools, the
Administration Building, the Ott Staff Development Center, and the Main Library
and some of its branches. Open enrollment applications must be returned in the
original hard-copy form. Faxes are not accepted.
It is essential that parents/guardians read
the entire Open Enrollment application along with the rules and guidelines on
the back of the application. The Rules and Guidelines are also available from
the main page of the
open enrollment Web site.
What is Open Enrollment?
Open enrollment has been in effect in Akron Public Schools since 1993. Originally, it was designed to allow Akron Public Schools students to open enroll into surrounding schools other than their assigned home school and vice versa. Home school assignments are determined by the address of the student's parent(s) or legal guardian(s). Each year, approximately 3,000 open enrollment applications are received.
A specific open enrollment period is held each spring to enroll students for
the following school year. Applications are available at all Akron public
schools, administrative buildings and some libraries. Applications for Miller
South School for the Visual and Performing Arts are available ONLY during the
month of December (for the 2007-08 school year, the open enrollment period was extended through Friday, January 11, 2008).
Students may attend another school only if they complete an open enrollment application and that application is approved. Parents are notified in writing whether or not the application is approved. Each school receives a list of approved open enrollment students to that school.
Intradistrict and Interdistrict Open Enrollment
Akron Public Schools has adopted both intradistrict open enrollment (transfers from one Akron public school to another) and interdistrict open enrollment (transfers from one school district to another).
Students from school districts throughout Ohio (not just surrounding school districts) may apply for open enrollment into Akron Public Schools. Likewise, Akron Public Schools students may apply for open enrollment to other Ohio school districts.
All open enrollment guidelines must be met before approval is granted.
Restrictions and Guidelines
An open enrollment application alone does not mean approval. Open enrollment is NOT based on a "first-come, first- served" basis. Open enrollment is based on space availability in a particular grade or school building as well as program requirements.
- Approvals to Miller South and Firestone High School are based on auditions.
- Students wishing to enroll in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program must complete an IB application from Firestone. Prerequisite coursework is also required.
- Students expelled or transferred for disciplinary reasons by the Office of Student Services will be denied open enrollment.
Space Requirements
Students cannot transfer if the school or the grade level they are applying to is filled to capacity. If there is limited space in a building or grade level, students will be selected by lottery to fill available spaces. If there are space limitations, siblings of students already attending the school a student wishes to transfer to will have preference. Akron Public Schools students will have preference over nonresident students.
Students currently enrolled in a school in the same cluster to which they are applying will also have preference.
Students approved and enrolled in a school through open enrollment may continue at that school through all grades without reapplying. However, open enrollment students who are in the fifth grade and planning to attend the middle school in that same cluster or who are in the eighth grade and planning to attend the high school in that same cluster MUST reapply for open enrollment consideration to attend that school or any other school. Otherwise, the student will be expected to return to his/her home school.
Example: Susie is an eighth-grade Litchfield Middle School student who open enrolled from the Ellet Cluster schools. She does not automatically move on to Firestone High School. Susie must return to Ellet High School. If she wishes to attend Firestone, she must complete an open enrollment application for Firestone.
Each February, the Office of Open Enrollment sends letters to all current Akron Public Schools fifth- and eighth-grade students to notify them of their school placement based on their home address for the next year. Also, students currently attending Akron Public Schools on special permits that expire in June are notified of their school placement based on their home address for the next year. The purpose of these letters is to give the parent(s)/guardian(s) ample time to apply for open enrollment if they so desire.
Private, parochial, charter and home-schooled students must apply for open enrollment to enter or exit Akron public schools outside of their public school home district.
Students currently open enrolled may return to their home school at the beginning of the new school year by re-enrolling at their home school.
Change of Address for Open Enrollment
Students who move out of the Akron school district during the school year must
apply for open enrollment in order to remain in Akron Public Schools. This must
be done as soon as school officials are made aware of the change of address. The
parent/guardian must go to the Office of Open Enrollment with proof of their new
address and fill out an open enrollment application. Attendance and discipline
may have an impact on approval.
Interdistrict open enrollment can be an ongoing process throughout the school year.
Interdistrict students open enrolled at an Akron school, and who move into the Akron Public Schools district, must reapply for open enrollment if their new home address is not within that school's attendance district where they are attending through open enrollment.
Returning to an Akron Public School
Interdistrict open enrollment students who wish to return to the Akron school system need only
show proof of address and re-enroll in their home school district. The Open Enrollment Director must be informed of the return.
Intradistrict open enrollment assignments are for the entire school year. A student may return to his home school only after receiving permission from both the sending and receiving school principals if there is an unusual situation.
Notification of Approval or Denial
Applicants will be informed in writing during the month of June whether or not the application has been approved or denied. Information regarding open enrollment status will not be given over the telephone.
Once approved, new students in Akron Public Schools (especially kindergarten) must present the following information to the school upon registration:
- proof of address;
- birth certificate;
- custody papers (if applicable)
High School Athletic Eligibility
In accordance with Bylaw 4-7-3 of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), a student who transfers to an Akron public high school through open enrollment after establishing eligibility by being officially enrolled at another non-public or public high school, including any other Akron high school, will be ineligible for one calendar year from the date of enrollment. Exceptions to this rule are as follows:
- If the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) change residence from one district to another, the student is eligible for athletics.
- Eighth-grade students enrolling in high school, either through residency or open enrollment, are eligible for athletics providing they meet grade and attendance requirements.
- A student may enroll in a school outside the district of residence of the parent(s) or guardian(s) provided the superintendents or principals of both school districts enter into a written agreement and specify that the purpose of such enrollment is to protect the student's physical or mental well-being and/or educational program. In the event that the two parties cannot agree, the Executive Director of Student Services and Security will join the decision as a neutral third party.
Africentric School Requirements
During the 2000-01 school year, Akron Public Schools opened an Africentric
school, the only one of its kind in Northeast Ohio, at Stewart Elementary
School. All students who wish to attend Stewart Elementary School must apply through the open enrollment process. Stewart accommodates grades K-5. After the fifth grade, students must return to their home school or reapply for open enrollment to another school. Stewart Elementary School does not have an attendance zone.
Career Education
Students who wish to attend another high school outside of their assigned high school for a career education program must apply for open enrollment. Applicants will be screened through the Office of Career Education. Career education programs are only available for students in grades 11 and 12 or students 16 years of age or older. Exception: Ninth-grade students may apply for the Architecture or Information Technology programs at Garfield; the Teacher Academy the Information Technology programs at Buchtel; or the Information Technology program at Ellet.
Garfield High School pre-engineering and pre-architecture applicants must take Algebra I and eighth-grade science or the equivalent and maintain a 3.0 or better grade point average. Acceptance is by application only with committee approval.
Transportation
Students whose open enrollment transfers are approved will not be transported to their new school except as designated in the Administrative Regulations.*
Special Education Students
Special education students (students with an Individualized Education Plan) will be approved or denied based on space availability and with consultation with the Office of Special Education in Akron Public Schools.
Deadline
Open enrollment applications must be returned by the deadline listed on the application to:
Akron Public Schools,
Office of Student /Facility Planning and Open Enrollment,
70 N. Broadway,
Room 101,
Akron OH 44308-1999. Faxed copies will not be accepted!
Glossary of Terms
Home school – The school to which a student is assigned based on the home address of his/her parent(s) or guardian(s)
Home district – The school district to which a student is assigned based on the home address of his/her parent(s) or guardian(s)
Intradistrict open enrollment – A transfer from one Akron public school to another
Interdistrict open enrollment – A transfer from one school district to another
Open enrollment - A program that allows students to open enroll into another
school, other than their assigned home school
*The Open Enrollment Bylaws and Policy for Interdistrict and Intradistrict are 5113 and 5113.01 respectively.
The Administrative Regulations are established in conjunction with the Policy.
The Policy is on the Akron Public Schools Web Site.
The Akron Board of Education does not
unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin,
creed or ancestry, age, gender, marital status, or disability in employment or
in its educational program
and activities.
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