2013-2014 SCHOOL TRANSFER REQUESTS PROCESS

The Austin School District will begin accepting requests for school transfers for the 2013-2014 school year beginning on Monday, January 7, 2013. Requests may be submitted to the Office of Student Services (Room A200), Carruth Administration Center, located at 1111 West Sixth Street during regular business hours, 7:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Applications for priority transfers and non-priority transfers that are to be considered in the first round lottery process will be accepted through 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 31, 2013.

A transfer request form may be obtained at a school. If a campus is closed during a summer month, the Office of Student Services will provide a form.

Parents submitting requests for students who are new to the district or who have had an address change since enrolling in school this year need to attach proof of residence and a picture ID.

Each year, the School District determines which schools should be frozen to transfers because they have, or are expected to have, enrollments that exceed their capacities. Also, some schools are frozen to maintain stability in tracking patterns. Based on expected enrollments and school tracking patterns for the 2013-2014 school year, following are (1) the 32 schools that will be frozen and (2) the 17 schools that will be monitored for available space, after priority transfers are approved.

SCHOOLS TO BE FROZEN TO TRANSFERS IN 2013-2014:

• High Schools (5): Akins, Anderson, Austin, Bowie, and McCallum
• Middle Schools (6): Kealing, Murchison, O.Henry, Paredes, and Small
• Elementary Schools (21): Baldwin, Baranoff, Blazier, Bryker Woods (grades 1 & 5), Casis, Cook, Doss, Graham, Hart, Highland Park, Hill, Kiker, Langford, Lee, Odom, Palm, Patton, Pickle, Pillow, Rodriguez, and Wooldridge.

SCHOOLS TO BE MONITORED AND POSSIBLY FROZEN IN 2013-2014

• High Schools (0): None
• Middle Schools (2): Bedichek and Gorzycki
• Elementary Schools (15): Andrews, Barrington, Becker, Casey, Clayton, Cowan, Davis, Gullett, Harris, Menchaca, Perez, Ridgetop, Summitt, Sunset Valley and Travis Heights.

The administration will constantly monitor space in all schools as boundary changes and/or reassignments are approved by the Board of Trustees in the Spring 2013. Any effects on the school freeze recommendations as a result of these changes will be brought to the attention of the Board and the community.

REQUESTS FOR PRIORITY TRANSFERS: Requests for priority transfers must be received no earlier than January 7, 2013 and no later than January 31, 2013 to be considered prior to any other requests. Requests must be either date/time stamped or postmarked no earlier than January 7, 2013 and no later than January 31, 2013. ALL REQUESTS FOR PRIORITY TRANSFERS RECEIVED DURING THIS TIME PERIOD WILL BE GIVEN EQUAL CONSIDERATION. Types of priority transfers are:

Sibling Transfer - A sibling transfer request can be made for siblings of students who are, or will be, attending the requested school at the same time on an approved transfer. The transfer to that school shall be allowed if space and staff are available.

Tracking Transfer - Students who have transferred to another school and who have a history of at least two unbroken years of attendance in the two highest grades offered at the school, may request a tracking transfer to the next level (i.e., to a middle school from an elementary school or to a high school from a middle school) in order to remain with their peers. The transfer to that school shall be allowed if space and staff are available. This provision does not apply to a student who has moved who wishes to seek a transfer back to the same school. In this case, the student should seek a general transfer, and all requirements of the transfer policy shall apply.

Majority-to-Minority Transfer - Students may transfer from a school where the student's ethnic group is over 50 percent of the school's population to a school where the student's ethnic group is less than 50 percent of the school's population. The purpose of the majority-to-minority transfer is to complement the District's student assignments and promote diversity throughout the District. The transfer to that school shall be allowed if space and staff are available. For the purpose of majority-to-minority transfers, two ethnic groups are defined:

• Black (and not of Hispanic origin) and Hispanic students.
• American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and White (and not of Hispanic origin) students.

The district also would like to bring to the attention of the community the following important information:

• The balance of ethnic groups at Mathews and Kealing has changed from no ethnic majority or minority to predominantly American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and White.
• The ethnic majority at O. Henry has changed from predominantly American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and White to no ethnic majority or minority. This group and the Black/African American and Hispanic group are less than one half of one percent different from one another.
• Students wishing to attend a magnet program at Fulmore, Kealing or LASA or an application program at Anderson IB, McCallum Fine Arts or Richards School for Young Women must apply directly to those programs.

REQUESTS FOR NON-PRIORITY TRANSFERS: Requests for non-priority transfers must be received no earlier than January 7, 2013 and no later than January 31, 2013 to be considered in a first round lottery selection. Requests must be either date/time stamped or postmarked no earlier than January 7, 2013 and no later than January 31, 2013. ALL REQUESTS FOR NON-PRIORITY TRANSFERS RECEIVED DURING THIS TIME PERIOD WILL BE GIVEN EQUAL CONSIDERATION AFTER REQUESTS FOR PRIORITY TRANSFERS HAVE BEEN PROCESSED. Types of non-priority transfers are:

• Curriculum Transfer - Curriculum transfers may be requested when a student's desired program of study is not offered at the student's school of residence. A program of study is a continuous sequence of courses designed to allow a student to pursue a specific area of learning (e.g., ROTC, Career Pathways, etc.). Transfers shall require approval by the appropriate associate superintendent, and shall be contingent on available space. If approved, the student shall enroll and maintain participation in the program for which the transfer is granted. If the student withdraws from the program, he or she shall return to the home campus at the end of that semester.
• General Transfer - General transfers may be requested when the student does not qualify for one of the other types of transfers and shall be approved contingent on available space.

Beginning February 1, 2013 all requests received will be considered as non-priority transfers and processed for available space on a first come-first served basis. The deadline to apply for non-priority transfers for the Fall Semester is August 12, 2013. Requests for non-priority transfers for the Spring Semester may be submitted between August 13, 2013 and November 15, 2013.

Approval/Denial Process: Initial processing of requests will be done in a first round lottery selection, and approval or denial letters will be sent to the parents. When a request is denied, an appeal may be made to the Associate Superintendent who has the responsibility for the requested school. A final appeal may be made to the Superintendent, and, if needed, a petition may be made to the Board of Trustees, in accordance with state law.

DATES AND DEADLINES FOR 2013-2014

Ethnic Status of Campuses

THE TRANSFER POLICY (FDB (L))
(Revised by the AISD Board of Trustees November 22, 2010 )

View AISD Transfer Policy Online

OTHER INFORMATION

PUBLIC EDUCATION GRANT (PEG) TRANSFERS

A student enrolled in a school identified under the PEG program has the right to request a transfer to another school in his/her current district or in another district.  AISD students wanting transfers within the district should use the regular transfer request procedures.  Students outside of the district should address their requests to the Superintendent of Austin ISD.

AISD DISCRIMINATION POLICY

The Austin Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability in its programs and activities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Austin Independent School District’s Student Transfer Policy, please contact the Office of Student Services at 414-1726.