CONTROLLED OPEN ENROLLMENT

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Policy

1. Student lottery applications are available on the school’s website and in the administrative office.

2. The Open Enrollment period will be advertised on the School’s website and in the local newspapers, along with the School capacity numbers.

3. Lottery applications are accepted through February 28th by 5:00 p.m. to be eligible for the lottery for the following school year.

4. All lottery applications received during Open Enrollment period are included in the lottery. Student names are drawn via a lottery (a random selection policy) for each grade level. Students are placed on a waiting list in the order that they were drawn. The lottery is conducted by the Director, District Charter School Representative and Assistant to the Director.

5. The waiting list will be used to fill any openings that the School may have.

6. If a wait list application is submitted after the February 28th deadline, the applicant will be added to the bottom of the list.

7. If the School does not have any openings, the applicants will remain on the waiting list in the order that they were drawn. Applicants will remain on the waiting list for the current school year only. The waiting list cannot roll over to the next school year. Students must reapply for the following school year.

8. The applicants will receive an email from the School notifying them that they are on the waiting list.

9. Once an opening is available, applicants will be notified via e-mail and/or phone and asked to complete the pre-enrollment application. The pre-enrollment application MUST be returned within 48 hours. If not received in 48 hours, the School will offer the opening to the next applicant on the waiting list. If the applicant declines the offer of enrollment, the applicant will be removed from the waiting list.

10. The School will review each completed pre-enrollment application.

11. The School may request additional information to ensure all required services can be provided by the School. A special committee, that includes a District employee, may be required to review the information.

12. Upon review of the pre-enrollment application, the applicant will be notified via e-mail and/or phone.

13. The Academy at the Farm is a part of the District School Board of Pasco County. Not all Pasco County schools offer the same services. If the applicant requires services that are not offered, the school district will assist the charter school, the student and the family in identifying the best placement for success.

14. In accordance with F.S. 1002.33(10), federal and state nondiscrimination laws, and the School’s charter contract with the School Board of Pasco County, preferential enrollment may be given to the following student populations:

A. Students who are siblings of a student enrolled in the charter school.

B. Students who are the children of a member of the governing board of the charter school.

C. Students who are the children of an employee of the charter school.

D. Students who are the children of an active duty member of any branch of the United States Armed Forces.

15. Pursuant to this Open Enrollment Process, the Academy at the Farm shall allow a parent from any school district in the State whose child is not subject to a current expulsion or suspension to enroll his or her child in and transport his or her child to any public school, including charter schools, that has not reached capacity.

16. If the invited applicant has a sibling in another grade, an enrollment application must be completed for the sibling within 48 hours. Once the enrollment application is reviewed and it is determined that the School can meet the needs of the student, the sibling may move to the top of the waiting list for their grade level. If there is not an opening in that grade level, then the applicant’s sibling would stay on the waiting list until the next available opening at the applicant’s sibling’s grade level.

17. If the applicant or the applicant’s sibling receives preferential enrollment and subsequently leaves the School, and then seeks re-enrollment, said re-enrollment shall be at the sole discretion of the School’s Director at the Academy at the Farm. The School’s Director’s decision may be appealed to the governing board of the Academy at the Farm, Inc. in writing within thirty (30) days of said School Director’s notification of the decision of the student’s re-enrollment application.

18. In January, a letter will be sent to all applicants that are on the current waiting list requesting them to submit a new lottery application for the next School year lottery drawing explaining that the deadline is February 28th.

19. In the event, in any year, the number of students who qualify for preferential enrollment as outlined herein exceed the number of available student slots, the Academy shall conduct lotteries in the exact order of each preferential classification as outlined in Paragraph 14(A) – 14(E). Said sub-lotteries shall result in students being ranked for potential invitation to attend the Academy at the Farm.

20. Students residing in the District may not be displaced by a student from another district seeking enrollment under this Controlled Open Enrollment Process. Preferential treatment shall be given to students residing in the Pasco County School District.

21. For purposes of continuity of educational choice, a student who is enrolled in an out-of-district residence in any school year may remain until the student completes the highest grade level at the Academy at the Farm.