Parents urge St. Vrain Valley to drop June 1 exchange-student deadline, say policy blocks placements

Two local residents urged the St. Vrain Valley School District No. Re1J Board of Education on June 11 to revise a district policy that imposes a June 1 deadline for admitting foreign exchange students.

Debbie Odom, a Longmont parent and local exchange-student coordinator, said the December policy update added a June 1 deadline that has become a barrier for host families. "One in particular that I'd like to talk about tonight is this new June 1 deadline for exchange students admission," Odom said, adding that she has placed more than 90 exchange students in Colorado and that the deadline was costing placements.

Odom said most placements historically happened before summer but that some strong host families step forward later in May and early June. She described one recent case in which a family could not host because their paperwork arrived "nine days past the deadline." Odom said other Colorado districts she works with do not use a similar cutoff, and she proposed allowing families who have committed to begin registration early or otherwise be exempt from the deadline.

Tammy Richards, a Silver Creek parent who told the board her son attends the school, said she had just accepted a job that would allow her to host a student but learned she had missed the deadline. "I was just accepted at Silver Creek... and immediately emailed her, and I'm like, okay. Let's do this. I've got a job. And she said, there's a deadline, and we missed it," Richards said, asking the board to change the policy.

Board rules noted at the start of the meeting state that the board does not respond during public comment; the transcript records no board direction or motion in response to the speakers' requests during the June 11 meeting. The speakers requested policy change and more flexibility to allow late-committing host families to register exchange students.