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Board sets open-enrollment policy: unlimited regular-education seats, no special-education seats available
Summary
The board approved administration’s recommendation that the district allow unlimited regular open-enrollment across models for 2025–26 while declaring no available seats for special-education services due to caseload and workload constraints.
The Plymouth Joint School District Board of Education voted to approve administration’s recommendations for open enrollment in the 2025–26 school year. The district will accept unlimited regular-education open-enrollment applications across all instructional models, but it has determined there are no available seats in any special-education service areas for students enrolling under open enrollment.
An administration presenter told the board: "There will be unlimited availability for regular education students to open role in the Plymouth School District in all of the models for the 2526 school year. It has also been determined that due to the caseload and workload considerations, there are no seats available in any special education services in grades early childhood through grade 12. There is no space available for speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or third party services of vision, hearing impaired, and orientation and mobility for all grade levels." The board approved the recommendation on a voice vote.
Administrators emphasized procedural responsibilities for families and resident districts. The resident school district must screen a child to determine "reasonable cause to believe that the child has a disability" before an evaluation and prior to participation in open enrollment. If a student attending the district under open enrollment is later referred for special-education evaluation and is found eligible, the resident district is responsible for writing the individualized education program (IEP). If Plymouth cannot provide required services, the student would need to return to the resident district to receive those services.
The board noted this set of recommendations is unchanged from the previous two years, reflecting ongoing caseload and workload constraints. The policy also clarifies that students who move out of the district and seek a tuition waiver for the remainder of the school year must apply for open enrollment for the following year; acceptance is not guaranteed and will depend on the policy in effect when they apply.
Board members thanked staff for the work drafting the recommendation and moved on to other agenda items.
