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Policy committee backs change to tuition-waiver handling in open-enrollment policy
Summary
The Germantown School District policy committee recommended the board adopt revisions to Policy 5113 that clarify space determinations, random selection procedures and — starting in the 2026–27 school year — require students admitted via DPI tuition waivers who move out of the district to reapply through open enrollment the following year rather than receiving automatic continuing status.
The Germantown School District policy committee voted to forward a positive recommendation to the full board for revisions to Policy 5113, the district's open-enrollment program, after administrators said the changes clarify how tuition-waiver students are treated.
District Administrator Dr. Reuter told the committee administrators and district counsel had worked with Melissa Timmerman, the district's open-enrollment coordinator, to add language on annual space determination, guarantees tied to application space determination and the district's random selection process. "Ultimately, the green language that is being added is regarding tuition waiver students," Dr. Reuter said, explaining the intent to make expectations explicit for families and staff.
Under the proposed change, students who begin a school year as Germantown residents and later move out may continue for the remainder of that year under a DPI tuition waiver, but beginning with the 2026–27 school year such students would not be guaranteed continuing open-enrollment seats the next academic year and would need to reapply through the district's open-enrollment portal. Administrators said the change reflects differences in state reimbursement for open-enrolled pupils and the district's per-pupil costs and aims to prioritize resident students.
Committee members confirmed that current nonresident students who were admitted previously will "age out" under existing continuations and will not be retroactively removed; the change applies to new cases starting in 2026–27. Legal counsel told the committee that adding explicit dates and clear policy language mirrors practice used by other districts and reduces ambiguity for families and staff.
Motion and next step: Higginbotham moved and Brown seconded a motion to forward a positive recommendation to the full board to approve the revisions to Policy 5113; the committee voted in favor. The policy will be taken up by the full board for final action.
