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Board reviews revisions to attendance‑area transfer policy to align with OSPI portal
Summary
The board reviewed proposed edits to Board Policy 3131 to clarify in‑district vs. out‑of‑district transfers, note WIAA eligibility rules for secondary students, move appeal steps into administrative procedures, and confirm parents/guardians must provide transportation for transfers; staff will tidy language and return with final procedures.
The administration presented proposed changes to Board Policy 3131 (attendance‑area transfers) intended to clarify terminology and align district practice with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's online transfer portal.
Assistant Superintendent Maria Stevens explained the edits focus first on renaming and clarifying "in‑district transfer," adding a reference that secondary students who request an in‑district transfer are subject to Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) eligibility rules, and consolidating appeal procedures into administrative procedures rather than policy text. The policy draft also reiterates that transportation for transfers is the responsibility of the parent or guardian and that a student's home district must release a student before the receiving district can accept them.
Board members asked whether the prior policy language that granted automatic transfers to children of district employees would be removed; Stevens said that provision was struck for in‑district transfers because the same process will now apply uniformly, though interdistrict (outside) employment RCW protections remain. A director raised concern about a local school that allegedly recruits student athletes; staff said they would review athletic eligibility language and consider whether to reinstate clearer language in procedures.
The administration said this is the district's second year of accepting out‑of‑district transfers, that the district has been approving applications more quickly this year, and that exact counts of transfers were "not specified" in the presentation. The board did not take a final vote and asked staff to make clarifying edits and return the policy with updated procedures.
