Although they may ask for any of this information, they may not require it as a condition of enrolling or admitting a child and they may not delay a child's enrollment or attendance until these documents are provided. Whoever has primary legal custody can pick the school. For example, the social security number may be requested when it is needed to access a federal benefit; however the Social Security number may never be requested or required as a condition for enrollment. If the school board finds out that you lied about the address your children live at, they could be expelled from the school and you could be given a very large fine for doing this. The government does its best to ensure that those children who need specialized education, which is not available in every school district, are able to access it without forcing parents to move. . The school your child attends can make a big impact on the rest of their education, and even their lives. These students should be enrolled without delay, in the district where they are presently residing, or continue their education in the district of prior attendance. Here are some final considerations to keep in mind: Communicate. Date of Issue: July, 1, 2022 (revised formerly BEC 24 P.S. I have physical custody except during Father's parenting time; Thursday to Sunday. That includes students who are placed in emergency, interim or respite foster care, kinship care, evaluation or diagnostic centers, or placements for the sole purpose of evaluation. These students should be enrolled using the Section 1302 statement/affidavit process, except that the resident is to be presumed to be supporting the child without personal compensation or gain (gratis). In a sense, enrolling the student is only half the equation. The form gives the school a responsible party (you) to contact with any questions about the child, or to send information home about the child. What if a child is living with me only so he can go to school in my district? The form should be available at the school office. 20 U.S.C. If a student is under age 21 and has a Graduation Equivalency Diploma (GED), the student can enroll in school and work towards a diploma. Must a school district provide extra help when the person enrolling the child has limited English skills? What kind of proof of age, residency and immunization status may a family be asked to provide? You can also get the form and see instructions for using the School Form. If a child is behaving in a negative way or acting out, it is helpful for the teacher to understand why this is so. 13-1306 Nonresident Students in Institutions. Parent Registration StatementA sworn statement (See Attachment A (PDF)) attesting to whether the student has been or is suspended or expelled for offenses involving drugs, alcohol, weapons, infliction of injury or violence on school property must be provided for a student to be admitted to any school entity (24 P.S. A district may not require a physical or dental examination or a health or mental health history as a condition of enrollment. The school entity or nonpublic school to which the student has transferred should request the record. You may need a little patience and persistence, but it most certainly can be done. Yes. 13-1302. Courts will usually try to keep kids in the same . You should review the court order about custody with an experienced family law attorney to be clear on your rights and remedies. (c)Nonresident children. 13-1302(a)(2), indicating that the signer is a resident of the school district, is supporting the child without receiving personal compensation, that the child is living with the resident continuously and not just for the school year, and that the resident will accept all responsibilities relating to the child's schooling (see Attachment B (PDF) for a model statement), or. This form is called "Custodial Statement and Agreement: Divorce, Separation, or Abandonment." Children have a right to attend school, and it is absolutely in their best interest that they do so. The law affords the parents the opportunity to appeal that denial. In some states, using a false address is a crime and you can be fined for knowingly giving the wrong address when registering your child for school. These public school enrollment procedures, consistent with law, exist to ensure that public schools promptly enroll students who are residents or who are eligible non-residents. Early intervention for emergent issues is always a better alternative to waiting for resolution, especially in cases in which a child is coping with stress associated with the absence of his or her Solo Mom/only parent. Phone: 717.787.4860 Fax: 717.214.4389 Homeless students may reside in shelters, hotels, motels, cars, tents or be temporarily doubled-up with a resident family because of lack of housing. Falling within this definition are students who have run away from home, been thrown out of their home, or been abandoned or separated from their parents or guardians. What should I do? Baptism of religious certificate. Every child of school age who is a resident of a Pennsylvania school district is entitled to a public school education. In the case of homeless students, traditional concepts of "residence" and "domicile" do not apply. In the event that a Solo Mom is temporarily unable to care for her child because of circumstances beyond her control (incapacitation resulting from illness, incarceration, involvement in deportation proceedings, etc. Proof of Immunization Status: Typically, a physicians statement/record of immunizations is provided. Generally, children must have a legal guardian to enroll in school, so obtaining authority to do this is critical and can be done through family court. You can also get the form and see instructions for using the School Form. If the child is an emancipated minor, the resident school district is the one in which the child is then living. I filled out the form and gave it to the school, but they still won't let me enroll him in school. The government has taken some steps to help care givers who are raising children without a legal agreement or custody arrangement in place. Some schools have a limited number of spots for tuition students. When a student returns to a school district from a delinquency placement, the school district cannot automatically place a child in an alternative education program for disruptive youth merely because the child had been adjudicated delinquent. If you have a medical issue or concern, please consult with your doctor or medical practitioner. As a by-product of requiring legal documentation showing that a care giver has full-time custody or is the legal guardian of a child, they are discriminating against children who are being raised by their family members without a legal agreement in place. This is not always going to be easy, as sometimes houses in the most desirable school districts are much more expensive and hard to get they almost never go up for sale. 5798. The school district must provide translation and interpretation services to the extent needed to help the family understand the enrollment process and enroll the student in school promptly. Legal Guardianship for School Purposes. After receiving the complaint, a Department staff member will contact the school district and the involved parties, whenever possible within five days, to determine whether the child is entitled to enroll in the school district. When the parents reside in different school districts due to separation, divorce or other reason, the child may attend school in the district of residence of the parent with whom the child lives for a majority of the time, unless a court order or court approved custody agreement specifies otherwise. A school district may not delay or deny a childs school enrollment due to a childs disciplinary record, but may provide alternative education for the length of the expulsion for a child who is currently expelled for a weapons offense. The good news is that many states do not require a care giver (like a grandparent) to have legal custody of the child to enroll in the school in the area. ,zu`KWpR'&1)5f"pz?6. When in doubt as to the law or regulation, please consult the BEC, Chapter 11 Student Attendance Regulation and the PA Public School Code. Your access of/to and use If you and your co-parent share joint legal custody, then the two of you would have to agree on the school. Tara Shafer is the cofounder of Reconceiving Loss, an online resource center for families coping with pregnancy and infant loss. If the disciplinary record or sworn statement indicates the student has been expelled from a school district in which he previously was enrolled, for reasons other than a weapons offense, it is recommended the school district review the student's prior performance and school record to determine the services and supports to be provided upon enrollment in the district. While these requirements do prevent parents and families from abusing the education system, and sending all kids to one school, it can also discriminate against certain family set ups and care givers. authority to enroll a child in school. For subsidy purposes, students who reach age 21 after the school term begins are eligible to be counted for the entire school term. Meet other Solo Moms who are raising their grandchildren or relatives in our confidential community of Sisters. FI +=G>yKDSxSCr`"LR? The form should be available at the school office. If you have issues with enrolling a child in school without custody, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. 20-2-690.1. When Pennsylvania residents who are military personnel are deployed and their school age children are living with relatives or family friends in a school district for that period of time, the students are entitled to attend school in the school district in which they are residing. One of these steps is what's known as educational consent laws. If you are the sole legal custodian, then only you can enroll your child in school. 11431 et seq. The best thing you can do, if you want to have your children going to a specific school, is to purchase a home in the district you want to be in. Once temporary guardianship has been accomplished, find out what you can about local regulations and procedures for school enrollment, as these will also vary from state to state. - PDF Brochure. School districts and charter schools receiving requests for educational records from another school district or charter school shall forward the records within 10 business days of receipt of the request. If you can prove to the school that the child has been living with you, that you have been providing for the child's needs, and that you do not have the child in your household simply to allow the child to attend school in your district, the school should not require legal proof of custody. Additionally, some school boards may do random checks over the course of the school year to make sure that students live where they say they do. For example, a school district can never demand only one kind of document, for example a birth certificate, to prove age. If you use a 1302 Form, the school cannot require you to show that you have a custody order. Proof of Child's Age. A district may require that more than one form of residency confirmation be provided. Complete this form for a child/youth presenting himself/herself for enrollment while not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Charter Enrollment Form. The Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings process is the gold standard due to its objectivity and comprehensiveness. If the school district refuses to enroll the student or does not respond, the matter will be forwarded to the Department's Office of Chief Counsel (OCC). Children and families with limited English proficiency must be provided translation and interpretation services to the extent needed to help the family understand the enrollment process and enroll the student in school promptly per the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI, 42 U.S.C. Must a school district enroll a child within a certain time period? The former school district or charter school, if within this Commonwealth, is required to respond by forwarding the records within 10 business days of the date upon which a student's records are requested by another Commonwealth school district or charter school. Attorneys that receive reviews from their peers, but not a sufficient number to establish a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating, will have those reviews display on our websites. HTMo@+Te@/ZiUkCeDQ;6`y[l#Dg]tn3kpQ[@0 g~O$A81?yHa9k#9aHpQj.a |rqJf p}|,lvf*Z+@*j.TBsfbNEXW`ZZu? Enrollment of these students follows the same requirements as resident students of the school district. If there was no agreement, one of you would have to petition the Court and the court would then decide whigh school your child went to. advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or Please enable scripts and reload this page. Ask the clerk, judge, or a court employee to whom you might speak. Education for Homeless Youth for more details. School districts are encouraged to develop policies or agreements to enable a student who is in foster care to remain in the educational program in the same school or school district even if that child moves to another school district or to another attendance area within the same district. If you and your co-parent cannot reach agreement about changing your child's school, your options are either to leave your child in their current school, or to go to court to request a modification of custody or permission to change schools. If your child has special education needs or a school has a really specialized program then you may be able to apply for special consideration. If it is not, contact the Indiana Department of Education at (317) 232-6676, or your local Indiana Legal Services office to get the form. When necessary, local school officials should consult with their county children and youth agencies to determine if a child meets the definition of "awaiting foster care placement", including, on a case-by-case basis, whether a child who does not clearly fall into one of these categories is nevertheless a child "awaiting foster care placement.". Children who are awaiting foster care placement are considered homeless students. A resident's receipt of payments, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Transitional Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), pre-adoptive or adoptive support, maintenance on public or private health insurance, support from the military or military personnel or other payments for or on account of the child such as child support, shall not be deemed to be personal compensation or gain. After you have filled out and signed the form, give it to the school where you want to enroll the child. Office of Elementary and Secondary Education The others have stated the rule correctly, if you have joint legal custody, the parties must agree or a court will decide. However, the provision of this information rests with the educational entity and not the family, and so, the receiving school district may not require this information as a precondition to enrollment and may not delay a student's admission for lack of this information. If you decide, in a couple years, that you want to move or buy a new house then they may be able to transfer and you can get them into the school you want. Educational agencies shall ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as provided to other children and youth. 0(X]C [ZhYg;dU v5|$^+tEQ{+y2z:7 Ql@ewV*:j[J6Fr!` &b(wl"g~d^$BEG"f)TC4G W Q Under this provision, a child can attend a school in the district that the child is a resident of. 13-1302 24 P.S 13-1302(a)(1) 24 P.S. Proof of residencyAcceptable documentation includes: a deed, a lease, current utility bill, current credit card bill, property tax bill, vehicle registration, drivers license, DOT identification card. These laws allow for caregivers without legal custody to enroll the children in their care in the local school, tuition free. Once the age requirement is established, districts cannot refuse admission to a child who meets the age requirement. A childs district of residence is that in which the parents or the guardian resides. In a multisite study (recruitment based in New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, California, and Quebec), participants were originally enrolled between 1994 and 1998 at ages 7 to 9.9 and followed up through 2012 (M[subscript age] = 25 at final follow-up). A complaint may be filed by mail, email or by phone with written follow up. There is a form called "Custodial Statement and Agreement: Third-Party Custody." This article is intended to cut through some of the red tape and break it down for a grandparent or someone who is involved with the child but not wholly familiar with school-enrollment requirements. endstream endobj 194 0 obj <>stream If the parents have joint custody and the child's time is evenly divided between the parents, the parents may choose which of the two school districts the child will attend for the school year. The basic requirements of proof of age, immunization, residence, discipline statement and the Home Language Survey apply. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has laid out guidelines for families interested in joining learning support pods, and you can get more info on finding school-age childcare or establishing a learning pod in your state. but how? Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (244452) and (271457). Please direct comments or questions to. 104.73 KB. No, you cannot enroll children in school without custody. Officials at the school will typically investigate any families who change their address within one year of enrolling in the school, and try to find out if their initial address was fake. A school district must normally enroll a child the next business day, but no later than five business days after application. In other words, they cannot be in the district just to go to that school. Schools created residency requirements to prevent parents and families from, essentially, shopping for the best school to send their children to and only have the children living in that area during the week but not actually living there full time. provide it will not bar the child from enrolling in or attending school, and (2) explain for what purpose the number will be used. ADMISSION TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS. A district may require that more than one form of residency confirmation be provided. 7348 (November 26, 2022). Among the documents that a school district or charter school may request are: picture identification, health or physical examination records, academic records, attendance records, Individualized Education Program, and other special education records. What are the different Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings?*. Even if you get a legal guardianship, the school may not have to enroll the child if the only reason for the guardianship was for the student to attend school in your district. Education Resources for Pennsylvania Parents Individual mandates will vary from state to state and even within districts in each state. Give the form to your school. Enrolling a child in school when you aren't the custodial parent. If a student is under age 21 and has a Graduation Equivalency Diploma (GED), may he enroll in school and work towards her high school diploma? Can I Just Say My Children Live With Their Grandparents or Use Their Address? Professional Standards and Practices Commission, the resident of the school district is supporting the child without compensation or gain; and, the child is living there for the entire year and not only the school term; and, that the resident will take responsibility for the childs schooling. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome and Martindale-Hubbell accepts no responsibility for the content or accuracy of any review. If you do not have a custody order, you can still enroll the child using the 1302 Form and the child has the same legal right to attend school. Proudly founded in 1681 as a place of tolerance and freedom. Ask about class offerings. By signing the form, you agree to act as the responsible party for the child in school. More In some cases, the school will require the care giver to provide legal documentation that they are the guardian or they have legal custody of the child in order for them to enroll in the school. 11431 et seq., shall be enrolled immediately with full participation in all school activities whether or not appropriate documentation can be provided at the time of enrollment. 13-1317.2(e.1)). You may have to pay tuition for the child to attend school in your district. By the end of high school, the average GPA of adolescents with ADHD was three . Asking for help in this regard is likely to yield benefit, especially if one is able to go in person to an office and schedule a meeting. If the complaint is not amicably resolved, a written determination will be made and sent to the school district and the individual who filed the complaint. 131301 and Education of Children Residing with an Adult Other than the Natural Parent, 24 P.S. Nonresident children placed in foster care must be educated in accordance with 24 P.S. 13-1305 24 P.S. In order to make sure your childs education is as consistent as possible, make sure you know the rules about the school districts in the state you live in. In general, a child typically cannot miss more than one month of schooling simply because their parent or guardian failed to enroll them in a timely manner. All 50 states allow medical exemptions, 44 . Please explain why you are flagging this content: * This will flag comments for moderators to take action. Make sure you have filled out the form properly and given it to the school. May a child who is placed in the foster care system remain in the same school or school district even if her foster parent placement changes and she moves to a new school attendance area or new school district? The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether the student currently is fit to return to the regular classroom or meets the definition of a disruptive student. No statutes or acts will be found at this website. Unaccompanied homeless youth includes any child who is "not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian." This includes youth who have run away from home, been thrown out of their home, been abandoned or separated from their parents or guardians for any other reason. Copyright 2023 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. A residents receipt of payments, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Transitional Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), pre-adoptive or adoptive support, maintenance on public or private health insurance, support from the military or military personnel or payments for or on account of the child such as child support is not considered to be personal compensation or gain. The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) revised its Student Enrollment policy and procedure in accordance with recent changes in federal and state law. 13-1317.2(e.1) 24 P.S. There is another form, similar to the one discussed above, for the non-custodial parent to use. 05-503 Admission to Kindergarten and Beginners. A childs right to be admitted to school may not be conditioned on the childs immigration status. In order to make sure your children do not have an expulsion on their record, it may be safest to register them in the school district that you live in right now. This includes the right to attend the school district's public schools if appropriate for the child. School records from the student's former school will be forwarded through the ACP. of Transportation identification card. 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