In-district transfer requests for the following school year open in May. Priority consideration is given for transfer requests received by the first Friday in June.

If you are considering a request for an in-district transfer, here are some suggestions that may help ease the process and increase the likelihood that we can honor your request:  

1. Review school board policy 3131 and procedure 3131P below
2. If you feel strongly that you don’t want your child to attend the assigned school based on your attendance area, please list two or three schools you would rather your child attend in your preferred order. If you only list one school as an option and we are not able to grant your request, your child will attend the assigned school based on your attendance area.
3. Submit your transfer request during the May priority request window so we can start to process it and do everything we can to grant your request.

Complete the In-District Transfer Form (24-25 form will be available on Monday, May 6)

District Attendance Area Transfers | Policy No. 3131

Each student in the district is required to attend the school designated for the geographic attendance area in which he or she resides.

A parent or guardian may request that his or her child be allowed to attend another school in the district. Requests must be submitted in writing to the principal of the building at which the student is currently assigned. Secondary students who request attendance area transfers are subject to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s (WIAA) eligibility rules.

The superintendent will develop procedures and criteria for considering in-district transfer requests. In the case of requested in-district transfers, transportation is the responsibility of the parents or guardians.

Granted requests expire at the end of the current school year. Parents/Guardians wishing to have their child remain in a school outside of their attendance area must annually submit a transfer request for consideration according to the subsequent procedure.

When the school district must make involuntary student transfers due to excess enrollment and/or class size at one or more schools, the district will seek to use the same considerations as applied to requested transfers. Parents will be informed annually of the district’s attendance area transfer option. The Superintendent of Public Instruction's annual information booklet on enrollment options in the state is available online.

District Attendance Area Transfers | Procedure 3131P

Voluntary Transfers

Transfers may be granted if space is available based on reasonably balanced class sizes and the parents transport the student. Priority transfer consideration will be given to students who:

1. Are residents of the district. Non-resident students should not displace students who are residents of the district.
2. Need to attend the school in order to access special services required by their IEP or 504 Plan.
3. Are siblings of a student in a self-contained gifted, life-skills, or behavior program and wish to attend the same school as their sibling.
4. Already have a sibling at the school they are requesting.
5. Have been displaced by an attendance boundary change in the past year and wish to return to their neighborhood school in the prior boundary.
6. Submit their request for the following school year after the first Monday in May and no later than the first Friday in June of the current school year.

Additional considerations for transfers include:

1. A financial, educational, safety, or health condition affecting the student would be reasonably improved as a result of the transfer; or
2. Attendance at another school in the district is more accessible to the parent's place of work or to the location of child care; or
3. Some other special hardship or detrimental condition affecting the student or the student's immediate family would be alleviated as a result of the transfer.

All of the considerations in this procedure are limited by space availability and class-size equalization. In the case of similarly weighted requests, proximity to the school, ability to walk to school, and age/grade level of the student may also be considered. The principal of the currently-assigned school will consult with the principal of the school to which the student desires to transfer to determine:

1. Whether space is available in the grade level or classes at the building in which the student desires to be enrolled;
2. How the class sizes in the requested school compare with those of the same grade level/subject in other schools across the district;
3. Whether mandated educational programs or services are available; and,
4. Whether the student's transfer is likely to create a risk to the health or safety of other students or staff at the new building.

Transfers must be granted if the student is a child of a full-time certificated or classified school employee unless:

1. The student has a history of convictions, violent or disruptive behavior, or gang membership; or
2. The student has been expelled or suspended from school for more than 10 consecutive days; or
3. Enrollment of a child would displace a child who is a resident of the district (the child must be permitted to remain enrolled until he or she completes his or her schooling).

Parents/Guardians will be notified prior to the start of school if their request is granted or denied. If a parent’s request is denied, they may submit a request in writing to the requested school to be placed on the school’s “waiting list.” Requests from parents/guardians on a waiting list may be considered through October 1st of that school year. Appeals of school placement decisions may be submitted in writing to the assistant superintendent. Any written appeal must be received within 5 days of notification of the school placement decision.

A student who moves to a new attendance area in the district during the school year may elect to transfer (provided that space is available) at the time of the move, at the end of the semester or grading period, or at the end of the school year. Should they chose to remain at their current school for the remainder of the year, parents/guardians must provide transportation.

Proof of address may be required to verify a student’s attendance area. Granted requests expire at the end of each school year. Parents/guardians wishing to have their child remain in a school outside their attendance area must annually submit an in-district transfer request for consideration according to this procedure.

Transfer requests should be made prior to the start of the school year or upon enrollment. Midyear in-district transfers are strongly discouraged due to the disruptive impact on students and their learning.

Involuntary Transfers

When the school district must make involuntary student transfers due to excess enrollment and/or class size at one or more schools, the district will seek to use the same considerations as applied to requested transfers. The district may offer transportation for individual students who are involuntarily assigned to a school outside normal attendance areas.