The St. Michael-Albertville School Board announced it will be examining some of its attendance and boundary policies at its first meeting next month, set for 7 p.m. on Dec. 1.
According to a release issued Thursday, Nov. 20 by Superintendent Jim Behle, the district is examining multiple facets of its attendance and boundary issues, particularly as it pertains to students who have parents on the move, and students with parents who work in the district but reside in another community.
The releases states the “STMA School Board will be reviewing a policy change that allows students to attend an elementary or middle school outside the student’s school attendance area. The policy would permit parents/guardians to apply for a transfer under three circumstances:
- Parent/guardian moves out of the attendance area and requests to have a child continue in the current school.
- Parent/guardian requests to have a child attend school where child care is available.
- Parent/guardian is an employee of the school district and requests to have a child attend school where the employee is employed.
Transfers will be based upon the following criteria:
- There is available capacity in the school for additional students.
- The transfer will not increase class size compared to grade levels in other schools.
- Special education and Title I services are offered with available space and within teacher caseloads for students who qualify for the services.
Other factors to be discussed in the policy include random selection of transfers if available space is less than the number of requests and priority for residents over non-residents. Parents/guardians will be required to provide transportation.”
Questions about the policy are to be directed to Behle, the release concludes.