Policy JBCD - Student Hardship Transfers
Upon the written request of a parent, the Student Hardship Committee may permit a student to attend school outside his/her attendance zone if one of the following hardships is demonstrated. The following procedures will be in place for transfers effective in the 2006-07 school year and beyond.
An Application For Transfer form may be obtained from schools, the department managing student assignment located at the Administrative Center, and online at www.fultonschools.org. The application must be submitted annually to the department managing student assignment between January 25 – March 1 for the 2010-11 school year and January 1– February 15 for following school years.
Exceptions will be considered for extenuating circumstances. A waiver of the application deadline will be considered if the hardship situation arises after the deadline. Examples of such circumstances are change in job or work schedule, change in daycare center or sitter or recent manifestation of medical/psychological problems.
A web transfer report form will be used to communicate the acceptance or denial of the hardship application to the sending and receiving principals.
Hardship transfers for special education students follow the same procedures as for non-special education students. The Student Hardship Committee determines the receiving school’s space availability and ability to implement the student’s Individual Educational Plan (IEP). This policy does not apply to placement decisions made by a student’s IEP team.
The receiving school shall be the closest school to the student’s home school with available classroom space that offers the needed programs and services, ideally within the same cluster.
An approved transfer may be revoked by the department managing student assignment in consultation with the appropriate school personnel if the student does not maintain system-established attendance, behavior and academic standards for hardship transfer students.
The parent will be notified in writing of the decision of the committee. Hardship transfers are granted for one school year only. The parent must submit an annual written request if the hardship situation continues for more than one school year. Applications must be received by the department managing student assignment during the application period.
If the basis for approval of a hardship request is ever discontinued during the school year (i.e., no longer staying at the child care center, completing or dropping the courses which constituted curriculum differences, etc.), the student should return to the home school at the end of the semester.
Students placed by the hardship committee are expected to attend school regularly and on time, avoid excessive checkouts, be picked up promptly after school, conduct themselves in a manner appropriate for school and do their school work. Any student who fails to maintain these standards may be transferred to the home school.
Transportation to the approved school is the responsibility of the parent.
1. Employee's Child Transfer
Children of full-time employees, regardless of where they live, may attend the Fulton County School where their parents /guardians work. To attend any other out-of-zone school, the employee must establish to the satisfaction of the Student Hardship Committee that such an assignment is necessary or convenient to the employee. In deciding whether a request is justifiable, the Hardship Committee will consider such factors as the appropriate school nearest the place of employment, the appropriate school nearest a child care center or sitter caring for the child before or after school hours (elementary only) and other reasonable factors. Current employees must submit an Application For Transfer form during the application period; however, a waiver of the deadline will be considered for new hires or when an employee’s circumstances change during the year.
2. Medical Reasons
The student's physician, psychiatrist or psychologist must provide a written recommendation and professional opinion including the specific medical reasons (physical and/or psychological) for the recommendation and must be willing to defend the recommendation in court. The Medical Hardship Application form along with the Background for Medical Hardship Request form must be completed by a physician (D.O. or M.D.), psychiatrist (M.D.) or clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) to substantiate the request.
3. Curriculum Differences for Middle and High School Students
Consideration is given for a transfer to the nearest middle which offers core courses not available within the curriculum of the middle school to which a student is zoned.
Consideration is given for a transfer to the nearest high school for students who may request a transfer to pursue a particular program of study that is not offered at their home school. Fulton County defines “a program of study” as a prescribed sequence of courses that leads to a career technology seal of endorsement, or to an International Baccalaureate diploma or magnet seal. Programs of study include Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs and JROTC.
In accordance with Georgia Department of Education Rule 160-4-2.47, core courses are English/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and foreign language.
The sending school is responsible for verifying that the student has met the requirements for the requested program of study (a sequence of classes) or core course needed for graduation purposes. Requests initiate at the student’s home school, where the principal must assure that the student has met the requirements for the requested core course or program of study, and that the requested core course or program of study is not available at the student’s home school or via distance learning options such as online courses or video conferencing. The principal at the requested school must also assure that the requested core course or program of study is available in his/her school and that there is space available.
4. Child Care
If each of the parents in the home work, and their work makes it necessary for their elementary or middle school student to stay with a private sitter or in a day care center in another attendance zone, consideration will be given to a transfer to the school in the zone in which the child care center or sitter is located.
The receiving school is determined by the location of the child care provider, and space available at the requested school as determined by the appropriate school personnel.