5112

Students

Ages of Attendance/Admissions/Placement

In accordance with Connecticut General Statute 10-186, the Board of Education shall provide education for all persons, residing in the District, five years of age and over, who reach age five on or before the first day of January (September, effective July 1, 2024) of any school year, and under twenty-one (age twenty-two for special education students) who is not a graduate of a high school or vocational school, except as provided in Connecticut General Statutes 10-233c and 10-233d.

Additionally, according to Connecticut General Statute 10-76d (b2), special education will be provided for children who have attained the age of three and who have been identified as being in need of special education, and whose educational potential will be irreparably diminished without special education. If a special education student is being considered for an exception, the Planning and Placement Team (PPT) will make a recommendation to the administrator in charge of special education.

In order to determine a child's eligibility for ELL programs, parents/guardians of all new students enrolling for the first time and all re-enrolling students who have not previously attended a Connecticut public school must complete a Home Language Survey (HLS) at the time of enrollment. A student may also take a screening exam. The student must be enrolled first before the administration of the assessment. Neither the survey nor the exam are conditions of enrollment.

Note:  When a student is enrolling in a new school district or new state charter school, written notification of such enrollment shall be provided to the previous school district or charter school not later than two business days after the student enrolls.

Children who apply for initial admission to the District's schools by transfer from nonpublic schools or from schools outside the District will be placed at the grade they would have reached elsewhere pending observation and evaluation by classroom teachers, guidance personnel, and the school Principal.  After such observations and evaluations have been completed, the Principal will determine the final grade placement of the children.

Parents and those who have the control of children five years of age and under eighteen years of age, are obligated by Connecticut law to require their children to attend public day school or its equivalent in the District in which such child resides, unless such child is a high school graduate or the parent or person having control of such child is able to show that the child is elsewhere receiving equivalent instruction in the studies taught in the public schools. Students under age eighteen are subject to mandatory attendance laws unless they are at least seventeen and their parent/guardian, or other person having control of the child, consents to such child's removal from school. The parent or person shall exercise this option by personally appearing at the school district office to sign a withdrawal form.

Such withdrawal form shall include an attestation from a guidance counselor, school counselor or school administrator of the school that this District has provided the parent or person with information on the educational opportunities options available in the school system and in the community, and the parent or guardian that the child will be enrolled in an adult education program upon the child's withdrawal from school.

Enrollment

The enrollment process shall be focused on obtaining only the information deemed necessary to establish residency and age. The District shall not request other information as a condition of enrollment or state in its policies or on its websites or otherwise, that other information is required to enroll children. The District shall immediately enroll a homeless child and allow such student to attend school even if the student is unable to produce records normally required for enrollment. Additional data collection may occur, but it must be completed in such a manner that does not interfere with the enrollment of a child in school.

Each child entering the District schools for the first time must present a birth certificate or offer legal evidence of birth data, as well as proof of a recent physical examination and required immunizations. Other documents that may be accepted as proof of a child's age include, but are not limited to, a photocopy of a birth certificate, earlier school records, state-issued identification document, driver's license or passport, parent's affidavit or unsworn statement as to a child's age, physician's certificate verifying a child's age, or immunization records.

If the parents or guardians of any children are unable to pay for such immunizations and/or physicals, the expense of such immunizations and/or physicals shall on the recommendation of the Board, be paid by the Town. Proof of domicile may also be requested by the Building Principal.

The parent or person having control of a child five years of age shall have the option of not sending the child to school until the child is six years of age by December 31st of any school year. The parent or person having control of a child six years of age shall have the option of not sending the child to school until the child is seven years of age by December 31st of any school year.

Any child entering or returning to the District from placement in a juvenile detention school, the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, or any other residential placement, shall have the educational records of such child provided to the Superintendent of Schools by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Judicial Department.  Such information will be shared with the Principal of the school to which the student is assigned.  The Principal can disclose them to the staff who teach or care for the child.

The District will immediately enroll any student who transfers from Unified District No. 1 or Unified District No 2.  A student transferring from the Unified School Districts who had previously attended school in the local District shall be enrolled in the school such student previously attended, provided such school has the appropriate grade level for the student.

Residency

The District, when determining residency, shall not request documentation of citizenship or immigration status of a child or the child's parents/guardians. The Board believes such documentation is not relevant to establishing residency.

In the establishment of residency, the Board will accept such documentation as, but not limited to, a lease agreement, mortgage document, property tax record, rent receipt, home owners insurance, current utility bill, current proof of government benefits, CT driver's license, automobile registration or insurance.  An Affidavit of Residence, properly executed, shall also be acceptable.

For purposes of establishing the residency of a child of a member of the armed forces, as defined in C.G.S. 27-103, and who is seeking enrollment in a district school, in which such child is not yet a resident, the Board shall accept the military orders directing such member to Connecticut or any other documents from the armed forces indicating the transfer of such member to Connecticut as proof of residency in the District.

The above requirements are not to serve as barriers to immediate enrollment of students, designated as homeless or foster children as required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the McKinney-Vento Act as amended by the ESSA. The District shall work with the local child welfare agency, the school last attended, or other relevant agencies to obtain necessary enrollment documentation. The District shall immediately enroll a homeless student and allow such student to attend school even if the student is unable to produce records normally required for enrollment.

The parent/guardian of any child who is denied admission to the District's schools, or an unaccompanied minor, a student eighteen years of age or older, a homeless child or youth or an unaccompanied youth who is denied schooling on the basis of residency, or an agent or officer charged with the enforcement of the laws concerning attendance at school may request, in writing, a hearing by the Board of Education.

The parent or person shall exercise such option by personally appearing at the school district office and signing an option form. The District shall provide the parent or person with information on the educational opportunities available in the school system.

A child who has attained the age of seventeen and who has voluntarily terminated enrollment with parental consent in the District's schools and subsequently seeks readmission may be denied readmission for up to ninety school days from the date of such termination unless such child seeks readmission to the District not later than ten (10) school days after such termination in which case the Board shall provide school accommodations to such child not later than three school days after such child seeks readmission.

A child who has attained the age of nineteen or older may be placed in an alternative school program or other suitable educational program if he/she cannot acquire a sufficient number of credits for graduation by age twenty-one.

(cf. 5118.1 - Homeless Students)
(cf. 5118.3 - Children in Foster Care)
(cf. 6146 - Graduation Requirements)

Legal Reference:  Connecticut General Statutes

4-176e to 4-180a Agency hearings

4-181a Contested cases. Reconsideration. Modifications.

10-15 Towns to maintain schools

10-15c Discrimination in public schools prohibited.  School attendance by five-year-olds

10-76a - 10-76g re special education

10-184 Duties of parents (re mandatory schooling for children ages five to sixteen, inclusive) as amended by PA-98-243, PA 00-157, PA 09-6 (September Special Session) and PA 18-15

10-186 Duties of local and regional boards of education re school attendance. Hearings. (as amended by P.A. 19-179)

P.A. 19-179 An Act Concerning Homeless Students; Access to education

Appeals to State Board.  Establishment of hearing board

10-233a - 10-233f Inclusive; re: suspend, expel, removal of pupils

10-233c Suspension of pupils

10-233d Expulsion of pupils

State Board of Education Regulations

10-76a-1 General definitions (c) (d) (q) (t)

P.A. 19-179 An Act Concerning Homeless Students' Access to Education

"Guidance for Connecticut School Districts: Enrollment Process and Practice," State Department of Education, December 2019.

P.A. 21-86 An Act Concerning the Enrollment of Children of Members of the Armed Forces in Public Schools and the Establishment of a Purple Star School Program

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (PL 107-110 Sec. 1032) 42 U.S.C. §11431-11435, as amended by the ESSA, P.L. 114-95

Federal Register: McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children & Youths Program, Vol. 81 No. 52, 3/17/2016

Policy adopted: