Schools Accepting Transfer Applications

— Washington County school districts are back in the transfer business — at least for now.

U.S. District Judge Robert Dawson last Friday stayed his earlier ruling declaring Arkansas’ school choice transfer law unconstitutional. The move allows districts to accept applications and act on school choice transfers as they have since the law was enacted in 1999.

Districts may process transfers until the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals considers the constitutionality of the law.

Dawson’s earlier finding threw thousands of students in Arkansas into limbo. No one knew for sure if students whose transfers were approved a year ago or longer could remain in their schools of choice. The ruling also stopped districts from approving applications for the coming school year.

At A Glance

School Choice

Arkansas’ school choice law allows students to attend the school district of their choice as long as certain provisions are met. A receiving district can accept a choice transfer as long as there is space for that student without adding a teacher or adding space. According to the law, the number of choice transfers cannot upset the racial balance in the receiving district.

Source: Staff Report

Washington County districts each had several applications pending when the court decision came down.

Fayetteville, for example, approved 11 applications but still had eight waiting for approval.

School choice allows a student to apply to any district in the state. The student can be accepted as long as the receiving district has room and the transfer doesn’t upset the racial balance of the receiving district.

The deadline for applying for a transfer is Sunday. Transfers have to be approved by the receiving district.

Elkins School District recently turned down an application filed by a Huntsville freshman because of the number of students in the ninth-grade class in Elkins.

A second kind of transfer, referred to as district-to-district, requires a student to be released by action of the sending school board and accepted by action of the receiving school board. Those transfers can occur throughout the year.

Vicki Thomas, Fayetteville superintendent, said her district will extend the deadline for applications to Monday since the deadline falls on Sunday.

Other districts, such as Lincoln, will require applications to be submitted by Friday.

Clay Hendrix, Lincoln superintendent, said there were about 12 applications on hold because of the legal ruling.

John Karnes, West Fork superintendent, said he’ll approve the 63 requests pending since board action isn’t required. However, Karnes added his board does have a special meeting planned today and he’ll notify members of the applications.

West Fork, in recent years, has gained more than 100 students from Winslow who opted not to go to Greenland schools. Greenland annexed Winslow and then closed the high school followed by the elementary school a year later. West Fork is between Greenland and Winslow

Kelly Hayes, comptroller for the Springdale School District, said there are eight applications from students who want to attend Springdale schools. Those will be approved, he said. Springdale holds the applications for school choice transfers and approves them at one time in the summer, after the July 1 deadline for applying.

Springdale has accepted all applications in the last three years, Hayes said.

Calls to parents of students involved in transfers Thursday weren’t returned.

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