I. The School Board shall establish residential attendance zones for each school based upon the Superintendent's recommendation. All students, unless otherwise provided by School Board rule or authorized by the School Board’s order, shall attend the school serving the student’s residential attendance zone. Each residential attendance zone shall be established to achieve maximum utilization of all School Board facilities and to consider the time and distance of travel for students. The instructional capacity for each school will be set yearly after the recommendation by the Superintendent or his/her designee. A student’s residence is the residence of his/her parent(s), legal guardian, legal custodian, or other such person as defined by any order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction of the state of Florida and by Florida Statutes. Any student residing in the School District shall be assigned to a school for attendance by the Superintendent or designee based upon the Controlled School Choice Program.

A. If a student has been expelled from another school district, the Superintendent or designee may recommend to the School Board either that the final order of expulsion be waived, and the student admitted to the District or that the final order of expulsion be honored, and the student not admitted to the District.

B. A student may be permitted to attend a school in another residential attendance zone pursuant to the Controlled Open Enrollment Policy (Board Policy 5.23) or under the provisions for School Reassignment. Student reassignments shall be granted based on the requested non- districted school having physical and programmatic available space.

C. A student eighteen year of age or older who has interrupted his or her education and who subsequently desires to enter Sarasota County Public Schools shall enroll either in the adult high school or another alternative program. The student may not enroll in a regular high school. In extenuating circumstances, a principal may recommend an exception to this policy to the Executive Director of Secondary Schools.

D. Students may not be enrolled in a regular high school for more than 10 semesters, unless the principal approves the enrollment beyond 10 semesters. The principal will consider the reason the student wants to continue high school, the educational progress to date, and the commitment to education. Semesters begin when the student first enrolls in ninth grade in any public or private school.

E. Students may not enroll in a regular high school if they cannot earn the number of required credits to graduate by their 20th birthday, unless enrollment is approved by the principal.

F. For students with disabilities who have not graduated with a standard diploma, the district will provide services until the end of the school year in which the student turns 22 years old.

G. The Superintendent or designee is authorized to assign a student to any program or school as deemed to be in the best interest of the student or School District.

II. The purpose of this policy shall be to establish the School Board’s expectations when it becomes necessary to reorganize the School District’s school attendance boundary lines. The changing of school attendance boundary lines may be necessary due to growth, change or shift in the distribution of student population, the construction of a new school, or any other occurrence which takes place in the community which makes it necessary to redistribute the student enrollment population to assure the most appropriate housing of students within the district’s operating school buildings.

The School Board remains committed to the establishment and operation of school attendance boundaries which assure availability of program, staff and facilities to meet student educational needs and to assure wise and prudent use of staff, facilities and finances. In so doing, however, it may be necessary, from time to time, to call for the redrawing of attendance boundary lines of specific school attendance areas, or even system-wide, to capture the most efficient educational and economical benefit to students, parents, taxpayers and the community.

On the occasion when such action is deemed necessary, the School Board and the Administration will be guided by the following standards of expectation.

A. No later than the first Board meeting in December of each school year, the Superintendent shall determine whether there is a need for any new or revised attendance boundaries based on the facility being over-crowded or under-utilized or because the District is opening a new school.

B. Where the Superintendent has identified the need for a boundary change, the District shall form a Boundary Advisory Committee to assist in the development of proposed changes. The Office of Planning will organize and work directly with this group. The Boundary Advisory Committee shall be formed with the following membership:

1. Director of Planning,

2. Principal of each affected school,

3. School Advisory Committee (“SAC”) Chair* from each school potentially affected by the boundary changes,

4. Four (4) parent representatives from different geographic areas from each school (selected jointly by the SAC Chair and principal), and

5. A teacher from each school selected jointly by school administration and the Sarasota Classified/Teacher Association (SCTA).
   *If the SAC chair is a teacher, this will be the teacher representative; if the chair is a parent, this will represent one parent member from that school.

C. When drawing attendance boundaries, the School Board will use the following guidelines whenever possible:

1. Attendance areas will be designed to incorporate entire neighborhoods, keeping neighboring children together and contributing to an efficient, effective and economic transportation configuration.

2. Redistricting shall strive to assure that schools are left with a capacity that allows for growth from new neighborhoods.

3. Every attempt will be made to move the minimum number of students necessary to accomplish the goal, and to try to minimize the number of families affected by redistricting.

4. Every effort will be made to not require the moving of students who were moved due to previous redistricting. However, in the event such students must be relocated, they shall, upon request, be given priority consideration for out of designated attendance area placement.

5. When attendance boundaries are changed, elementary and secondary students with one (1) year remaining in their present school will have the option of remaining at that school. This shall not automatically entitle the student to district transportation. When considering attendance boundary adjustments, the Board by its own discretion may extend the option to other students with more than one (1) year remaining.

6. The Boundary Advisory Committee in order to create fair and equitable attendance zones and enrollments may develop additional criteria.

NEFEC
Revised: 06/27/22