Open Enrollment

Current State

KSA 72-3123 requires school districts to allow for the attendance of non-resident students beginning in the 2024–2025 school year based upon the capacity of the district. At the time of this article’s publication, all school districts should have completed the statutory requirements to determine capacity, accepted non-resident students, and be currently teaching said students within the district.

Additionally, changes made by the 2024 Legislature allow school districts to use current year enrollment for funding. Thus, non-resident students could also be impacting district enrollments for funding purposes for fiscal year (FY) 2025.

Determination of Capacity

Statute requires that, on or before May 1 of each year, all school districts (excluding districts located on a military installation or virtual schools) shall determine the capacity of the district to accept non-resident students for the upcoming school year. Capacity is to be determined utilizing student-to-teacher ratios, with kindergarten through grade 8 doing so for the grade level, and grades 9 through 12 doing so for each building or program within the building. Determination of capacity is not solely based upon prior enrollment but is left at a district’s discretion to also include projected growth, decline, or other changes in resident student enrollment.

Each school district is required to publish the number of open seats available to non-resident students by grade level on the district’s website on or before June 1.

Enrollment Applications

Beginning on January 1, school districts are required to accept applications from non-resident students for enrollment within the district. The application window is open through June 30, and the application will be in a manner and form determined by each district. Non-resident students who previously attended the school district during the 2023–2024 school year are allowed by statute to continue their enrollment without reapplication under these provisions.

Should the number of applicants exceed the capacity of a grade level within the school district, the district shall randomly select students by utilizing a confidential lottery process, with exceptions for the following students who are given priority outside of the lottery system:

• Any sibling of a non-resident student who was accepted to attend the district;
• Military students;
• Any student in the custody of the Department for Children and Families who is living in the home of a non-resident student attending the receiving district;
• Any student who has a parent or guardian that is employed by the school district; or
• Any student experiencing homelessness.

This process is required to be completed by July 15. The school district is required to provide the reason for non-acceptance to any parent or guardian of a non-resident student who was not accepted or was denied enrollment by July 30. Statute prohibits districts from denying a non-resident transfer based upon the ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, English proficiency, measurement of achievement, aptitude, or athletic ability of the student. Additionally, the parent or guardian of a non-resident student denied enrollment may appeal the denial to the district’s school board.

Once accepted for enrollment, a non-resident student is permitted to continue enrollment within the receiving school district until they graduate high school or fail to maintain “good standing” as outlined in the district’s non-resident transfer student policy.

Transportation

Statute states that school districts are not required to provide transportation for non-resident students unless otherwise required by law. However, a district is allowed to transport non-resident students to and from an in-district bus stop. Any district that chooses to do this must ensure the transportation of non-resident students is comparable to that of resident students.

What is Next?

The State Department of Education (KSDE) is required to collect the number of non-resident student transfers accepted and denied by districts by grade level and whether denials were based upon capacity or pursuant to district transfer policies. Such data is required to be published on KSDE’s website once collected and made available to the Legislative Division of Post Audit. At the time of this article’s publication, this data was not available from KSDE.

Statute also allows for either the House Committee on K-12 Education Budget or the Senate Committee on Education, in calendar year 2027, to request the Legislative Division of Post Audit conduct an audit of non-resident student transfers. If requested, the audit would be required to be presented to the Legislative Post Audit Committee on or before January 15, 2028, and subsequent presentations made to the standing committees noted above.