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To transfer to eAchieve Academy during the school year, you must meet one of the open enrollment exceptions. Every situation is unique. The laws, rules and procedures related to accepted applications include many parts and considerations. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for clarification online or by calling our secretary at 262-970-1069. To qualify for immediate transfer, students must meet one of the seven exceptions for missing the open enrollment deadline that are listed on the Alternative Open Enrollment Application form.

NOTE: Enrollment for the 2022-23 school year is now closed.

The School District of Waukesha prohibits discrimination related to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex/gender, sexual orientation, religion/creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability.

Victim Of A Violent Crime

The parent must submit the application within 30 days of the finding by the resident school district and include an explanation of the circumstances leading to the request. The application must also include a copy of any finding by the resident school district or a statement by an administrator of the resident school district explaining the reason for
the finding.

Homeless

In submitting the application, the parent must include an explanation of the circumstances leading to the request. The application must also include a statement from the homeless liaison or an administrator in a public school district verifying that the student is or has been homeless, as defined in the federal McKinney-Vento Act, in the current or immediately preceding school year.

Victim Of Bullying Or Harassment

In submitting the application, the parent must include an explanation of the circumstances leading to the request, including the date(s) on which the bullying or harassment was reported to the school district, the person(s) to whom the bullying or harassment was reported, any attempts by the student, parent and/or school district to halt the bullying or harassment, and the result of these attempts.

Military Parents

The parent must submit the application within 30 days after the military orders were issued and must include a copy of the military orders and an explanation of the circumstances that led to this request.

Recent Move To Wisconsin

The application must be submitted within 30 days after moving into the state and must include an explanation of the circumstances leading to the request.

Court Orders Or Custody Agreements

The application must be submitted within 30 days after the student’s change in residence and must include an explanation of the circumstances leading to the request and a copy of any court order, custody agreement, or other document pertaining to the change in the student’s residence.

General Best Interest

In submitting the application, the parent must include an explanation of the circumstances leading to the request, including an explanation of why it was not possible to apply for open enrollment in the immediately preceding application period and why it is not possible to wait until the next open enrollment application period.

The parent must submit an application to the nonresident school district within the time period prescribed for each specific criterion, if any. The nonresident school district must notify the parent, in writing and within 20 calendar days after receiving the application, whether it has approved or denied the application. If the nonresident school district has approved the application, it must identify the specific school or program the student may attend. If the nonresident school district has not approved or denied the application within 20 calendar days, it is presumed to be denied.

The nonresident school district may deny the application, for example:

  • Space is not available in the schools, programs, classes or grades of the nonresident district.
  • Student has been expelled from a school district during the current or two preceding school years.
  • Student was often truant from the nonresident school district in the current or previous school year.
  • Special education services required in the student’s individualized education program (IEP) are available in the nonresident school district.
  • Student has been referred to his or her resident school district for an initial special education evaluation.

The resident school district may deny the application only for the following reasons:

  • If the resident school district determines that the criteria upon which the application is based do not apply to the student.
  • If the resident school district determines that the additional cost to be charged by the nonresident school district to provide the special education services by the required in the student’s IEP is an undue financial burden, in light of the resident school district’s economic circumstances.

A resident school district’s (RSD) denial may be within 30 days of receiving the notice.

  • If the denial was based on the financial burden of special education costs, the DPI must affirm the school district’s decision unless it finds that the decision was arbitrary.
  • If the denial was based on the determination that the application criteria do not apply to the student, the DPI must affirm the school district’s decision unless it finds that the decision was arbitrary.
  • If the denial was based on the disagreement that the transfer is in the student’s best interest, DPI must review both parent and school explanations. If the DPI determines that RSD’s denial is not accurate, the DPI will let the student attend the nonresident school district.

There is no statutory date by which the resident school district must notify a parent if a student’s application has been approved or denied. However, if the resident school district determines that the criteria upon which the application is based does not apply to the student, it should notify the parent within 5 days of making that determination, or as soon as possible.

If the resident school district determines that the cost to be charged by the nonresident school district is an undue financial burden, it should notify the parent within 5 days of receiving the estimate of costs from the nonresident school district, or as soon as possible.

If a resident school district denies an application after a student has already begun attending the nonresident school district and the parent does not file an appeal, the student is required to return to the resident school district. If the parent files an appeal of a resident school district’s determination that a transfer is not in the best interests of the student, the student may remain in the nonresident school district pending the outcome of the appeal. If the parent files an appeal of a resident school district’s denial based on “undue financial burden,” the student may remain in the nonresident school district pending the outcome of the appeal and agreement of schools.

If the nonresident school district has approved the application, the student may immediately begin attending the nonresident school district and must begin attending the nonresident school district no later than the 15th day following receipt of the notice of approval. If the student has not enrolled in or attended the nonresident school district by the 15th day after receiving the notice of approval, the nonresident school district may notify the parent that the student may not attend the nonresident school district.

A parent who wishes to apply for one of the exceptions must submit an application to the nonresident school district using a form provided by the DPI. There are both paper and online versions of the form. If the parent submits a paper application, the parent must include any required supporting documentation. If the parent submits the application online, the parent must then mail, fax or email the supporting documentation to the nonresident school district. It’s recommended for parents to also send the supporting papers to the resident school district to speed up the process.

The parent is required to specify the criteria in which the request is based with an explanation of the circumstances leading to the request and additional documents if needed. It’s highly recommended that parents contact the nonresident school district before submitting the application. For example, if the nonresident school district does not have space or does not agree the transfer is needed, they will not process an application that is going to be denied. There are some timelines involved to know: some applications must be submitted within 30 days of the event, the nonresident school district must respond within 20 days, and the student must attend within 15 days.

If the application was submitted online, both the nonresident and resident school districts will receive an email notifying them that the application has been submitted.

If the application was submitted via paper, the nonresident school district will enter it into the OPAL (open enrollment online tracking system) and it will be sent to the resident school district. The nonresident school district must send any supporting documents. If OPAL is not set up, the nonresident district must send a copy of the application and supporting documents to the resident school district and a copy of the application to the DPI.

Within 10 days of receiving the application, the resident school district must provide the following to the nonresident school district:

  • A copy of any expulsion finding and orders pertaining to the student
  • A copy of records of any pending disciplinary proceeding involving the student
  • A written explanation of the reasons for the expulsion or pending disciplinary proceeding and the length of the term of the expulsion of the possible outcomes of the pending disciplinary proceeding.
  • For a student with a disability, a copy of the student’s IEP.

The nonresident school district should request special education and expulsion records from the public school district the student is attending if the student is not attending the resident school district but is attending public school. Within 10 days of receiving a copy of the student’s IEP, the nonresident school district must provide to the resident school district an estimate of any actual, additional costs incurred by the resident school district to provide the special education or related services to a student with a disability.

Students who transfer as exceptions to the regular application period will be tracked in OPAL. [The tracking functions will not be immediately available when the statute is in effect; we will keep you posted on its progress.]

Transfer Payments

Payments for regular education transfers will be equal to the open enrollment transfer amount prorated at the daily rate (OE amt / 180) and will be paid as an aid adjustment in the same manner as current open enrollment is paid. Payments for special education transfers will be paid in the same manner as current open enrollment is paid.
The nonresident school district will bill the resident school district for the prorated open enrollment transfer amount plus any actual, additional special education cost to provide the special education and related services required in the student’s IEP.

Resident School District Exemptions

If the student was not included in the resident school district’s revenue limit calculation the resident school district will receive a revenue limit exemption in the following school year equal to the amount of the open enrollment payment. If the student had transferred from out of state and was not included in the resident school district’s 3rd Friday in September membership, the resident school district will receive a revenue limit exemption. Resident school districts will be required to indicate in OPAL whether the student was included in the 3rd Friday membership. The amount of the revenue limit exemption will be calculated by DPI open enrollment staff and provided to the state aids team.

It means that a parent’s first obligation is to apply for open enrollment during the regular application period, if possible. If the parent was unable to apply during the regular application period for the current school year, the parent may use the exception procedure “in lieu of” applying during the regular application period.

No. The parent must apply for a following school year during the regular application period. The parent may apply for an exception for a current school year if the parent was unable to apply for open enrollment during the regular application period.

Yes, but not for the same school year. An exception to the application period is for the current school year, a regular application is for the next school year. Thus, if a student submits both a regular application and an exceptional application in February 2012, the exceptional application is for the 2011-12 school year and the regular application is for the 2012-13 school year. If the exceptional application for the current school year is approved, the student may then attend the following and succeeding school years without reapplication.

Applications may be submitted to up to three nonresident school districts for a student in the same school year. However, applications submitted to a nonresident school board for a pupil to attend a virtual charter school do not count toward the three nonresident school board limit.

Not in the same school year. A parent who applies under both the regular and alternative procedures during the same school year can only apply to a total of three nonresident school districts, even though the applications may be for different school years. However, applications submitted to a nonresident school board for a pupil to attend a virtual charter school do not count toward the three nonresident school board limit. The parent could wait until the following school year and apply to a different three districts under the exceptions and the regular application period or both, but is again limited to a total of three school districts within a school year (July 1-June 30), even though the applications may be for different school years.

No. Once a student is open enrolled, the student may continue to attend the nonresident school district without annual reapplication. The only time a student needs to apply for the following school year is if the student is entering middle school, junior high or high school and the nonresident school district requires reapplication at those grade levels.

Not unless the student is entering middle school, junior high or high school and the nonresident school district has a policy that requires students to reapply at those grade levels.

While theoretically possible, as a practical matter this would be difficult, because under the exceptional application procedure, the student must attend within 15 days if the application is approved. Given the time frame in which school districts must approve or deny the regular applications (May 1 to June 8) and the time necessary to submit and process exceptions (1-20 days), there may not be enough days left in the current school year for the student to attend.

Such parents should contact the nonresident school district as soon as they have enough information to know they will need to request an exception to the application period. Working together, the nonresident school district and the parent should be able to figure out the optimal time to submit the application.

The statute allows exceptions to the application period. It does not allow a school district to grant exceptions to its space criteria, which would result in arbitrarily approving applications for some students and denying them for others. If a school district denies open enrollment to students during the regular application period and is appealed, the district will be required to provide information about any exceptional applications it received and the action it took. If the department finds that the school district was arbitrary or unreasonable in acting on applications, its decisions made during the regular application period will be overturned on appeal.

Yes. However, once the application is approved, it is approved. If the nonresident school district approves the application before receiving special education and/or expulsion records, the nonresident school district may not be able to then deny the student.

Yes. The resident school district can deny the application for reasons permitted in the statute. Given the timing of the application procedures, it is very possible that students may begin attending the nonresident school district before the resident school district has acted on the application.
If the resident school district later denies the application, the student may no longer attend the nonresident school district, unless the parent files an appeal. If the resident school district denied the application because it does not believe the transfer is in the best interests of the student, the student may continue to attend the nonresident school district pending the outcome of the appeal. If the resident school district denied the application due to undue financial burden of special education costs or because the basis on which the application was submitted does not apply to the student, the student may only stay in the nonresident school district pending appeal if both the resident and nonresident school districts agree to allow the student to do so.

No. A resident school district’s denial may not be arbitrary or unreasonable. If the district has the information to make a decision and unreasonably delays making it, the decision may be overturned by the DPI. The resident school district should make its decision as soon as possible. It is recommended that the district notify the parent of denial within 5 days of receiving an estimate of special education costs or within 5 days of making a determination
that the criteria upon which the application was based do not apply to the student.

The parent may apply based on the best interests of the student and must explain why the transfer is in the best interests of the student. If the nonresident school district agrees and the resident school district does not disagree that the transfer is in the best interests of the student, the application may be approved.

Yes. The statute provides that if the student does not begin attending within 15 days, the nonresident school district “may” notify the parent that the student is no longer approved to attend.
The student remains subject to compulsory school attendance laws. If the student is not attending the resident or nonresident school district, the student must be attending another public, private or home-based private educational program, or must have an excused absence.

This provision requires that the resident school district must have made a finding that the student was the victim of a violent crime. If that finding has not been made, the parent may apply based on the best interests of the student and must explain why the transfer is in the best interests of the student. If the nonresident school district agrees and the resident school district does not disagree that the transfer is in the best interests of the student, the application may be approved.

Yes it does. The student is not required to apply for either open enrollment or a tuition waiver if the student is eligible under McKinney-Vento. However, once the student has permanent housing, McKinney-Vento only allows the student to finish the current school year in the school district of origin. If the student has found permanent housing outside the school district of origin, the student must apply for open enrollment to continue to attend beyond the student’s eligibility under McKinney-Vento and may not have been able to apply during the application period. It could also be the case that the student moved to a different area of the state altogether and is not able to find housing in the desired school district.

It means action taken in an attempt to resolve the issue. If the school district does not take any action, or if the school district and/or parent and/or student take action that does not resolve the issue, the parent may submit an application under this provision.

Only if there was not a regular application period between the date of reporting the bullying to the school district and the date on which the parent wants to apply for the exception to the application period. That is, the parent must apply during the regular application period if the parent is able to do so.

No. If the result of the orders is that the student’s and parent’s residence has changed, the parent may apply.

No. If the changes in residence are the result of military orders, the parent may apply, even if the student’s residence and the parent’s residence end up being different. For example, a parent may be deployed and the student may move in with the other parent or relatives or friends.

No. The provision appears to mean a placement by a court or other authority. If the parent sends the student to live with another person, a school district must determine whether the student is a resident for school purposes.

It applies only if the change is provided for in a court order or custody agreement. However, if the parents agree that it is in the best interests of the student to live with other parent and there is no legal barrier to the student doing so, the parents could then submit an exception to the application period based on the best interests of the student and must explain why the transfer is in the best interests of the student. If the nonresident school district agrees and the resident school district does not disagree that the transfer is in the best interests of the
student, the application may be approved.

A transfer is in the best interests of the student if the parent and nonresident school district agree and the resident school district does not disagree that the transfer is in the student’s best interest.

No. Decisions by the nonresident school district concerning an exceptional application request may not be appealed to the DPI.

The resident school district must notify the parent in writing that the student may not transfer to the nonresident school district and explain why the resident school district believes the transfer is not in the best interests of the student.
The parent may file an appeal with the DPI within 30 calendar days of the date on which the notice was mailed. If the parent does not file an appeal, the student may no longer attend the nonresident school district. If the parent files an appeal, the student may attend or continue to attend the nonresident school district pending the outcome of the appeal.
The parent must explain to the DPI why the parent believes the transfer is in best interests of the student. The resident school district must explain why it believes the transfer is not in the best interests of the student. If the DPI determines that the resident school district’s decision to deny the transfer is not in the best interests of the student, the DPI must notify the parent and the resident and nonresident school districts that the student may attend the nonresident school district.

DPI will review the facts and arguments submitted by the parents and the resident school district and make a decision about whether the transfer is in the best interests of the student. The DPI will not consider any factors that are not related to the best interests of the student. That is, DPI will not consider the financial effect on the resident school district or any other factors, except as they relate to the best interests of the student. The DPI’s decision is final.

The full-time school counselors at eAchieve Academy travel throughout Wisconsin to meet students during the academic year. In addition to staying closely connected with students and parents, our counselors meet weekly with eAchieve Academy teachers to discuss specific students’ strengths and weaknesses. This helps them better understand each student and offer the personalized guidance needed to succeed in an online learning environment.

For The Students

  • Choose courses that line up with where you left off at your school, eAchieve can help
  • Prepare for online learning by creating and sticking to a schedule to complete assignments
  • All class work will be from home, but can use the library or anywhere else you feel comfortable to work
  • Check your school email a few times each day
  • Attend the weekly eSessions
  • Log into each course daily

For The Parents

  • Help your student create an ideal study space
  • Be prepared to adjust to online learning versus in-school classes with your student
  • Review your student’s pace chart to make sure they stay on track
  • Reach out to the teacher on behalf of your child when needed
  • Evaluate if online learning is working for your student, after an immediate transfer it may seem difficult at first
  • Online learning is more involved for the parent than in-school classes, ask eAchieve if you have questions or need help.
Laurie

Parent

“We’ve been extremely happy with the school from the teachers to the counselors – we just can’t say enough good things about it. Our son is getting an excellent education, and the flexibility of online learning a huge advantage. We never realized how much time was wasted during the school day. He’s like a little college student. He’s very focused and he’s learning good time management. There’s a one-on-one feeling. The teachers are just phenomenal. He never got that kind of personal attention before. The teachers go out of their way to make sure he understands the information.”

Read My Story
Tia

Student

“My grades are important to me, so I wanted to try virtual learning. I was able to catch up the coursework that I missed and I really enjoyed the flexibility. It was such a positive experience that I decided to stay. The flexibility is both the best thing and most challenging. But it has helped me learn to manage my own time which will be important for college.”

Read My Story
Amy Rosno

Teacher

“My husband and I decided we wanted our children home for the middle school years to give us more control over their education during those formative years. eAchieve Academy gave us that opportunity. There tends to be more questions than face-to-face learning because they feel I’m more approachable than raising their hand and asking a question in front of the whole class. I try to reach the needs of individual students, so everyone walks away with the job of reading the great literary works.”

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