Student Registration and Enrollment

When a child's parent, the person in parental relation to the child, or the child, as appropriate, requests enrollment of the child in the District, the child will be enrolled and will begin attendance on the next school day, or as soon as practicable unless the District makes a determination of non-residency.

 Within three business days of such initial enrollment,:

 1)      The parent, the person in parental relation to the child, or the child, as appropriate, must submit documentation or information in support of the child's residency in the District.

2)      The Board or its designee must review the submitted documentation or information and make a residency decision.

If the documentation or information is submitted on the third business day after initial enrollment, the District may make its residency determination on the next business day.

Proof of Student Age

Where a certified transcript of a birth certificate or record of baptism (including a certified transcript of a foreign birth certificate or record of baptism) giving the date of birth is available, no other form of evidence will be used to determine a child's age. Where a birth certificate or record of baptism is not available, a passport (including a foreign passport) may be used to determine a child's age. Should none of these be available, the District will consider certain other documentary or recorded evidence in existence two years or more to determine a child's age. This other evidence includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1)      Official driver's license;

2)      State or other government-issued identification;

3)      School photo identification with date of birth;

4)      Consulate identification card;

5)      Hospital or health records;

6)      Military dependent identification card;

7)      Documents issued by federal, state or local agencies (e.g., local social service agency, Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement);

8)      Court orders or other court-issued documents;

9)      Native American tribal document; or

10)    Records from non-profit international aid agencies and voluntary agencies.

 

Proof of age may not be shown through an affidavit. The District may request verification of foreign documents from the issuing foreign government or agency in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Enrollment cannot be delayed beyond the three or four-day initial enrollment period pending verification.

 

Proof of Student Residency

The District may require that the A parent or person in parental relation must submit documentation or information establishing physical presence of the parent or person in parental relation and the child in the District. The documentation may include:

1)      A copy of a residential lease or proof of ownership of a house or condominium, such as a deed or mortgage statement;

2)     A  statement by a third-party landlord, owner or tenant from whom the parent or person in parental relation leases or with whom they share property within the District;

3)     A statement by a third party establishing the parent's or person in parental relation's physical presence in the District;

4)    Pay stub;

5)    Income tax form;

6)    Utility or other bills;

7)    Membership documents (e.g., library cards) based upon residency;

8)    Voter registration document(s);

9)    Official driver's license, learner's permit, or non-driver identification;

10)  State or other government-issued identification;

11)  Documents issued by federal, state, or local agencies (e.g., local social service agency, federal Office of Refugee Resettlement);

12)  Evidence of custody of the child, including but not limited to judicial custody orders or guardianship papers.; or

13)    Other documents or information establishing physical presence in the District.

         Further, the District may accept an affidavit from the parent or person in parental relation that states: 

 

1)      They are the parent with whom the child lawfully resides; or

 

2)      They are the person in parental relation to the child, over whom they have total and permanent custody and control, and describing how they obtained total and permanent custody and control, whether through guardianship or otherwise.

 

The District may also accept other proof, such as documentation indicating that the child resides with a sponsor with whom the child has been placed by a federal agency. The District may not require submission of a judicial custody order or an order of guardianship as a condition of enrollment.

 

The District will not request on any enrollment/ or registration form, in any meeting, or in any other form of communication, social security cards or numbers, or any information regarding or tending to reveal the immigration status of a child, a child's parent, or the person in parental relation, including, but not limited to, copies of or information concerning visas or other documentation indicating immigration status. In the event the District is required to collect certain data, it will do so after the child has been enrolled or registered; in no instance will the information be required as a condition of enrollment or continued attendance.

 

         Nothing in this administrative regulation or its underlying policy should be construed to require the immediate attendance of an enrolled student lawfully excluded from school due to:

 

1)      A communicable or infectious disease that poses a significant risk of infection of others,;

 

2)      The absence proof of immunization within the periods prescribed by New York Public Health Law Section 2164;

 

3)      Orders issued by a state or local health department; or

 

Students

 

               4)      Suspensionded from instruction for disciplinary reasons in accordance with New York Education Law Section 3214.

 

         Moreover, nothing in this policy should be construed to conflict or interfere with the recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) in grades 9 through 12, or to relieve nonimmigrant alien students seeking nonimmigrant student visa status (F-1 or M-1) from fulfilling their obligations under federal law and regulation.

 

Residency Determination

 

         At any time during the school year, the Board or its designee may determine that a child is not a District resident entitled to attend the District's schools. Within two business days of a non-residency determination, the Board or its designee will provide written notice of the determination to the child's parent, to the person in parental relation to the child, or to the child, as appropriate. The written notice will state:

 

1)      That the child is not entitled to attend the public schools of the District;

 

2)      The specific basis for the determination,, including, but not limited to, a description of the documentary or other evidence upon which the determination was based;

 

3)      The date as of which the child will be excluded from the schools of the District; and

 

4)      That the determination may be appealed within thirty days to the Commissioner of Education, in accordance with Education Law, Section 310, and that the instructions, forms, and procedures for taking such an appeal, including translated versions of such instructions, forms, and procedures, may be obtained from the Office of Counsel at www.counsel.nysed.gov; by mail addressed to the Office of Counsel, New York State Education Department, State Education Building, Albany, NY 12234; or by calling the Appeals Coordinator at (518) 474-8927.

 

         If a school official other than the Board or its designee makes the residency determination, the notification will include procedures to obtain review of the decision within the District.