Did you know that students may be able to attend a public school outside their attendance zone?

Louisiana laws and regulations permit students and their families to petition to attend a public school other than the one to which they are assigned.

La. R.S. 17:4035.1 provides that the parent or legal guardian of any student may enroll his or her child in the public school of his choice, without regard to residence, school system geographic boundaries, or attendance zones, provided both of the following apply:

  • The public school in which the student was most recently enrolled, or would otherwise attend, received a school performance letter grade of “D” or “F” for the most recent school year, pursuant to the state’s accountability system.
  • The school in which the student seeks to enroll received a school performance letter grade of “A”, “B”, or “C” for the most recent school year, pursuant to the state’s accountability system, and has sufficient capacity at the appropriate grade level. The school system defines “capacity.”

If a school or governing authority denies such an enrollment request, the parent or legal guardian of the student may request a review of the denial by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). Within 90 days of receipt of a request for review, BESE must determine if the capacity policy established for the school was followed. If BESE determines that the school’s policy was not followed, the school’s governing authority must reconsider the transfer request.

Note that a school system is not required to provide transportation to any student that exercises this choice if doing so results in additional costs for the school system.

The enrollment request period begins no later than March 1st and ends no earlier than March 28th of each year. Guidance about applying for public school choice must be posted to the school governing authority’s website.

Need to appeal a denial of a public school choice enrollment request? BESE has outlined the process here.

What’s Next?

Louisiana’s laws governing public school choice are still unnecessarily restrictive for families and only grant certain students the ability to request a transfer. Such laws should also make it easier for families to enroll their child in a public school in a neighboring school system. Lawmakers can create a more seamless system of public school choice—total “open enrollment”—by establishing more student and family-friendly policies.

In addition, the state could open up more opportunities for families to enroll their child in a public school on a part-time basis to take individual courses without enrolling full-time. This option would serve families who choose to leverage homeschooling, virtual schooling, and even non-public/private education for part of their child’s individual learning needs.