# Title 15.1 — Elementary and Secondary Education

## Chapter 15.1-31 — Open Enrollment

### § 15.1-31-01. Open enrollment - Procedure.

1. By March first of the school year preceding the year of enrollment, a parent who
wishes to enroll a student in a North Dakota school district other than the student's
district of residence shall file an application for approval with the board of the admitting
district and shall file a copy of the application with the student's district of residence.
The superintendent of public instruction shall make the application forms available in
each school district.
2. By April first of the school year preceding the year of enrollment, the board of the
admitting district shall approve or deny the application. The board of the admitting
district shall notify the board of the district of residence and the student's parent of its
decision within five days.
3. Notice of intent to enroll in the admitting district obligates the student to attend the
admitting district during the following school year unless the school boards of the
resident and the admitting districts agree in writing to allow the student to transfer back
to the resident district or the student's parent relocates to another district.
4. A parent who wishes to enroll a student in a school district other than the student's
district of residence shall file an application for approval with the board of the admitting
district. All applications must be reviewed in the order received.
5. A student whose school district of residence does not offer the grade level in which the
student requires enrollment may not participate in open enrollment. For purposes of
determining whether the grade level in which the student requires enrollment is
offered, the several school districts cooperating with each other for the joint provision
of education services under a plan approved by the superintendent of public
instruction must be considered to be a single district.
6. A child placed for purposes other than education in a group or residential care facility
or in a psychiatric residential treatment facility is not eligible for open enrollment under
this section.
7. The board of a school district of residence and the board of an admitting district shall
waive the application, consideration, and approval dates in this section for any student
who, together with the student's parent, moves from the student's school district of
residence to another school district and who wishes to enroll in a school district other
than the district to which the student moved.
8. The board of a school district of residence and the board of an admitting district shall
waive the application, consideration, and approval dates in this section for any student
who, together with the student's parent, moves into this state from out of state and who
wishes to enroll in a school district other than the district to which the student moved.
### § 15.1-31-02. Open enrollment - Grounds for denial - Exception.

Repealed by S.L. 2007, ch. 181, § 3.
### § 15.1-31-03. Open enrollment - State aid.

1. Once a student is enrolled in an admitting district, the student must remain enrolled in
the admitting district until:
a. The student graduates;
b. The student relocates to another district;
c. The student's parent applies for enrollment in another school district; or
d. The student's parent notifies the student's school district of residence that the
student will attend school in the school district of residence the following year.
2. Except as specifically provided in this chapter, chapter 15.1-29 does not apply to
students involved in open enrollment.

### § 15.1-31-04. Open enrollment - Students with disabilities - Additional costs.

If an application under this chapter is approved for a student with a disability, the board of
the student's school district of residence shall pay to the admitting district the costs incurred by
the admitting district in providing special education and related services to the student. The
superintendent of public instruction shall reimburse the student's school district of residence for
all excess costs, as defined in section 15.1-32-18.
### § 15.1-31-05. Open enrollment - Transportation.

A school district of residence may provide transportation to a student participating in open
enrollment. If a district of residence does not provide transportation to a student participating in
open enrollment, transportation may be provided by the admitting district. A school district may
not include any factors associated with transporting students who are participating in open
enrollment, or who are enrolled pursuant to a written contract entered by the sending and
admitting districts which waives the charge and collection of tuition for the student in the
calculation of transportation average daily membership equivalents under section 15.1-27-31.2.
### § 15.1-31-06. Open enrollment - School boards - Standards.

1. The board of each school district shall set standards for the acceptance and denial of
applications for admittance under open enrollment as provided in section 15.1-31-08.
The standards may address the capacity of a program, grade level, or school building.
The standards may not address previous academic achievement, participation in
extracurricular activities, disabilities, English language proficiency, or previous
disciplinary proceedings.
2. A board may determine that applications for admittance under open enrollment, in
accordance with this chapter, will not be considered only if there is a lack of capacity in
a program, grade level, or school.
3. a. A school district participating in an open enrollment program may not give or offer
to give a student remuneration, or directly exert influence on the student or the
student's family, in order to encourage participation in the open enrollment
program. The actions prohibited under this subdivision do not include providing
informational materials about the program.
b. If the members of the board of a school district believe that another school district
has violated this subsection, the board may file a complaint with the
superintendent of public instruction. Upon receipt of a complaint alleging a
violation of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall hold a
hearing and accept testimony and evidence regarding the complaint. If the
superintendent finds that a school district has violated this subsection, the
superintendent may withhold some or all of the state aid payments to which the
district would be otherwise entitled for a period of one year from the date of the
finding. A decision by the superintendent under this subsection is appealable to
the state board of public school education. A decision by the state board of public
school education is final.
### § 15.1-31-07. Students not subject to this chapter.

If a student, as a result of a school district dissolution or reorganization, resides in a district
other than the one the student chooses to attend at the time of the dissolution or reorganization,
the student is not subject to this chapter and may attend school in the chosen school district.
### § 15.1-31-08. Open enrollment - Transfer of students - Responsibility of district of

residence.
1. A student's parent may apply to another school district for admission of the student at
any time during the school year if:
a. The student was a victim of violence occurring within the school in which the
student was enrolled and the violence was documented;

b. The superintendent of public instruction has declared the school in which the
student was enrolled to be an unsafe school; or
c. The superintendent of public instruction has identified the school in which the
student was enrolled as one that requires program improvement for six
consecutive years.
2. The school district receiving an application under subsection 1 shall review the
application to ensure compliance with the provisions of subsection 1 and shall notify
the student's parent and the student's school district of residence of the arrangements
for the student's transfer within five days from the date the application was received.
3. The student's school district of residence shall consider the student transferred as of
the date of enrollment by the admitting district.
4. Upon transfer of a student under this section, the board of the admitting district and the
board of the student's school district of residence shall enter into a tuition agreement.
The student's school district of residence shall reimburse the admitting district for all
costs incurred by the admitting district in providing education for the student.
5. The student's school district of residence shall transport the student to school in the
admitting district or shall reimburse the admitting district for all costs incurred in
transporting the student or providing for the transportation of the student to school in
the admitting district. These transportation costs are not reimbursable through state
transportation funds.
6. This section applies to a student until the student's parent or legal guardian decides to
enroll the student in another school, or in the case of a student who has been
transferred for the student's safety or due to a school's improvement status under
subsection 1, until the conclusion of the school year in which the superintendent of
public instruction declares that the school in the student's district of residence is no
longer an unsafe school or that the school no longer requires program improvement.
