School Board Policy 509 -
Enrollment of Nonresident Students

I. Purpose

The school district desires to participate in the Enrollment Options Program (Open Enrollment) established by Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.03. It is the purpose of this policy to set forth the application and exclusion procedures used by the school district in making said determination.

II. General Statement of Policy

The School board adopts specific standards for acceptance and rejection of Open Enrollment applications.

III. Open Enrollment Process

A. Open Enrollment applications will be approved, provided that acceptance of the application will not exceed the capacity of a program, excluding special education programs, class, or school building as established by School Board resolution and provided that:

1. space is available for the applicant under enrollment cap standards established by School Board policy or other directives; and

2. in considering the capacity of a grade level, the school district may limit the enrollment of nonresident students in its schools or programs to a number not less than the lesser of: (a) one (1) percent of the total enrollment at each grade level in the school district; or (b) the number of school district resident students at that grade level enrolled in a nonresident school district according to Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.03.

3. the applicant is not otherwise excluded by action of the school district because of previous conduct in another school district.

B. If the school district limits enrollment of nonresident students pursuant to Paragraph A, the school district shall report to the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) by July 15 on the number of nonresident students denied admission due to the limitation on the enrollment of nonresident students.

C. The parent of a student with a disability not yet enrolled in kindergarten and not open enrolled in a nonresident district may elect, in the same manner as the parent of a resident student with a disability, a school in the nonresident district where the child is enrolled in a Head Start program or a licensed child care setting in the nonresident district, provided the child can be served in the same setting as other children in the nonresident district with the same level of disability.

Under this paragraph, parents must demonstrate enrollment in a community preschool or childcare setting in a nonresident district.

D. A nonresident preschool aged child with a disability open enrolled in the district is required to open enroll for kindergarten.

E. Non-resident students seeking to attend the Alternative Learning Program (ALP) must do so through the formal Open Enrollment procedures set forth in this policy.

IV. Basis For Decisions

A. Standards that may be used for rejection of application

In addition to the provisions above, the school district may refuse to allow a pupil who is expelled under Minnesota Statutes, section 121A.45 to enroll during the term of the expulsion if the student was expelled for:

1. possessing, at school or a school function, a dangerous item, including a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade less than two and one-half inches in length;

2. possessing or using an illegal drug at school or a school function;

3. selling or soliciting the sale of a controlled substance while at school or a school function; or

4. committing a third-degree assault as described in Minnesota Statutes, section 609.223, subdivision 1.

B. Standards that may not be used for rejection of application

The school district may not use the following standards in determining whether to accept or reject an application for open enrollment:

1. the student's previous academic achievement;

2. the student's athletic or extracurricular ability;

3. the student's disabling conditions;

4. the student’s proficiency in the English language;

5. the student’s district of residence, except where the district of residence is directly included in an enrollment options strategy included in an approved achievement and integration program; or

6. previous disciplinary proceedings involving the student. This shall not preclude the school district from proceeding with exclusion as set out in this policy.

C. Application

The parent or guardian must complete and submit the “General Statewide Enrollment Options Application for K-12 and Early Childhood Special Education” (or the Statewide Enrollment Options Application for State-funded Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) application if applicable) developed by MDE and available on its website. The signed application must be submitted by January 15 for initial enrollment beginning the following school year.

The school district may require a nonresident student enrolled in a program under Minnesota Statutes, section 125A.13, or in a preschool program, except for a program under Minnesota Statutes, section 142D.08 to follow the application procedures under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.08, subdivision 3 to enroll in kindergarten. A school district must allow a nonresident student enrolled in a program under Minnesota Statutes, section 142D.08 to remain enrolled in the school district when the student enters kindergarten without submitting annual or periodic applications unless the district terminates the student's enrollment under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.03, subdivision 12.

The school district shall notify the parent or guardian in writing by February 15 or within ninety (90) days for applications submitted after January 15 in the case of achievement and integration district transfers whether the application has been accepted or rejected. If an application is rejected, the school district must state in the notification the reason for rejection. The parent or guardian must notify the nonresident district by March 1 or within ten (10) business days whether the pupil intends to enroll in the nonresident district.

D. Lotteries

1. If a school district has more applications than available seats at a specific grade level, it must hold an impartial lottery following the January 15 deadline to determine which students will receive seats. The school district must give priority to enrolling siblings of currently enrolled students, students whose applications are related to an approved integration and achievement plan, children of the school district’s staff, and students residing in that part of a municipality (a statutory or home rule charter city or town) where:

a. the student’s resident district does not operate a school building;
b. the municipality is located partially or fully within the boundaries of at least five school districts;
c. the nonresident district in which the student seeks to enroll operates one or more school buildings within the municipality; and
d. no other nonresident, independent, special, or common school district operates a school building within the municipality.

2. The process for the school district lottery must be established by School Board policy and posted on the school district’s website.

E. Exclusion

1. Administrator's initial determination. If a school district administrator knows or has reason to believe that an applicant has engaged in conduct that has subjected or could subject the applicant to expulsion or exclusion under law or school district policy, the administrator will transmit the application to the Superintendent with a recommendation of whether exclusion proceedings should be initiated.

2. Superintendent's review. The Superintendent may make further inquiries. If the Superintendent determines that the applicant should be admitted, they will notify the applicant and the School Board chair. If the Superintendent determines that the applicant should be excluded, the Superintendent will notify the applicant and determine whether the applicant wishes to continue the application process. Although an application may not be rejected based on previous disciplinary proceedings, the school district reserves the right to initiate exclusion procedures pursuant to the Minnesota Pupil Fair Dismissal Act as warranted on a case- by-case basis.

F. Termination of Enrollment

The school district may terminate the enrollment of a nonresident student enrolled under an enrollment options program pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.03, or 124D.08 at the end of a school year if the student meets the definition of a habitual truant under Minnesota Statutes, section 260C.007, subdivision 19, the student has been provided appropriate services for truancy under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 260A, and the student’s case has been referred to juvenile court.

A “habitual truant” is a child who is at least twelve (12) years old and less than eighteen (18) years old who is absent from attendance at school without lawful excuse for one (1) or more class periods on seven (7) school days in a school year if the child is in middle school, junior high school, or high school, or a child who is seventeen (17) years of age who is absent from attendance at school without lawful excuse for one (1) or more class periods on seven (7) school days in a school year and who has not lawfully withdrawn from school. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 260C.163, subdivision 11, “habitual truant” also means a child under age twelve (12) who has been absent from school for seven (7) school days without lawful excuse, based on a showing by clear and convincing evidence that the child's absence is not due to the failure of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian to comply with compulsory instruction laws.

The school district may also terminate the enrollment of a nonresident student over seventeen (17) years of age if the student is absent without lawful excuse for one (1) or more periods on fifteen (15) school days and has not lawfully withdrawn from school under Minnesota Statutes, section 120A.22, subdivision 8.

A student who has not applied for and been accepted for open enrollment pursuant to this policy and if the school district reasonably believes that a student does not otherwise meet the residency requirements of the school district in which the student is attending school, the student may be removed from school only after the school district sends the student’s parents written notice of the school district’s belief including the facts upon which the belief is based, and an opportunity to provide documentary evidence in person to the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designee, or, at the option of the parents, by sending the documentary evidence to the Superintendent, or a designee, who will make a final determination as to the residency status of the student.

Notwithstanding the requirement that an application must be approved by the School Board of the nonresident district, a student who has been enrolled in a district, who is identified as homeless, and whose parent or legal guardian moves to another district, or who is placed in foster care in another school district, may continue to enroll in the nonresident district without the approval of the School Board of the nonresident district. The approval of the School Board of the student’s resident district is not required.

Legal Reference: 
Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, Subd. 3(e) and Subd. 8 (Compulsory Instruction)
Minn. Stat. § 121A.40-121A.56 (Pupil Fair Dismissal Act)
Minn. Stat. § 124D.03 (Enrollment Options Program)
Minn. Stat. § 124D.08 (School Board Approval to Enroll in Nonresident District; Exceptions)
Minn. Stat. § 124D.151 (Voluntary Prekindergarten Program)
Minn. Stat. § 124D.68 (Graduation Incentives Program)
Minn. Stat. § 125A.13 (School of Parents' Choice)
Minn. Stat. § 142D.08 (Voluntary Prekindergarten Program for Eligible Four-Year-Old Children)
Minn. Ch. 260A (Truancy)
Minn. Stat. §260C.007, Subd. 19 (Definitions)
Minn. Stat. § 260C.163, Subd. 11 (Hearing)
Minn. Stat. § 609.233, Subd. 1 (Assault in the Third Degree)
Minn. Opp Atty. Gen. No. 169-f (August 13, 1986)
Indep. Sch. District No. 623 v. Minn. Dept. of Educ., Co. No A05-361, 2005
WL 3111963 (Minn. App. 2005) (unpublished)
18 U.S.C. 930, para. (g)(2) (Definition of Weapon)

Cross Reference: 
WBLASB Policy 506 (Student Discipline)
WBLASB Policy 517 (Student Recruiting)

Resources:
Minnesota Department of Education: Open Enrollment (accessed 03/18/26)