The Georgetown ISD board of trustees approved a policy to accept out-of-district transfer students based on available space during an Oct. 19 meeting.
Students in grades pre-K-12 will likely be able to transfer into the district beginning in the 2021-22 school year or even as soon as the spring but an exact timeline has not yet been determined, officials said.
Schools will be open to accept student transfers on a space and staffing availability basis, and parents should be aware that the transfer request will not be approved if additional staff or classrooms are needed to accommodate the transfer student, the policy read.
In order to a transfer to be approved, a campus must be below 95% capacity as well as meet student-teacher ratio requirements set by the district, it said.
There will also be no guarantee that children who transfer in will be able to continue at the requested campus in future school years as space for transfers will be evaluated every year in every school and grade level, the policy said. Students will also be required to apply each year, and transportation will not be provided unless otherwise required by law, it said.
GISD, while a growing district, has seen a drop in student enrollment due to the coronavirus pandemic and even prior to the pandemic after the opening of several area charter and private schools, officials have said. GISD Chief Financial Officer Pam Sanchez said the district had 283 students withdraw from the district following the end of the 2019-20 school year. As districts are funded through average daily attendance numbers, or ADA, she projects the district could see a $4 million shortfall in its budget. Discussion on adjustments the district may make will come in November, she said.
The district welcomed 65% of its about 12,000 students back to the classroom Oct. 19 for the second nine weeks of classes with the remaining to continue to learn remotely.
For further transfer details and criteria, click here.
In other business:
After a delay in several deliveries, GISD will become a 1-to-1 technology district in the spring, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Lannon Heflin said. Currently, all students in grades 8-12 have been issued a device, with the remaining grades coming in the spring, Heflin said. The district was previously a 2-to-1 technology district, he added.
