Held during the board's June 8 meeting, the discussion came as part of a larger review of 11 board policies ahead of voting on their updates at a later meeting.
District General Counsel Jenny Wells said the transfer policy is being revised so the district can allow students to attend school in RRISD and also receive funding for them, per Texas Education Agency advice.
The current policy allows this for students whose primary after-school caregiver is their grandparent, but not an aunt, uncle or cousin.
“We know that when children switch schools a lot, they lose learning,” trustee for Place 4 Cory Vessa said. “We get a lot of times, the caregiver, whether that be the grandparent or the aunt or the cousin, is the stable one. And then the family may move from apartment to apartment to try to find a better rate or for a job or whatever. But the caregiver stays in the same place. And this would enable our students to remain in the same school and would improve their student outcomes because of that.”
Interim Superintendent Daniel Presley said the qualification of which family members should be listed as alternatives would need to be considered for changing the policy.
A similar policy already exists for students who are in the families in transition, or FIT, program, which dictates how the district serves students experiencing homelessness.
Place 6 trustee Tiffanie Harrison said this policy change might be an opportunity to address concerns of equity among students who experience this instability. Harrison referenced a differential in cultural capital and a power differential between parents who are and are not well-versed in navigating the public school system.
“I think the question is equity, is asking, 'Who do we not see and who do we not hear from, and are there power barriers and structures that prevent people from reaching out?'” Harrison said. “People can be afraid to be criminalized. People can be afraid to be deported. Some people may not feel like that's their problem. But this is public education. And it's not a problem.”
Place 2 trustee Mary Bone pointed out that such a change to policy would have to be monitored for abuse. She referenced her own experience in a Title I school, where attempts to benefit students were not effective.
“From a kid that grew up in a Title I school, I saw so many people try to come in and help us and had good intentions,” Bone said. “And lots of times, they weren't helping us. What they ended up doing was enabling people that were wealthy to do things that we still couldn't do, because there was still that, I think you call it the cultural capital and the differential power, that was never solved.”
Place 7 trustee Danielle Weston said that while she was in support of changes that would benefit student outcomes, her own children having attended Title I schools within RRISD, she did not have enough information regarding the change to say that it addressed the problem at hand.
“I did see, there is a lot of movement among some students on our Title I campuses, that is true, but I don't see that it's because they're living with a cousin or want to go live with an aunt,” Weston said.
No actions were taken during the policy workshop.
