The revisions were approved at the board of trustees’ April 14 meeting.
The overview
FISD’s current interdistrict policy, also known as FDA (LOCAL), allows a non-resident student to be considered for enrollment as long as they meet one of the following guidelines:
- A student who has resided and attended school in the district for one consecutive year and becomes a nonresident during the year.
- A resident high school junior student who becomes a nonresident after successfully completing their junior year may be permitted to continue enrollment to complete their senior year.
- A nonresident student whose parents or guardians have a house under construction or have a contract for purchase of a house with a loan approved within district boundaries.
- A nonresident student whose parents or guardians are in the process of leasing a residence within district boundaries may be accepted as a transfer student for up to 30 calendar days.
- The child of a nonresident full-time district employee or part-time professional district employee may be accepted as a transfer student.
- The student is the child of an active-duty service member or peace officer.
What else?
The updated policy also notes that the superintendent or district official will consider the availability of space and instructional staff, as well as the student’s academic, disciplinary and attendance records when reviewing each transfer request, according to district agenda documents.
All transfer requests for non-resident students are considered and approved annually by district officials, per district agenda documents.
By the numbers
Until the 2023-24 school year, FISD has remained the top district compared to surrounding districts—including Alvin, Clear Creek and Pearland ISDs—with the highest percentage of transfers in compared to overall enrollment, according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
While Pearland ISD has taken the lead, FISD still remains the top second district of surrounding districts for transfer in percentages, TEA data shows.
