                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

OPEN SCHOOL ENROLLMENT POLICY (§ 22.1-7.1)

A. Any local school board may establish and implement policies to provide for
the open enrollment to any school of any student residing within the school
division upon the request of a parent or guardian. In developing such policies,
a local school board may include the following conditions and limitations:

   1. An application process whereby a parent or guardian indicates a school
   preference for purposes of his child attending a school in the child&#8217;s
   school division but outside of the attendance area in which the child resides;

   2. A requirement that the parent or guardian provide transportation for the
   student attending a school other than his assigned school;

   3. A requirement that a student may be disqualified from attending a school
   other than his assigned school if he has been subject to a specified
   disciplinary action;

   4. A prohibition on the recruitment of a student from one school to another by
   a school division employee;

   5. A limitation on participation in certain athletic activities for a student
   who chooses to attend a school other than his assigned school;

   6. A random, unbiased selection process in the event open enrollment requests
   exceed the capacity of a school;

   7. A provision that a student shall be permitted to remain at the receiving
   school until the student has completed the highest grade level in the school;
   and

   8. A preference to a student (i) who resides in a location that has been
   subject to a change in school attendance area during the previous two years,
   (ii) who has a sibling attending the receiving school, or (iii) whose parent
   or guardian is an employee of the receiving school.

B. A copy of the school division&#8217;s policies for open enrollment, if any,
shall be posted on the division&#8217;s website and shall be available to the
public upon request.

C. Nothing in this section shall interfere with a local school board&#8217;s
authority to adopt a pupil assignment plan pursuant to &#xA7; 22.1-79.

D. For the purposes of this section, &#8220;open enrollment&#8221; means a
policy adopted and implemented by a local school board to allow any student to
enroll in any school within the school division of attendance regardless of the
location of the student&#8217;s residence.

HISTORY: 2012, c. 510; 2013, c. 805; 2015, c. 369; 2022, c. 355.