The Montgomery County Board of Education is proposing amendments to Board Policy JEE, Student Transfers, and is seeking public comment on the amendments. While the Board’s current focus is primarily on the challenge of reopening schools for the 2020-2021 school year, and the Board knows that reopening schools for the 2020-2021 school year is also among the highest level of concern for students and parents, it is important that work impacting future school years continue to move forward as well. Therefore, the Board is extending the public comment period for Policy JEE until September 1, 2020, in preparation for the Board taking final action on Policy JEE in the fall. This will enable MCPS to implement the policy for the 2021-2022 school year.
After the public comment period that occurred from November 12, 2019 through December 19, 2019, revisions were made to the draft policy (highlighted in the Policy Draft for Public Comment dated February 18, 2020) to address comments received by the Board during that public comment period; and, the public was invited to review the policy again. The draft was released for public comment a second time subsequent to the February 18, 2020, Policy Management Committee meeting and that opportunity to comment has remained open while schools have been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights of the Board’s amendments include the following topics:
- unique hardships that may qualify students for transfers based on family circumstances;
- extenuating circumstances related to the medical, emotional or social well-being of a student;
- child care needs may be considered a unique hardship for a transfer, but the circumstances related must be extremely significant for students beyond the elementary level;
- clarification of the provision for receiving a transfer based on a sibling’s school of attendance, and definition of siblings;
- clarification of transfers for family moves within the school year are granted for the remainder of the school year;
- conditions for approving transfers of eligible children of staff members;
- academic transfers for high school students;
- consideration of school underutilization in granting a COSA; and
- adjustments to make reapplication procedures more consistent for students on approved transfers transitioning from elementary-to-middle school or middle-to-high school.
Board Policy JEE is now available for public comment.
