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inter-district transfer
hellokitty2u October 12, 2012
there is a great school across town that I want my child in...but the school is not within our neighborhood (or designated as the home school). I heard of inter-district school transfers but they only work if you have a good reason such as the school being close to work, childcare, baby sitter - none of which apply to me. What are some other reasons I could use for inter-school transfer. I mainly want that school because it has high performance ratings (10 out of 10 rating). The home school has a 4 out of 10 rating - obviously I don't want my kid in it. I feel he will not be challenged enough if I put him in this school. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.
MagnetMom October 23, 2012
Hi hellokitty2u,
There are all kinds of reasons one school is a 10 or another is a 4. Ask to speak to someone at the school you're zoned for. It might be that they have a larger than usual special ed population or they have a larger bilingual community than the 10 school. If those groups don't represent your child's situation, look strongly at that school.
Districts aren't fond of allowing folks to transfer for any old reason, because of equity--all the strong kids in one school and all the struggling kids in another makes it very hard to support the kids in the 4 school if everyone is fleeing.
If you don't like what you hear, ask what reasons they will release children, and you will have to find a way to abide by those reasons. If you have to get a part time job near the school or hire someone to 'babysit' her from that district--if only to pick up and drop off each day.
Good luck.81186
TeacherParent October 23, 2012
It can be a good thing to visit both schools - numbers alone don't tell the whole story.
But how would the district really know what truly applies to you and what doesn't? I don't like to suggest a fib to anyone but do you have a friend or a friend of a friend living near the great school across town? You could certainly claim that your child has a babysitter in the great school's neighborhood and for that reason you need to have your child there.
Perhaps you're self-employed and your child needs to stay with the babysitter? I have to admit that I told our own school district some kind of an exaggerated story to get them to put my younger son in the district school that I knew would be better for him than our neighborhood school. My story worked and as I hoped that other school worked well for my younger son.
Good luck.
81196
mrssmithrlc October 28, 2012
I'm not sure what district you are in, by have you thought about moving to that neighborhood where the better school is?
If that's not feasible, why not check at your child's current school and see what you could do to help improve it. Do they they parent volunteers? Do they need parents to just show up to school-sponsored activities?
And as far as the response from "TeacherParent", I don't know of any school districts that allow your child to attend there because his "babysitter" lives there. If that were the case, every child in the Birmingham are would be attending Mountain Brook!
81234
Cinema61 October 29, 2012
I agree with the other posts about checking out your assigned school. There are various reasons a good school can have a low score, including the chance that only disgruntled parents are providing input. And a high scoring school may not be the best for your child if it's highly competitive but your child isn't.
It's my understanding that "inter-district" means the same district. So I'm not sure if you're looking to transfer him to another school in your district or a school in another district. In Illinois some reasons to request a transfer include you registered late and their are no spaces in your assigned school, your child has a disability that can't be accommodated at the assigned school, your child is being bullied at the current school and it's a matter of safety, etc. Simply wanting to be closer to a caregiver isn't a legitimate reason. In addition, when you attend a school outside your district, you are responsible for transportation. Either you drive/pick up your child or you will have to pay for him to ride the bus because your home is not on/near their route. Although you didn't mention it, also if you lie about your child's living arrangements or use someone's else's address and the school finds out, your child will be immediately dismissed and the district can charge you their tuition, which will be in the thousands of dollars.
I would strongly recommend you visit your assigned school, go to a board meeting, attend a PTO meeting, talk to your neighbors who have kids in the school, check out a sporting event to check out the behavior of the kids. Have you checked your state's board of education site to see how they scored on state tests? Don't be so quick to dismiss it based on a score. Good luck.81248
kcdiaz08 October 29, 2012
Inter-district transfer is transferring to another school at a neighboring school district, while intra-district transfer is going to another school in the same school district that is not the assigned school. I know this because I have the same concern as hellokitty2u, and was able to communicate with a staff from my school district who gave me some info on School Choice.
81256
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