The school a student attends is determined by each student's residential address. If a student wishes to attend a school that does not serve the area of his/her residence, parents/guardians must request a variance. Variances are approved or denied based on a number of reasons, including but not limited to, whether or not there is enough space for additional students.

Variances are granted for one full school year, or until the end of the current school year. Families wishing to remain at their non-residential school must remember to apply for a variance each year.

Please note that for the 2024-2025 school year, many of our schools and grade levels have been determined to be at capacity for additional students. Variance requests denied at one school may be offered attendance at another school where capacity and available staffing indicates that space is available. 

Variances may be approved or denied based on:

• Space or program availability and/or class size
• Student's disciplinary records
• Student's attendance patterns

Renewing variances
Families must apply for a variance every year that they want their child to attend a school that is not their neighborhood school. Applications received after April 15 and prior to August 22 will be considered on a case-by-case basis and considered on a first-come, first-served (of the original request) basis relative to each school’s enrollment and available staffing. Students would then be expected to enroll in their neighborhood school.

Transportation
In all cases where the district approves a variance, the student or the student's parents/guardians shall be solely responsible for transportation to and from school.

Notification
Applications will be reviewed in the order they are received beginning March 1. The district shall provide all applicants with written notification of the approval or denial of the application within 45 days of receipt.

Right to appeal
Per RCW 28A.225.230(3) and WAC 392-137-190, parents/guardians have the right to appeal to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to determine if the district complied with state statute, regulations, district policy and procedures and if they were applied fairly and equitably. Additional information on student transfer appeals may be found at the OSPI Student Transfers website.