Keeping My Son at the Same School!

This has nothing to do with how long your children have attended the school, or how you lost your house. It is simply a matter of school district requirements. Only students who reside within the school district boundaries may attend a certain school. Sometimes schools allow students from other districts to enroll, but that's if they have enough room, and if that kind of open enrollment or school choice exists as a policy in the town or district.

If it is essential, and a priority, that your son stay in the same school, you'll have to rent something quickly and produce a lease. It might not be a house that you like, but if the school is the number one factor in where you live, you may have to put up with an apartment or house that is not your preference.

Make sure to check your school district's boundaries on a map. A realtor can tell you that information, or the school website should have something about that. That way you won't rent a house or apartment, only to find out it's a couple of streets outside the school district boundaries.

Talking to the principal won't get your son any privileges. You either may enroll him in the district where you are currently residing, or rent/buy housing in the district where you want him to be enrolled. Of course your son can continue going to school; he'll simply have to change schools and attend the school that's in the district where you're currently staying. If you are staying with relatives and aren't paying rent or any utilities, you may have a difficult time enrolling your son in any school. Schools operate with tax money from legal residents. That's just how it is.

I'm not sure how your district works, but in ours, if a family has either a purchase & sale agreement on a house or a pending rental agreement (for example, if you showed you were scheduled to move into an apartment in November), they'd be allowed to stay in the schools. Residents of other towns, of course, don't pay taxes to our town, so the schools can't accept them. Your principal doesn't have the authority to make an exception.

If you can get a short-term rental while you look for something permanent, that should be enough. I would take it to the district office rather than the individual school, so that someone who handles this all the time and is aware of the policies can approve it.

The other exception is if there is school choice in place. Some states/regions have it, others do not. I'd suggest a visit to the superintendent's office to find out the policies and what kind of leeway you have.

Don't mention that your other kids have attended - that's not relevant, because it would imply favoritism if they approved you. Focus on the disruption your child has already had in losing his home, and how you are trying to provide stability with temporary housing while you look for permanent housing. Try to be rational - of course your situation is very upsetting but try to be as calm as you can while you listen to the regulations and find out what your choices are.

lots of variables here. it's very hard to 'lose' one's house, legally or not, and that's not really germane to your main question. where are you living now? did you move out of the district, or are you homeless at the moment?

if you're homeless the district will almost certainly work with you, at least barring other unmentioned criteria. you need to contact the board of ed and work it out with them.

if this is simply a matter of being picky about your next house, get over it. if it's that important to you to keep your son at the same school his siblings attended, suck it up and rent somewhere in the district. from there you can continue your house search and find just the right one.

all sorts of untold backstory here, most of which isn't important but i'm betting there are some vital details being left out here. principals don't generally try to oust kids from their schools.
khairete
S.

I am not sure what how you lost your home has to do with this. My youngest are 14 and 16, if I lost this home for any reason I would rent in the district so they could finish up.

Seems you don't want to do that for whatever reason so be honest with your son, your choices mean he has to go to a different school.

Find an apartment in your schools district and live there until you find a new permanent home.

http://www.forrent.com/find/OH/metro-Cleveland/Youngstown

I don't know how things work in Ohio, but in Wisconsin it is important to keep homeless kids attending school. They are not kicked out of the school they are currently attending.

One of my son's friend's families lived in a series a extended-stay motels all over the area for months before they were able to get a regular place of their own. No matter which school zone they stayed in at the time, the kids all kept attending the same school.

Your paragraph does not contain enough information to even hazard a guess at your actual situation, so what I can tell you is that you need to talk to county services to make sure you're following procedure and the school is following the law.

Sounds like you need to find anything you can move in to so your kids can continue the same school district. If it's that important to you then you'll take what ever you can.

We moved during the school year out of district and our school was very tolerant. We were building in the area and it was rainy season and the process of clearing the lot and building took longer than expected. If you don't think the principal would be an ally, I would go to the superintendent or the school board and ask for their patience. It seems like if you're actively looking, there should be a grace period.

eta. How far are you from the school? And, this is important, are you living I'm the same school district? If you now live out of the district, your child cannot go to any school in that district.

My response below is based on living in the same district and moving out of a school boundary.

You can find district and school boundaries on the Internet. Google the school district or call the district office.

Have you talked with the principal face to face in a calm and polite manner? If not, that's the first step to allow you son to stay at that school. Listen to the reasons he can't stay in that school. Then do what you can do to meet the requirements for keeping him in that school.

My granddaughter started school (kindergarten) in the district in which she still attends.When her parents moved out of district, they filled out a form requesting she stay in that school. It was approved by someone in the district office.

Could there be other reasons that influence the principals decision. Is he often tardy or missing school? Is he getting failing grades. Is he a discipline problem? Did you vent instead of cooperating with the principal and/or teacher? You didn't give your child's age.
Age is important.

Well, you shouldn't talk to us. Sounds like you need to talk to the district and determine the proper protocol for an exception for that area. It may be allowed for this year since he already started, but only if you provide transportation. However, if the situation is that the principal has realized that a child that was never in boundary is attending that school, you may not be able to have your son continue attending. It's unclear where you are and how and when he was enrolled. If you have been looking for several months, and school has only been in session a month or so, then you may be in the wrong for enrolling him without an in-boundary address.

Where are you living now? Do you have an address you could give as a temporary address until you find a house in your district? Do you have a relative or close friend that lives in your district? Perhaps you could use their address until you find a house.

Good Luck with everything

Before anyone can answer this question, we would need to know where you are living and how long it's been since you've moved out of your old house. There are laws that state you must live in the district in order to attend schools in that district. I would set up an appointment to talk to him and explain your situation and see if you can work something out.