NONRESIDENT STUDENTS/OPTION ENROLLMENT
Students who are eligible to attend a Nebraska public school but who are not legal
residents of the school district may be admitted into the school district in accordance with
the option enrollment program authorized by state statutes. Option enrollment students
shall be accepted without charge. If the student has previously had an option enrollment
accepted in any district, the application shall be rejected unless a statutory exception to
this rule applies for that student.
Application for option enrollment should be made between September 1 and March 15
for enrollment during the following and subsequent school years. Upon agreement of the
school boards of the resident district and the option (receiving) district, deadlines for
application and approval of the option may be waived. Following the March 15 deadline,
applications requesting admittance must contain a release approval from the resident
district prior to the option district’s consideration for acceptance.
The application for option enrollment does not require a release from the resident district
and the receiving district has forty-five days to issue acceptance or rejection if:
1. after February 1 the student relocated to a different resident district, or
2. the student’s option district merged with another district effective after February 1,
and
3. the student’s attendance would occur during the next immediate and subsequent
school years.
For applications submitted by the March 15 deadline, written notification of approval or
rejection of the application will be made before April 1 to the student’s parent/guardian
and the resident district. If the district rejects an application for a student to option in or
out, the district will provide notification by certified mail to the parent/guardian of the
specific reasons for rejection including a description of services and accommodations
required that the district does not have the capacity to provide, and the process for
appealing the decision to the State Board of Education.
The board shall adopt standards and conditions for acceptance or rejection of a request
for release of a resident student submitting an option application after March 15. Such
standards shall not include the failure to meet the March 15 deadline. For those
applications, the option district shall notify the parent/guardian and the resident district
whether the application is accepted or rejected within sixty days after submission. False
or substantively misleading information submitted by a parent/guardian on an application
to an option district may be cause for the option district to reject a previously accepted
application prior to the student’s attendance.
The board shall adopt a resolution and publish its specific standards for acceptance and
rejection of applications as an option school prior to October 15 of each school year for the next school year. Standards will conform to those set forth by state statute. These
may include the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or school building.
Capacity for the district’s special education services shall be determined on a case-by-
case basis as determined by the Director of Special Education or designee. If the district
receives an option enrollment application indicating the student has an individualized
education program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or may be
eligible to receive special education or related services, it shall be evaluated to determine
if the appropriate class, grade level, or school building in the district has the capacity to
provide the student with the appropriate services and accommodations.
The standards shall not include previous academic achievement, athletic or other
extracurricular ability, disabilities, proficiency in the English language, or previous
disciplinary proceedings except as allowed by law.
An option district shall give first priority for enrollment to siblings of option students
within the requirements of state statutes. The board shall follow statutes regarding the
application of a student who relocates in a different district but wants to continue
attending his or her original resident district or current option district.
Nonresident students not going through option enrollment may also be admitted under a
contract with the student's resident district at the discretion of the superintendent upon
application and payment of tuition as stated in the contract. The tuition rate shall be the
current perpupil cost of the school district as computed by the superintendent.
Nonresident students from outside the state may be annually granted a waiver of tuition at
the board’s discretion following a recommendation by the superintendent.
Students whose residency in the district ceases during a school year may continue
attending school for the remainder of the school year without payment of tuition.
The district may choose to provide transportation to the option student in the same
manner as for resident students and may choose whether or not to charge the parents of
those option students a fee to recover the district’s costs for the transportation. All option
students who qualify for free lunches are eligible for either free transportation or the
reimbursement of transportation costs from the school district as provided by state
statute. Students receiving special education services shall receive transportation services
as provided in the student’s Individualized Education Plan.
Legal Reference: Neb. Statute 79-215
79-232 to 246
NDE Rule 19.008
Cross Reference: 503 Student Attendance
801 Transportation
Approved July 14, 2014 Revised March 14, 2016 Revised October 6, 2023
