Policy Committee covers several topics during meeting
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008
BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville Board of Education’s Policy Committee met Tuesday to discuss student transfers in and out of the school district; school enrollment for students who do not live with their custodial parents; and the mileage-reimbursement rate for district employees who use their own vehicles to travel on school business.
In drafting a new policy relating to student transfers into the district, it was the committee’s intent to look at students entering the district, as well as leaving the district, Superintendent Gary Compton said.
The new policy, which will be re-addressed and voted on at the board’s Sept. 23 meeting, will give the Bentonville School District the option, on a case-by-base basis, to approve or deny transfer requests from students who live outside of the district.
For students living outside of the Bentonville School District to transfer into Bentonville, they would need to file a “ Petition for Transfer of Students” with the district’s central office for review by the director of student services, who will review the petition, then notify the student within five days.
If the Petition for Transfer of Students is denied, the student seeking the transfer must then file a written appeal request with Compton and go before the Board of Education, which will then make the final decision on the transfer request.
If the policy is accepted at its second read-through on Sept. 23, it will be enacted, going into effect in October.
Also up for a second reading and possible adoption at the board’s Sept. 23 meeting is the district’s policy on school attendance and enrollment, a subsection of which deals with the district’s residency requirement and procedure.
“ Brad (Reed, student services director ) estimates that there may be 100 people every year that transfer into our schools because they have to get a child out of a bad situation by placing them with a grandparent or other person, ” Compton said, citing the welfare of those children as a reason for the board to take a closer look at the residency and transfer rules.
One clause of the rules regulating residency and transfer had board member Travis Riggs concerned.
The clause, as it stands, reads, “ Students transferring after June 30 prior to their 10 th-grade year shall not be eligible (for athletics ) for one calendar year (365 days ) unless there is a bona fide move from one public school district into the public school district that the student will be attending. ”
A bona fide move is a move in which the student changes domiciles with their parents, Reed said, meaning that children who enter the Bentonville School District to live with someone other than their parents and to get out of a potentially dangerous situation will not be eligible to participate in their new district’s athletics program for 365 days after the date of their transfer.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the board also voted to amend the district policy dealing with mileage reimbursement to equal that of the Federal Mileage Reimbursement Rate.
The school district currently pays 40 cents per mile, whereas the Federal Mileage Reimbursement Rate is $ 58. 5 cents per mile. The board’s decision to mirror the federal mileage rate will add an estimated $ 56, 250 to this year’s expense budget.
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