Background: The Kansas Legislature passed a bill during the 2022 legislative session, which was signed into law, amending school enrollment statutes to require all school districts in the state to allow open enrollment for non-resident students beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.
As part of the new requirement, the USD 458 Board of Education has adopted a new policy for non-resident enrollment that took effect January 1, 2024 after conducting a public hearing, pursuant to K.S.A. 72-3126, on Monday, November 13th, regarding the proposed policy.
The required timeline is as follows annually:
On or before May 1 of each year - the superintendent shall present the recommendations concerning capacity and student-to-teacher ratios to the board for adoption or modification, and the board shall determine, for each grade level in each school building of the school district for the next succeeding school year, the following:
- Capacity based on the study conducted by the superintendent or the superintendent’s
designee;
- the number of students expected to attend school in the school district; and
- the number of open seats available to nonresidents at each grade, building, or program level.
On or before June 1 of each year - the district shall publish the number of open seats available to
nonresident students in each grade level for each school building of the district for the next succeeding
school year on the school district's website. Applications will be made available on this ENROLLMENT page on our website.
From June 1 through June 30 - district administration shall accept applications from nonresident
students.
- If the number of applications for a grade level in a school building is less than the number of
available seats for that grade level in the school building, the nonresident students shall be accepted for
enrollment and attendance at the school district, except as provided below for nonresident students
regarding continued enrollment.
- If the number of applications for a grade level in a school building is greater than the number of
available seats for the grade level in the school building, district administration shall randomly select
nonresident students using a confidential lottery process. This process shall be completed on or before
July 15 of each year and students will be notified accordingly.