Steps

Requirements and Actions That Must Be Completed

Compliance with admission eligibility prerequisites in State law and School Board policy

All students seeking admission shall meet all residency, age, health examination, immunization, and other eligibility prerequisites as mandated by State law and School Board policy on admissions. See Board policy 7:50, School Admissions and Student Transfers To and From Non-District Schools.

Compliance with the Missing Children Records Act and Missing Children Registration Law  

The Building Principal or designee of the school into which the student is transferring shall notify in writing the person enrolling the student that within 30 days he or she must provide a certified copy of the student’s birth certificate. 325 ILCS 55/5(b); 20 Ill.Admin.Code §1290. 60(a).

If the person enrolling a student fails to comply with the above requirement, the Building Principal or designee shall immediately notify the local law enforcement agency and shall also notify the person enrolling the student in writing that, unless he or she complies within 10 days, the matter will be referred to the local law enforcement authority for investigation. If compliance is not obtained within that 10-day period, refer the case. 

The Building Principal or designee shall immediately report to the local law enforcement authority and the Ill. Dept. of State Police (ISP) any affidavit explaining the inability to produce a copy of the birth certificate that appears inaccurate or suspicious in form or content. 325 ILCS 50/5 and 55/5(b).

The Building Principal or designee shall, within 14 days after enrolling a transfer student, request directly from the student’s previous school a certified copy of the student’s record. 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.75(b); 325 ILCS 50/5(c). 

Compliance with the Good Standing Requirement

The parent(s)/guardian(s) of a student who is transferring from an Illinois public school shall ensure that a completed Good Standing Form from that school arrives at the school into which the student is transferring. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a. 

The Good Standing Form, ISBE Form 33-78, available at: isbe.net/recognition/pdf/33-78_student..., indicates whether the student’s medical records are current and whether the student is currently being disciplined by a suspension or expulsion. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(b).

If the student is transferring from any private school (whether located in Illinois or not) or any non-Illinois public school, the parent(s)/guardian(s) shall certify in writing that the student is not currently serving a suspension or expulsion imposed by the school from which the student is transferring. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(b).

The Building Principal or designee shall deny admittance to any student who was suspended or expelled for any reason from any public or private school in this or any other state until the student completes the entire term of the suspension or expulsion. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(a). The Superintendent or designee may, upon the request of the parent(s)/guardian(s), place the student in an alternative school program established under the School Code. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(a); 5/10-22.6. 

Note: Amend this paragraph as necessary to be consistent with board policy (see f/n 14, policy 7:50, School Admissions and Student Transfers To and From Non-District Schools and policy 7:190, Student Discipline).

If the student is transferring from an Illinois public school, the Building Principal or designee shall refuse to admit the student unless the student can produce a Good Standing Form. 

If the student is transferring from any private school (whether located in Illinois or not) or any non-Illinois public school, the Building Principal or designee shall refuse to admit the student unless his or her parent(s)/guardian(s) certify in writing that the student is not currently serving a suspension or expulsion imposed by the school from which the student is transferring.

Compliance with the School Code and the Illinois School Student Records Act

If a request has not been made, the Building Principal shall request academic transcripts and medical records from the student’s former school.

The Building Principal or designee shall enroll a student whose former school transferred an unofficial record of grades in lieu of the student’s official transcript of scholastic records pursuant to 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(a) and 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.75(i). 105 ILCS 10/8.1.

Out-of-state transfer students, including children of military personnel, may use unofficial transcripts for admission to a school until official transcripts are obtained from the student’s last school district. 105 ILCS 10/8.1(d); 105 ILCS 70/32. Simultaneous with the enrollment of a child of active duty military personnel, the Building Principal or designee shall request the child’s educational records from his or her former school. 105 ILCS 70/32.

Compliance with laws concerning education of homeless children  

The Building Principal or designee shall immediately enroll a homeless child even if the child is unable to produce records normally required for enrollment, in accordance with Board policy 6:140, Education of Homeless Children and 6:140-AP; Education of Homeless Children. 42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(3)(C)(i)(McKinney Homeless Assistance Act); 105 ILCS 45/1-20.

The Building Principal or designee must immediately contact the school last attended by the child to obtain relevant academic and other records. 42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(3)(C)(ii); 105 ILCS 45/1-10.

Other admission steps 

Building Principal or designee shall make the class or grade level assignment, with input from a counselor when needed, and may accept or reject the transferring school’s recommendations. 

When parent(s)/guardian(s) of a student eligible for special education present a copy of the student’s current individualized education program (IEP) to a new school, the student must be placed in a program described in the IEP. 105 ILCS 10/8.1(c); 23 Ill.Admin.Code §226.50(a)(1).  If the school does not receive a copy of the student’s current IEP or a verbal or written confirmation of the requirements of that IEP from the previous school district when the student is presented for enrollment, the student must be placed in a setting that the District believes will meet the student’s needs until a copy of the current IEP is obtained or a new IEP is developed.  23 Ill.Admin.Code §226.50(a)(2).

The Building Principal or designee shall administer a Student Home Language Survey, to each student entering the District’s schools for the first time. 23 Ill.Admin.Code §228.15(a).  ISBE provides Sample Home Language Surveys that are available in English and twenty-nine other languages under the Home Language Surveys tab at: isbe.net/Pages/Screening-for-English-L....

If the Building Principal or designee did not send a request for records to the student’s former school or school district, he or she shall send a notification to the school or school district from which the student transferred documenting that the student has enrolled in the school. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(c); 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.75(e).

The individual enrolling a student shall be given the opportunity to voluntarily state whether the student has a parent or guardian who is a member of a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and who is either deployed to active duty or expects to be deployed to active duty during the school year. P.A. 99-30 repealed 105 ILCS 5/22-65; this language is not contained in 105 ILCS 70/. All course, program, extracurricular, graduation and other placements from the student’s former school shall be initially honored if the District has those options, and spaces available. 105 ILCS 70/35.

For Districts that collect biometric information:

The Building Principal or designee shall notify the student and the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) of their rights with respect to the collection, distribution, and retention of biometric information in accordance with the Student Biometric Information Collection subhead in Board policy 7:340, Student Records. 105 ILCS 5/10-20.40; 23 Ill.AdminCode §375.30(a). 

Steps

Requirements and Action That Must Be Completed

Initial step

The parent(s)/guardian(s) of a student shall notify the Building Principal of their intent, pay outstanding fees or fines, sign a release form authorizing the release of student records, and return all school-owned property.

Compliance with the Illinois School Student Records Act

After receiving a request to transfer school student records, the Building Principal or designee of the transferring school must provide written notice of the nature and substance of the information to be transferred and the opportunity to inspect, copy, and challenge the record. 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.70(a).

The Building Principal or designee of the transferring school must, within 10 days of the notice of the student’s transfer, forward a copy of the student’s school record to the student’s new school. 105 ILCS 10/8.1(b); 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.75(c), (h). Each school must forward written information relative to the grade levels, subjects and record of academic grades achieved, current mathematics and language arts placement levels, health records and a most current set of standardized test reports. However, if the student has unpaid fines or fees and is transferring to a public school located in Illinois or any other state, an official record of the student’s grades will be sent in lieu of the student’s official transcript of scholastic records. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(a); 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.75(i).

For children of active duty military personnel, if official educational records cannot be released to a student for the purpose of transferring, the Building Principal or designee shall prepare and furnish a complete set of unofficial educational records to the extent feasible. 105 ILCS 70/32(a).

The Building Principal or designee shall, within 10 days after the student has paid all of his or her outstanding fines and fees and at the school’s own expense, forward an official transcript of the scholastic records as defined in 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.75(i). 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(a).

The Building Principal shall notify the parent(s)/guardian(s) and the student of the destruction schedule for the student’s permanent and temporary school records and of his or her right to request a copy of those records. 105 ILCS 10/4(h), amended by P.A. 101-161, eff. 1-1-20; 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.40(c).

If within 150 days after a student leaves a school, the school has not received a request for the student’s record, or been presented with other documentation that the student has enrolled in another school, the student is counted in the school’s and District’s calculation of its annual dropout rate. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(c); 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.75(e).

Compliance with requirements for destruction of biometric information (if applicable)

The Building Principal or designee of the transferring school shall, within 30 days, ensure the destruction of any biometric information collected in accordance with the Student Biometric Information Collection subhead in 7:340, Student Records. 

No biometric information shall be transferred to another school district in which a student has enrolled. 105 ILCS 5/10-20.40; 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.70(a)(2). Destruction of a student’s biometric information is not subject to authorization by the appropriate Local Record Commission (50 ILCS 205/7). 105 ILCS 5/10-20.40(d); 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.40(c).

Compliance with the Missing Children Records Act and Missing Children Registration Law

The Building Principal or designee of the transferring school must send the student’s records within 10 days of receipt of the request, unless the record has been flagged pursuant to the Missing Children Records Act and/or Missing Children Registration Law; if flagged, the copy shall not be forwarded and the requested school must notify the local law enforcement authority and ISP of the request. 325 ILCS 55/5 and 50/5.

If ISP notifies a school of a current or former student’s disappearance, the school must flag the student’s record so that whenever information regarding the record is requested, the school can immediately report the request to ISP.

Compliance with the Good Standing Requirement

The Building Principal or designee of the transferring school shall send to the school in which the student will or has enrolled a completed Good Standing Form (ISBE Form 33-78 available at: isbe.net/recognition/pdf/33-78_student...) and, if a transferring student is currently suspended or expelled, indicate (105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(a)):

1. The date and duration of the suspension or expulsion, and

2. Whether the suspension or expulsion is for knowingly possessing in a school building or on school grounds a weapon as defined in the Gun Free Schools Act (20 U.S.C. §7961 et seq.), for knowingly possessing, selling, or delivering in a school building or on school grounds a controlled substance or cannabis, or for battering a staff member of the school. 

Compliance with the Illinois Domestic Violence Act 

If a child transferring to another school is a protected person under an order of protection, the petitioner may request the Building Principal or designee to provide written notice of the order of protection, along with a certified copy of the order, to the institution to which the child is transferring. 750 ILCS 60/222(f).

The Building Principal or designee shall respond to the above request by providing, within 24 hours of the transfer or sooner if possible, written notice of the order of protection, along with a certified copy of the order, to the institution to which the child is transferring. 750 ILCS 60/222(f).

Compliance with requirements for tracking transfer

The Superintendent and Building Principal, or their designees, shall count a student as a dropout in the calculation of a school’s and District’s annual student dropout rate unless the school or district to which a student transferred sends notification that the student has enrolled in the transferee school or school district. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.13a(c); 23 Ill.Admin.Code §375.75(e).

Actor

Requirements and Action That Must Be Completed

All Students seeking early admission to kindergarten

To be eligible for early assessment, a child must be 5 years old on or before September 30th of that school term.

Child must be assessed for readiness to attend school by the Superintendent or designee.  Private assessments will not be accepted. 

Parent(s)/Guardian(s)

Shall contact the school to schedule assessment after fall registration is completed and prior to September 1st of that school term.

Must attend entire assessment process and pay $100 for the cost of the such process.

Building Principal or designee

Arrange for the assessment process to determine readiness in math, reading, listening, speaking, and writing.

Determine entrance based upon assessments and district capacity after 6th day enrollment.

All students seeking early admission to first grade

Must be assessed for first grade readiness by the Superintendent or designee.  Private assessments will not be accepted.

Must have attended a non-public preschool and continued education at that school through kindergarten.

Have been taught in kindergarten by an appropriately certified teacher.

Must be six years old on or before December 31st of that school term

Parent(s)/Guardian(s)

Shall provide attendance documentation of preschool and kindergarten participation in private program; documentation of teacher certification; birth certificate.

Schedule assessment with district prior to the start of the current term seeking enrollment.

Building Principal or designee

Arrange for the assessment process to determine readiness for first grade.

Determine entrance based upon assessments normed at district grade-level.