School Choice Privilege Stipulations
These stipulations apply to school choice privilege applications:
- The parent requesting the transfer must be a parent or legal guardian residing in the primary household with the student.
- The student must be a full-time resident of Bulloch County.1
- Space must be available after the school’s assigned students have been enrolled. 2 For the 2024-2025 school year, all schools are considered to be closed due to not having available space to serve non-zoned students.
- Applications for closed schools will be accepted when the request is to allow a student to attend the same school as a special needs sibling who was placed by Bulloch County Schools at a closed school due to lack of services required at the siblings home school.
- The number of spaces available at open schools will not be pre-determined in advance of the application submission window in order to allow the district to consider the net effect of application approval at each school by grade and program.
- Any special programs required by the student must be available at the school requested. Policy JBCCA: Student Assignment to Schools does not provide that the district allow for transfers to schools where special programs do not already exist.
- Buses operated by Bulloch County Schools are not authorized to transport students to and from addresses that are outside of the attendance zone of the school the student attends. Transporting of School Choice Privilege students to or from care providers within the attendance zone of the school the student has been approved to attend are subject to space availability and approval by the school district's Transportation Department.
- Unless approved by the school district's Transportation Department to utilize bus transportation to and from a caregiver’s address, the parent / guardian of any student transferring under School Choice Privilege shall assume the responsibility and cost of transportation to and from school with the student arriving and departing each day according to the school’s schedule for arrival and departure. The principal may require any student accumulating 12 or instances of being tardy to school, unexcused absences, early pickups, or late afternoon pickups to return to the student’s zoned school where bus transportation is available.
- In the event that more requests are received than can be accommodated based on space, requests shall be prioritized in the following manner.
- Any student transferring under this law shall be subject to the eligibility requirements of the Georgia High School Association.
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Each child in a family must submit a separate application. Approval of one child in a family does not guarantee approval of others in the same family.
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Approval of students to transfer under School Choice Privilege does not guarantee that younger siblings will be able to attend the same school once they reach school age. If space is not available at a school the year a younger sibling begins Kindergarten, their application will be denied, regardless of the School Choice status of older students continuing at the same school.
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School Choice Privilege does not apply to students applying for enrollment in a lottery-funded Georgia Pre-Kindergarten program. District procedure is to provide Pre-K enrollment preference to resident students and children of full-time employees of Bulloch County Schools.
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If your child was approved for transfer under School Choice Privilege in a prior year and your child will be continuing his or her enrollment at the same school, you should not re-apply.
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If your child will be completing all grades at their current school this academic year and you wish for your child to attend school outside his attendance zone as a rising sixth or ninth-grade student, you are required to submit a new application.
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Children not currently attending a Bulloch County public school, including new Kindergarten students, must be fully registered with all required documents submitted by Friday, May 10, 2024 in order to have a School Choice Privilege application considered.
Note: Portal Middle High School is a combined, single campus for grades 6 through 12; however, for school choice the available space for middle school and high school will be calculated separately.
1 Children residing in the primary household of a regular, full-time Bulloch County Schools employee shall be authorized to attend school in Bulloch County, even if the primary address is outside of Bulloch County.
2 All schools shall be considered “open” for children of regular, full-time employees of Bulloch County schools, provided the request is made in accordance with stipulation 8-2 above.