School districts and high school sports teams across the nation experience one common argument: open transfer laws.
While the larger population schools are able to get flashier equipment and more experienced coaches, lower-population schools may have less money to spend on these things. This is a phenomenon that is heavily influenced by school choice laws and whether or not the district allows open transfer.
School choice has been around for nearly 150 years, but laws limiting this have only been around for a short time. Each state has different laws that prohibit or encourage school choice. There have been long debates over these laws, and still, there is no one answer.
Allowing citizens to choose the type of schooling that best fits their needs is completely legal everywhere, whether it be private, charter, public or homeschooling. However, many states have put into action an RCW 28A (as seen in Washington) or a similar law.
These laws state that “districts must approve a request for a student to transfer to a different district that has agreed to accept the student,” according to the Washington States Governors office.
Some of the reasons that are likely to get accepted for transferring are financial, health or safety concerns regarding the previous school. States that enacted this law, or a similar one, are Washington, Oregon, Texas and New York, as well as many others. These states require extreme background checks on the student, and most of the reasons for transferring will not be accepted.
While arguments can be made on both sides of open enrollment conversations, most states find it favorable to be an open enrollment state. Many say that they find states with open enrollment to enforce higher performance standards within certain schools, as well as group students together based on their shared educational and athletic needs.
This also limits restrictive laws requiring students to stick to a school that does not suit them well. By enabling students to migrate to a school that gives them the best education, higher test scores and student engagement can be found in the student body.
Like any other law, this does come with some difficulties, and many of these issues are to be found in sports throughout the country. Material incentives, as well as higher recruiting odds, catch the attention of many young student-athletes.
A common trend between student population and revenue can be found decreasing in smaller schools due to losing students. Fiscal motives strengthen open enrollment as many schools see higher student populations, allowing them to grow out of school activities and drawing more students in.
More students allow the school to get higher payments from the state. This causes controversy, as some districts argue that each school should be equal and should be able to offer the same extracurriculars.
A common trend also follows open enrollment regarding sports performance and academic performance within the student body. Higher populations in the school tend to perform better, considering their average in things like grades and sports are not swayed by outliers.
This is why some of the top-performing schools in America tend to be the larger schools. Exceptions to this trend can be found in smaller, high-performing schools such as the Davidson Academy, with only 650 students. Transfers between similar-sized schools are the biggest threat to smaller schools.
As one school grows and the other shrinks, more and more students want to attend the larger and richer school. This causes one school of the two to be rapidly losing students, and the other grows. But some debate this by saying that not enough kids leave the school to make a big enough impact that the school has to shut down or cut necessary factors such as classes.
Other reasons for transferring schools include education levels, social aspects, location and scouting opportunities.
The states with the most lenient open enrollment rules include Idaho, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and West Virginia. Improvements were made to these states’ open enrollment plans during the 2023 legislative session, according to the Reason Foundation. The research concludes that many rural areas prefer to have open enrollment to boost population size, especially during a population decline.
The states with lenient laws also allow people who just moved into the state, to pick their school no matter the distance from their current address. Many say that this is the right way to go, as people should be able to choose their school if they’re the ones who have to go to it every day.
If the travel distance is acceptable to the student, then why should it bother the school?
States that have closed enrollment do have ways to get around laws such as these. Transfer illegalities are not uncommon in states that do not have open enrollment. It is common for high-performance athletes to be seen transferring schools in states such as Oregon and Arizona. To slip under the radar, many athletes can find loopholes in the laws to get them into the bigger schools. These laws are typically abused so the athlete has a higher chance of getting scouted by colleges, as well as more opportunities for higher-level training and experience.
By offering young athletes and their parents things like scholarships and experience, many students do not see any problem with maneuvering these laws. Lying about addresses or using someone else’s to get into a certain school without a transfer request can leave parents with up to ten thousand dollars in fines or jail time. Although it is unlikely that the state will further investigate the students’ move unless bigger problems arise, the consequences do strengthen the risk.
Interviewing students from states with different laws allows the contrast between the state’s rules to be highlighted and debated.
“If there are different credits needed to graduate from each school, then that could get tricky. It could cause problems with your schedule and possibly when you graduate,” Killian Macleod, a sophomore at Sherwood High School in Oregon, said.
She says this to touch on some of the credit transfer issues that deter students from switching schools.
Some people may have different views.
“I thought it was gonna be really hard, but everyone was super cool about it, and the athletic director at the time was willing to work with me,” senior Tyler Norse from Lakeland High School said.
Norce’s transition was seamless and easy.
“It was a really easy process for me, no struggle,” Norse said about his experience.
The difference between opinions in Oregon and Idaho students, regardless of the different laws in place, was minimal. Both of the students believe that easy transferring is favorable and allows them to go somewhere for either academics or athletics that will support them the most.
“I would probably transfer schools if I had the opportunity,” Macleod says.
Macleod explained that it is rare to see transfer students in Oregon schools unless they got kicked out of their previous school, used someone else’s address, or went through a long process to get to the new school. Tyler Norse transferred from Lake City High School to Lakeland High School.
A big factor in his transfer was basketball, and he says LHS coaches were very nice and he believed the transfer was the best move for him to make. Interestingly enough, the two students had similar thoughts on transferring, and both thought it was a strong idea for a school district to implement it.
“The main reason I can think of that would stop me from transferring is my location in comparison to the school,” Macleod said.
She goes on to explain that the schools in Oregon will not accept students if they are not within certain boundaries, regardless of their reason for transferring.
Not one law in America has gone undebated, and the transfer laws are no exception. Difficulty finding one solution is prominent in today’s society, as seen in the interviews with teachers, students and lawmakers.
State choice supports these debates and allows citizens to pick the state with laws they feel best suit their needs when it comes to school choice. Macleod also touched on the fact that although she was raised in a district where transferring was prohibited for the most part, she still saw students in her school transfer mostly for sports or social reasons.
Discussing what exactly these laws are allows students to understand what type of district they are in and if it is the one they want to be in. Educating families about these types of laws is beneficial because it allows parents to choose the school that will result in the most positive student outcomes.
This includes “improved child and student achievement,” according to youth.gov. Being aware of states’ laws and statutes is also highly important because it can help families “protect their rights, navigate legal processes, and make informed decisions.” as specified by Quora.
In order to be a good citizen and stay informed on school district’s rules and regulations, visit local schools and news sites to keep in touch with these guidelines.
