Student Assignment

1. Student Assignment The School Districtof Lee County, Florida Leila Muvdi, Director Ann Johnson, Office Manager Sherry Roessner, ESE Specialist

2. Student Assignment • School Choice was created on the belief that every child should have equal opportunity to access all educational programs offered in Lee County and that parents and families should have a choice regarding the school their child attends.

3. Student Assignment The School District is divided into three Student Assignment zones. • There are three sub-zones within each zone. • Students living in subzone 1 will not be assigned to a school physically located in subzone 3 and vice versa. • Students living in subzone 2 will be allowed to attend schools physically located in any of the 3 subzones.

4. Key Features • Grandfathering students • Sibling preference – Sibling Guarantee • Proximity preference P1 (within 2 miles) • Proximity preference P2 (within 5 miles - Elementary and Middle only) • Magnet Schools • Lottery - not on a first come first serve basis as long as you apply during the first batch. • Parent Involvement Index

5. Special Programs Popular and successful High School programs are duplicated in each zone for students that meet the entrance criteria: • Center for the Arts (North - Lehigh-Cypress) • International Baccalaureate (Cape –Riverdale - Fort Myers) • Comprehensive High Schools (Ida Baker - East Lee - South Ft. Myers) • Cambridge(AICE Program) (North – Lehigh - Estero)

6. Special Programs • Elementary and Middle school programs are school wide programs and have no entrance criteria and do not feed into the next level (i.e. from elementary to middle or middle to high)

7. Student Assignment How does the School District’s Student Assignment Plan really work? • Parents rank all schools available for their children based on a variety of factors that may include programs available, proximity, sibling preference, ESE (Special Education) requirements and other factors important to each family. • Once a child is placed in a school the child may remain there through the highest grade level offered unless they move into a different zone or sub-zone where the assigned school is no longer an option.

8. How the process works: • Once the enrollment period ends, each application is assigned (by a computer program) a random number that determines the order in which the application will be processed; applications are then sorted giving priority to:

9. How the process works: • 1) Students in full time special education classes • 2)Siblings wanting to attend the same school • 3)Students living within proximity 1 (P1)areas around each school • 4)Students living within proximity 2 (P2)areas around each school - Elementary and Middle only • 5)The random number is a tie breaker if needed.

10. How the process works: • 6) All preferences are most beneficial to the student when used as the first choice during the first application period. • 7) Ranking them as lower choices and/or in later application periods greatly diminishes their value. • 8) All first choices are processed before anyone’s second choice, and so on until all students are assigned.

11. Important Dates Pre-printed applications are mailed to all currently enrolled students in Lee County Public Schools eligible for Kg, 5th and 8th grades in January. You can submit pre-printed applications on-line, by mail or in person. New students are unable to use the on-line process since they need to provide registration documentation. Batch 1 – January 14 – March 1, 2013 Batch 2 – March 4 – May 23, 2013

12. Eligibility Pool • Students who do not receive their first choice are placed on an eligibility pool (waiting list) for their first choice only and are notified if a vacancy opens in their grade level. The eligibility pool runs from the date the lottery is processed through the first 15 school days of the new school year. After that, seats are available on a first come first serve basis.

13. Some Benefits of School Choice • Accommodates growth without annually changing boundaries • Choice allows students to remain in the same school unless they move out of the zone or choose to transfer • Choice promotes increased student achievement • Provides families, regardless of income or location, with reasonable equity of access to programs and services • Increases stability for students moving within their zone.

14. Some Benefits of School Choice • Meets class size without disproportionate amount of spending (such as teacher units, additional busses or portables) • Choice promotes school improvement through constructive competition • Choice accomplishes racial and ethnic diversity

15. Waivers: Parents are responsible for transportation if a waiver is granted • Hardship Waivers are granted when it is determined that there is a true and unique hardship requiring a particular school of assignment. • Moving Waivers may be granted, after first quarter, for students moving into another zone or sub-zone enabling the student to remain at that school for the remainder of that current school year. • Senior Preference Waivers can be approved for students changing zones if the student has completed four semesters at one particular high school. • Employee Waivers may be granted to full time employees for the school where they work, or that school’s sister school during the first application period due to class size.

16. We have three offices openMonday - Friday 9am – 4pm • Cape Coral – High Tech North Campus 360 Santa Barbara Blvd. North • Fort Myers – LCPEC 2855 Colonial Blvd • Lehigh Acres – Community Health Center 1262 Wings Way, Suite 207 Website: http://studentassignment.leeschools.net/

17. The School District ofLee County, Florida Mary Fischer Chairman, District 1 Don H. Armstrong Vice Chairman, District 4 Jeanne S. Dozier District 2 Cathleen O’Daniel Morgan District 3 Thomas Scott District 5 Joseph Burke, Ed. D. Superintendent Keith B. Martin, Esq. Board Attorney