Policy 5200 – School Admissions

Any student seeking school admission in the District must reside within the established boundaries of the District, except as otherwise provided by law and/or Board policy.  Each resident location within the district boundary has an assigned boundary elementary school, middle school and high school.  Parents have enrollment rights for those associated boundary schools respective of the confirmed resident address.  Nothing prevents a parent from applying for enrollment to a non-boundary KUSD school, in accordance with posted timelines and procedures.

Individuals enrolling a student are expected to follow the District’s registration procedures, including providing appropriate documentation of the student’s age and in-District residency (or other status that permits admission to a District school). The District’s registration procedures shall be sufficiently flexible so as to not unlawfully interfere with the prompt admission, school placement, and attendance of children in a special legal status that provides rights and protection regarding school enrollment (e.g., homeless, foster care, children of military families, Safe at Home program participants, etc.)

Students admitted to the District’s elementary and secondary schools shall present immunization records as required by law.

Emancipated minors shall be enrolled in a District school in accordance with established guidelines. Any minor claiming emancipation from their parent/guardian will have the burden of proving such emancipation to the satisfaction of the building principal.

School assignments and grade placements shall be made by the administrative staff in accordance with District procedures. Students transferring from other school systems or non-District programs are required to provide a transcript of academic accomplishments at the previous school/program, or the address from which this data may be secured. If sufficient academic transcript information is not available, students may be required to take appropriate academic tests to assist in making a placement, or other identifiable options for measuring academic understanding and progress.

The District shall not unlawfully discriminate in admissions to any school, class, program or activity or facilities usage on the basis of sex, race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, homelessness status or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability or handicap. This does not, however, prohibit placing a student in a school, class, program or activity based on objective standards of individual performance or need.  Discrimination complaints shall be processed in accordance with established procedures.

Nothing in this policy shall prevent the District from denying the admission of a student during the term of an expulsion from another Wisconsin public school, out-of-state public school or independent charter school in Wisconsin, or from setting enrollment conditions that the expelled student must meet in order to be admitted, consistent with legal requirements.

LEGAL REF.:

  • Wisconsin Statutes:
    • Sections 115.997 [interstate compact on educational opportunity for military children]
    • 118.13 [student nondiscrimination]
    • 118.135 [eye examinations for students entering kindergarten]
    • 118.14 [age of students for admission]
    • 118.145 [high school admission; includes private school and tribal school students taking high school courses]
    • 118.51 [full-time public school open enrollment]
    • 118.52 [part-time open enrollment]
    • 118.53 [attendance in public school courses by home-based private educational program students]
    • 120.13(1)(f) [authority to deny admission of student during term of expulsion]
    • 120.13(1)(h) [conditional enrollment of expelled students]
    • 121.77 [admission of nonresident students]
    • 121.84 [admission of nonresident students; tuition waivers]
    • 165.68 [address confidentiality program]
    • 252.04 [immunizations required upon school admission]
  • Wisconsin Administrative Code  PI 9.03(1) [student nondiscrimination in school admission policies]
  • Federal Laws
    • McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act [equal access for homeless students; required policies to remove barriers]
    • Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act [20 U.S.C. §6311(g)(1)E and §6312(c)(5) [educational agency requirements related to ensuring the educational stability of children in foster care]
    • Title IV of the Social Security Act  [42 U.S.C. §671(a)(10) and § 675(1)(G)  [child welfare agency requirements related to supporting normalcy for children in foster care and ensuring the educational stability of children in foster care]

CROSS REF.:

ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS: None

AFFIRMED: May 27, 1997

REVISED: January 28, 2025

Rule 5200 – School Admissions

Any student who has been in attendance in an educational program other than the Kenosha Unified School District for a period of 90 days or more, and who wishes to enter or re-enter the District shall be required to comply with the following procedures:

  1. Grade Placement
    1. With Transcripts/ Previous School Records
      The District reserves the right to determine grade placement of all students entering or re-entering the school system.  The default practice is to assign grade level placement based on age of the student in relation to September 1, of each year and their peer student cohort group.  Any request for a placement outside of normal age-based enrollments will be handled by the Teaching and Learning Department, with consultation with respective Content Coordinators.
    2. Without Transcripts/Previous School Records
      Consideration shall be given to the grade level which the student has attained at the time of entry or re-entry based upon the academic records received from the student’s previous school. If transcripts or other records evidencing the student’s level of academic achievement, subjects completed, credits earned and/or results of standardized testing are unavailable, incomplete or if accreditation/certification of previous schooling is not able to be secured, school administrators will collaborate with the Teaching and Learning Department to implement standardized test(s) or other academic measures to determine the student’s achievement level and appropriate grade placement.  Placement decisions determined by the Teaching and Learning Department shall be made based on the test results and the student’s ability to demonstrate learning appropriate to the proper placement.

    Students identified as having special needs (e.g., students with disabilities, multilingual learners) shall be placed in appropriate programs and provided identified services in accordance with established District policies and procedures and applicable legal requirements.

  2. High School Credit Attainment
    High school credits shall be awarded based on the academic record information received and/or the results of any placement/achievement tests. Course credits earned at a public high school or other accredited high school shall generally be accepted as recorded by the former school, with the credit units being adjusted if necessary to reflect the District’s comparable units. Transfer credit may be rejected if the District determines that the nature of the work reflected by the proposed transfer credit has no reasonable correlation to credit-eligible work in the District.

    Approved transfer credits will be identified as either satisfying a specific graduation requirement or as elective credit that has been completed in excess of required credits. As determined under the applicable high school grading policy, the District will either (1) record a transfer course on a pass/fail basis; or (2) associate and record a transcript grade with a transfer course.  Prior to any denial of a transcripted application, the respective Teaching and Learning Content Coordinator will have consulted on the review of the transcript and related material.

  3. Appeals
    Decisions regarding transfer courses, transfer credits, and grades associated with transfer courses for high school students may be appealed to the High School Principal and then to the Chief Academic Officer, whose decision on the appeal shall be final.

    In the event that there is an appeal on behalf of the student regarding the placement of a student, a written appeal may be made to the building principal of the school in which the student is initially placed, and then to the Chief Academic Officer. The decision of the Chief Academic Officer shall be final. Reference KUSD Policy 5118 Promotion, Acceleration and Retention for any inquiries or requests for outside of normal grade level placement.