JFBB-R, Open Enrollment Program Regulation

These regulations have been adopted in conjunction with Thompson School District Board Policy JFBB (hereinafter referred to as "the Policy") regarding the open enrollment program.

Program Compliance

The principal of each school shall be responsible for ensuring program compliance, including the following duties related to the open enrollment program which may be delegated to a designee of the principal's choosing:

Providing open enrollment staff accurate information regarding the number of seats available per grade level as determined in conformity with the provisions of these regulations regarding sufficient staffing and space availability.
Ensure students do not enroll in or otherwise commence their education within the school at times other than the beginning of the school year unless the student has been placed into the school through an open enrollment program exception, in which case the principal or designee shall ensure that the commencement occurs at a natural break in instruction as that term is defined in the Policy.
Communicate use of elementary reserve seats to open enrollment staff pursuant to the change in residence provision noted infra.

Program Timelines and Deadlines

The OE application period opens	First School Day in November
The OE application period closes	First day of school for the next school year
Offers of admission sent	On a rolling basis.
OE admissions acceptance deadline	5 school days after the offer of admission
Deadline for filing of CE appeals	10 school days after the offer of admissions
Waitlist Expiration	First school day of the following school year
OE start date	First school day of the following school year

All applications for open enrollment must be submitted before the first day of school.

Program Notice Requirements

Defined: As used in this subsection, "notice" shall mean written notice via email to the student's parent or guardian on file at the time of the notice. Notice may also be satisfied by another method prescribed or permitted by other operation of law as that term is defined in the Policy.
Annual Notice: Non-resident students who have previously been enrolled in a TSD school will be notified on an annual basis of the open enrollment program and upcoming open enrollment program deadlines. Currently enrolled resident and non-resident students will be notified on an annual basis of upcoming open enrollment program deadlines. No student or their parents/guardians shall be notified in advance of any other non-resident student or other parent/guardian.
Notice of Application Status: All students applying through the open enrollment program shall be notified in writing of a change in the status of their open enrollment application such as an offer of admission, waitlist status, or denial status.
Notice of Non-Discrimination and Appeal Rights: Annual notices, and final appeal determinations shall contain TSD's statement of non-discrimination as well as an appropriate notice of the student's right to appeal. For annual notices, the notice shall contain the summary of the bases for which an appeal may lie as set forth in these regulations. For notice of open enrollment program exception placements, notice shall include the applicable basis for appeal and the applicable standard of review for such appeals. Final determinations of appeal shall notify the party that no further appeal may be taken in accordance with this policy.

Applications for Open Enrollment

In order to apply, families must use the district's online application form. A single application may be submitted for each open-enrollment applicant. Each open-enrollment applicant may submit a maximum of three (3) schools the student seeks open enrollment into. Each desired school the student seeks enrollment into must be assigned a relative preference of one (1) to three (3). Schools designated by the applicant as their first (1st) preference indicates that the school is the most highly sought-after school by the student. Schools designated by the applicant as their third preference (3rd) indicates that the school is the least sought-after school amongst those schools the student seeks enrollment into.

Students may submit as many open enrollment applications as they wish with each application indicating up to three preferences. However, only the final of the applications will be considered as the students actual open enrollment application. The school district will disregard all previous open enrollment applications without exception.

Families experiencing difficulty with the online platform may contact the district for assistance, but in no event will the open enrollment application deadline be extended, nor will late applications be considered except where expressly authorized by the Policy or these regulations.

Open-enrollment applicants must indicate on their open enrollment application if they have ever been expelled from any school district for any of the reasons listed in subpoint 5 or 6 of the "Grounds for Denial of Open Enrollment" section of these regulations. Open-enrollment applicants must also indicate each victim of the offense for which they were expelled in order for open enrollment staff to determine that the victim student has not been enrolled into a TSD school for which the open-enrollment applicant has applied. Open-enrollment applicants shall also identify all pending criminal charges, active temporary and permanent civil and criminal protective orders, and criminal convictions for which the student has received. Open enrollment staff will follow up with the student to receive copies of official court documents from the open-enrollment applicant regarding any of these items. Failure to disclose such information shall constitute fraud by omission and the student's open enrollment application will be denied or revoked.

Open Enrollment Admissions

TSD runs its choice enrollment program for resident students. This program consists of a two-phase enrollment process where phase 1 addresses students in transition grades, and phase 2 addresses all other resident students. Open enrollment admissions are offered on a rolling basis, but in no event are offers of admissions made until after the choice enrollment program phases have closed in order to ensure priority seating is available to resident students. Seats available to students applying through open enrollment shall not include reserved seats.

Non-resident students applying through open enrollment shall only be offered admission where there exists no resident students on the waitlist for a desired school. So long as a resident student is on the waitlist, no offer of admission shall be provided to an open enrollment applicant.

Within the determination of which open-enrollment applicants should be offered admission, open enrollment staff shall prioritize non-resident applicants applying pursuant to C.R.S. 22-32-116, and non-resident applicants returning to their previous TSD school, and non-resident academic program participants over all other applicants, except resident students applying under this program.

In the event a resident student enrolls in their designated attendance area school or is placed pursuant to a choice or open enrollment program exception into any TSD school, the student's seat shall be selected from the reserve seats available. Open enrollment program staff shall not revoke a student's offer of enrollment due to late enrollment by a resident student, although the non-resident student may be strongly encouraged to accept enrollment in another TSD school to avoid a future denial of re-enrollment due to overcrowding.

Accepting Offers of Admission

Priority 1 Acceptance: Open-enrollment applicants who accept an offer of admission to their first preference school shall be enrolled into the school and removed from all other waitlists. If the open-enrolled student no longer wishes to attend their first preference enrolled school after accepting an offer of admission, the student must reapply through the open enrollment program if there is time, or alternatively, the student may be placed into a preferred school with the most available seats.
Priority 1 Denial: Open-enrollment applicants who do not accept their offer of admission to their first preference school shall be added to the bottom of the waiting list for their second preference school.
Priority 2, or 3 Acceptance: Open-enrollment applicants who accept an offer of admission other than their first preference school shall remain on each waitlist for each more preferred school. If an open-enrollment applicant is selected off the waiting list for a higher priority school, the open-enrollment applicant can accept the higher priority seat by revoking their current seat offering, which in turn shall be offered to the next student on the waiting list.
Priority 2, or 3 Denial or Waitlist Expiration. Should an open-enrollment applicant deny all open enrollment offers or still be on the waiting list when the waitlist expires, the student shall not be enrolled in any TSD school. For a current resident student who denies all open enrollment offers or is still on the waitlist once it expires, the student shall maintain enrollment at their current school of attendance.

Determining Availability of Space or Teaching Staff

Sufficient Staffing

Sufficient staffing shall mean as follows:

With respect to schools primarily offering in-person learning in grades kindergarten through twelfth, "sufficient staffing" is defined as a reasonable ratio (as determined by the district in its sole discretion) of students within the open-enrollment applicant's grade level relative to the number of teachers assigned, hired, or seeking voluntary transfer to the desired school, of that are licensed to teach the open-enrollment applicant's grade, required courses, or specialized academic programming. Sufficient staffing excludes any situation in which a desired school would be required to eliminate elective course offerings in order to ensure an open-enrollment applicant's access to courses required for graduation. Nevertheless, sufficient staffing shall not be the basis to deny any student admissions where a voluntary or involuntary transfer would not be impractical due to a lack of space availability.
For schools or programs offering primarily asynchronous online learning, sufficient staffing shall not be a reason for denial of admissions for open enrollment. However, such programs shall be limited on a space availability basis.

Space Available

For schools or programs offering primarily in-person learning, space available shall mean a reasonable number of students which can be accommodated within all classrooms or other learning spaces servicing a grade level while complying with the application priority requirements announced in the Policy and these regulations. Space available also includes considerations regarding the relative importance of individualized teacher-to-student attention for class and/or program offerings. The district further reserves the right to retain space for projected student enrollment.
For schools or programs offering primarily asynchronous online learning, space available shall mean 100 seats reduced by the number of students currently enrolled or offered enrollment into the program.

Open Enrollment Program Exceptions

Administrative Placement

The primary purpose behind administrative placements is to accommodate matters of safety and security. Students moved under the administrative placement exception to the open enrollment program include, but are not limited to:

For students with pending charges related to a crime of violence or unlawful sexual offense where the victim is a student, the school's investigation has determined the charges are founded by sufficient evidence, and the student has had the appropriate due process protections afforded in such circumstances.
Students convicted of crimes of violence or unlawful sexual offenses where the victim is a student or there is a foreseeable risk that the unlawful conduct may reoccur on school grounds or at school activities.
Students who engage in conduct that is detrimental to the safety, welfare, and morals of other students or school personnel.
Students who engage in conduct that does or would cause substantial disruption to the school day's functioning or environment, or otherwise create a dangerous and unsafe learning environment.
Student removals in compliance with Title IX's permissible responses to complaints of unlawful or discriminatory sex-based harassment as noted in 34 CFR § 106.44(c).
Student placements which are intended as a “supportive measure” as that term is defined in state and federal law.

For students with disabilities, the district will comply with state and federal law in connection with consideration of administrative placement.

The factual basis underlying the determination that a student will be administratively placed into another school or program shall be kept confidential from all persons without a legitimate educational interest in such underlying facts, except where disclosure is required by law or court order. The fact that a child has been administratively placed in a school shall not be considered confidential.

Designated TSD staff permitted to make administrative placements are TSD's Intensive Discipline Team, the acting Executive Director of Student Services, Secondary Schools or Elementary Schools, and the district's non-discrimination compliance officers.

Academic Programs

The following programs shall be offered as academic program placements in the open enrollment program:

Dual Language Immersion
Secondary Options for Achievement Resulting in Success (SOARS)
Thompson Online (TOL)

This list of programs is illustrative of the program types that are to be offered through open enrollment. Any program that a) has a separate application from the regular enrollment process, and b) the programing is offered at fewer than all schools serving the grade levels for which the program is offered, or c) requires education in a non-traditional in-person classroom setting.

Application Priority: Open enrollment applications for students who have been accepted to an academic program offered only at specific TSD schools shall be prioritized on all school open enrollment waitlists.

Continuous Program Compliance Requirements: All open-enrolled students enrolled through an academic program placement must continuously meet all program eligibility and participation requirements. Accordingly, open-enrolled students enrolled through academic program placements must actively participate in the academic program, continuously attend all mandatory academic program events and activities, and meet pre-established program levels of performance, so long as such requirements do not result in disparate access for students on the basis of a protected classification.

Program Participant Non-Compliance: In the event that a student fails to meet the continuous program compliance requirements outlined supra, the open-enrolled student may be denied academic program placement priority in future enrollment years.

Accessible Education Placements

Thompson School District is committed to equal access for all students under the provisions of the Policy and these regulations. As a result, the district shall not inquire about an applicant's disability status until after the open-enrollment applicant has been admitted to their desired school. Students with disabilities shall retain their application's relative priority until the time in which a final decision has been made on the application.

Where it appears to school personnel that a student with a disability has accepted open enrollment into a school but, due to the unique characteristics of a student's disability and/or necessary special education services, modifications, accommodations, and/or related services, the student's individual plan of education cannot be implemented in the desired school without denying the student a free and appropriate public education, the following provisions shall apply.

The school personnel shall immediately send notice to the student's IEP or 504 team of such concern if applicable (for personnel other than those serving on the student's IEP or 504 team).
The student's IEP or 504 team shall convene in advance of the student commencing the new placement to determine if the child can receive a free and appropriate public education in the desired school for which the student was admitted and to consider parent input on location. For students receiving special education services through an IEP, the team shall notify the designated special education coordinator. For students with 504 plans, the team shall notify either the coordinator for 504 or the executive director of student services.
If the IEP or 504 team determines that the desired school can provide the student with a free and appropriate public education, then the desired school must take no action to interfere with the student's enrollment and participation in their open-enrolled school. The open-enrolled school may, however, in conformity with the requirements state and federal law, consider reevaluation or other modifications to the student's IEP or 504 plan.
If the IEP or 504 team determines that the open-enrolled school cannot provide the student with a free and appropriate public education, then the IEP or 504 team must draft and provide the parent with a specific explanation supporting such a determination. The written explanation must meet the requirements of 34 C.F.R. § 300.503. Under such circumstances, the IEP or 504 team may permit the student to either return to the school they last attended, or may permit the parent to select another school originally requested for open enrollment so long as the school has space available and sufficient staffing and the selected school is able to provide the student with a free and appropriate public education. If no consensus is reached between the parent and the IEP or 504 team on the placement, the director of special education or executive director of student services shall have the final decision-making authority to assign the student to an appropriate school or program placement.

Designated TSD staff member to make accessible education placements: IEP/504 Team first, otherwise the executive director of student support services.

Hardship Placements

Hardship placements are intended to address extraordinary, unforeseeable circumstances that cannot reasonably be accommodated through existing enrollment exceptions. Hardship placements are reserved for rare and compelling circumstances where a student’s continued enrollment at their current school would cause severe harm to the student, or where undeniably tragic circumstances make continued attendance impracticable.

A hardship placement may only be approved when:

The anticipated event and associated harm are imminent and certain to materialize;
The harm is severe or the circumstances are undeniably tragic;
The situation cannot be addressed through any other open enrollment program exception;
The hardship placement would not violate a student’s administrative placement or result in a denial of free and appropriate public education to the student.
The student’s parent/guardian voluntarily agrees to the proposed placement.

Requests for hardship placements must be submitted in writing to the student’s building principal, along with supporting documentation. This information will be forwarded to the highest ranking district official responsible for registration and enrollment activities, along with the principal’s recommendation for or against the placement.

Upon review of all information provided, the highest ranking district official responsible for registration and enrollment activities will notify the parent or guardian in writing of the final determination on the request, as well as any anticipated start date.

At the discretion of the highest ranking district official responsible for registration and enrollment activities, approved hardship placements may result in immediate placement into requested TSD school or program, or at the next natural break in instruction. Immediate placements must be necessary to avoid the hardship for which the placement is sought.

Examples of scenarios where a hardship placement may be appropriate include the following:

Change in law or act of God (e.g., natural disasters) which renders continued enrollment within a student’s school impracticable.
Enactment of a court order of protection where school attendance would place the student at unavoidable risk of arrest for regular school attendance.
Death of a parent with primary custody, where the surviving parent assumes custody and must reconcile school attendance for siblings at multiple schools.

Decisions to deny hardship placement requests are final. Hardship exceptions are intentionally excluded from the District’s enrollment appeal process.

Appeal Procedure

After exhaustion of any other, more specific processes expressly noted and applicable within the Policy or these regulations, the following procedure may be utilized by any parent to seek appeal of an improper denial of open enrollment.

Timeline: TSD staff strives to resolve all appeals before the end of the spring semester. However, depending on the number of appeals filed and the press of other business, final determinations may be made later. All final determinations regarding appeals shall be rendered before the commencement of the following school year.
Standard: All appeals will be reviewed by an abuse of discretion standard. Under such a standard, the reviewing staff member will determine if the alleged circumstances would or did contravene the provisions of the Policy and these regulations. Where the Policy or these regulations delegate a staff member discretion in determining how a portion of the program will be implemented, the reviewing staff member shall only be permitted to override action taken within the delegated staff members discretion if it constitutes a) a plain error in interpreting or applying the Policy, or b) is against the weight of the evidence supporting the factual allegations.
Reviewing Staff Member: All appeal determinations shall be issued under authority of the applicable assistant superintendent, although the actual review and final determination may be delegated to another TSD staff member with minimum credentials of executive director or an equivalent designation.
Contents of Final Determination: All final determinations regarding appeals shall indicate to the appellant in writing the following information:
1. A concise description of each appeal basis reviewed.
2. A final determination for each appeal basis indicating if the alleged circumstances would, when taken as true, constitute a violation of the Policy and these regulations. Where the alleged circumstances do not constitute a violation of the Policy and these regulations, the final determination shall provide a concise explanation of why the facts do not constitute a violation of the Policy and these regulations and the basis shall be dismissed without further comment or process.
3. If the appeal basis would constitute a violation of the Policy or these regulations, the final determination shall set forth what investigation of underlying facts was conducted, what relevant facts could or could not be verified through the investigation, and how those facts influence any course of action.
4. Where non-compliance is discovered or verified, the final determination shall have broad discretion to take action to require compliance with the Policy and these regulations, or may take other appropriate remedial actions to cure the harm incurred. Such actions and directives shall be summarized in the final determination. Appropriate remedial actions shall comply with state and federal law, but need not necessarily comply with the provisions of this policy except this subsection regarding appeals.

Fraud / Material Omissions

Material misstatements, implied falsities, and material omissions shall constitute extenuating circumstances resulting in withdrawal of an open enrollment application and revocation of open enrollment. The following is a non-exhaustive list of facts that are material to the determination of a open enrollment application:

Falsification of address.
Failure to notify of a change in address within TSD's designated attendance boundaries.
Failure to notify of a change in address outside TSD's designated attendance boundaries.
Failure to notify of pending or active expulsion.
Failure to notify of an active or pending civil or criminal protective order by another student.

Change in Residence

In the event that a resident student wishes to enforce those provisions set forth in C.R.S. 22-32-116, any such re-enrollment shall be allocated through reserve seats in the previously enrolled school.

Eligibility for Activities

Open-enrolled students will have the same curricular and extracurricular status as all other students attending the school as determined by applicable law, the bylaws of the Colorado High School Activities Association, and the district's eligibility requirements. Students should be aware that changing schools may have an effect on the student's eligibility for athletics. Current information about eligibility related to school transfers or open enrollment is available at www.chsaa.org.

Any student who gains open enrollment into a school by fraud or omission forfeits eligibility to participate in the school's activities.

Grounds for Denial of Open Enrollment

An open enrollment request may be denied at any time if:

There is a lack of space or teaching staff within a particular program or school requested.
The school requested does not offer appropriate programs for the student, is not structured or equipped with the necessary facilities to meet the student's special needs, or does not offer a particular program requested.
The student does not meet the established eligibility criteria for participation in a particular program including age requirements, course prerequisites, and required levels of performance.
A desegregation plan is in effect for the school district, and such denial is necessary in order to enable compliance with the desegregation plan.
The student has been expelled or is in the process of being expelled from any school district for any of the following reasons:
1. Habitually disruptive conduct as defined in C.R.S. 22-33-106 (1)(c.5).
2. Possessing a dangerous weapon without the authorization of the school or the school district on school grounds, in a school vehicle, or at a school activity or sanctioned event.
3. Using, possessing, or selling a drug or controlled substance as defined in section C.R.S. 18-18-102 (5) on school grounds, in a school vehicle, or at a school activity or sanctioned event.
4. Committing an act that, if committed by an adult, would be robbery pursuant to part 3 of article 4 of title 18, C.R.S., or assault pursuant to part 2 of article 3 of title 18, C.R.S., other than the commission of an act that would be third degree assault under section 18-3-204, C.R.S., if committed by an adult on school grounds, in a school vehicle, or at a school activity or sanctioned event.
The student has demonstrated behavior in another school district during the preceding 12 months that is detrimental to the welfare or safety of other students or of school personnel including but not limited to behavior that has resulted in an out-of-school suspension in the other school district or would constitute grounds for an out-of-school suspension in TSD, unless the behavior was or is ultimately determined to be a manifestation of the student's disability.
Failure to comply with the provisions of part 9 of article 4 of title 25, C.R.S.
The student has graduated from the 12th grade of any school or is in receipt of a document evidencing completion of the equivalent of a secondary curriculum.

The district will comply with all due process requirements established in state law and Policy JF.

Nondiscrimination

The Board, the superintendent, other administrators, and district employees will not unlawfully discriminate based on a student's disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education services in the determination or recommendation of action under this policy and its accompanying regulation. A lack of English skills will not be a barrier to admission or participation in the open enrollment program.

Contact

The following person/people has/have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies:

Title IX/Employee ADA/504/EEO Compliance Officer	Student Title IX andADA / 504 Compliance Officer
Director of Human Resources 800 South Taft Avenue Loveland, Colorado 80537 (970) 613-5009 nondiscrimination@tsd.org	Coordinator of Student Services 800 South Taft Avenue Loveland, Colorado 80537 (970) 613-5962 nondiscrimination@tsd.org

Adopted prior to 1985
Revised to conform with practice: date of manual adoption
Revised June 5, 1991
Revised November 3, 1999
Revised April 5, 2000
Revised June 5, 2002
Revised December 8, 2004
Revised December 7, 2005
Revised May 5, 2010
Revised October 17, 2012
Revised June 19, 2013
Revised October 16, 2013
Cabinet Revised November 19, 2013
Cabinet Revised September 20, 2018
Revised October 20, 2021
Revised February 2, 2022
Revised September 20, 2023
Revised: October 16, 2024
Revised: October 15, 2025

Legal References

C.R.S. 22-1-102 (definition of district resident)
C.R.S. 22-1-102.5 (definition of homeless child)
C.R.S. 22-20-106 (designation of general and special education responsibilities for students with disabilities)
C.R.S. 22-20-107.5 (defining district of residence for students with disabilities)
C.R.S. 22-32-109 (Board duties to adopt specific policies)
C.R.S. 22-32-110 (1)(k) (definition of racial or ethnic background includes hair texture, definition of protective hairstyle)
C.R.S. 22-32-110 (1)(m) (Board power to fix boundaries)
C.R.S. 22-32-116 (if a student becomes non-resident)
C.R.S. 22-32-138 (duties regarding students in foster care).
C.R.S. 22-33-104.5 (defining nonpublic home-based education)
C.R.S. 22-33-106 (grounds to deny admission)
C.R.S. 22-36-101 et seq. (open enrollment)
C.R.S. 22-36-107 (inbound active duty military families open enrollment and registration)
C.R.S. 22-54-103 (10.5) (definition of pupil enrollment count day)
1 CCR 301-8, Rules 4.03 and 8.07 (prohibiting administrative units from inquiring about a transferring child's IEP or disability status until after the child has been admitted)
1 CCR 301-39 (3.01 - 3.06). (regarding calculation of the pupil enrollment count day).
12 CCR 2509-4, 7.301.241 (education requirements for students in foster care).
20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq (Equal Opportunity in Education Act, A.K.A.Title IX)
29 U.S.C. § 794 (§504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973)
42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq (The Americans with Disabilities Act)

Cross References

EEAA, Transportation: Walkers and Riders
IHB, Special Instructional Programs
IHBG, Home Schooling
IIB, Class Size
JC, School Attendance Areas
JF, Admission and Denial of Admission
JFABD, Homeless Students
JFABE, Students In Foster Care
JFBB, Open Enrollment
JGA-E
JHD, Exclusion and Exemptions from School Attendance
JJJ, Extracurricular Activity Eligibility
LBD, Charter Schools

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