Schuyler Community Schools

Message from the Superintendent

MARCH 15TH – AN IMPORTANT DATE


March 15th is an important date. Don’t get me wrong – it is nothing like January 1st, July 4th or December 25th. March 15th, does not compare to September 11th, (Twin Trade Towers), November 11th (Veteran’s Day), or December 7th (Pearl Harbor). But for those who want to transfer or option their child(ren) to another school building or school district it is a date to remember. Allow me to explain more. For the purpose of this article, the terms transfer and option will be defined as:
• Transfer – The act of sending your child (grades k-8 only) to a school building - within the Schuyler Community Schools (SCS) district - other than the one that your child is currently attending. For example – if your child is currently attending Schuyler Middle School (SMS) and you want your child to attend 4R for the 2010-2011 – this would require a transfer. If you have a child that will be a kindergartener in 2010-2011 and you live in the boundaries of the former Richland district and you want your kindergartener to go to school at Fisher’s 24, this would require a transfer. Special note: transfer does not affect 2010-2011 preschool students.
If you want your k-8 student to attend a different school building next year, you must fill out a transfer form. This form should be available at any of the buildings in the district as well as the superintendent’s office.

The following comments are special guidelines to remember when dealing with transfers.
-March 15th is the deadline for accepting transfers. The only exceptions would involve a change in residence, or children who move into the district after the deadline.
-A transfer is final. In other words, if you decide to transfer your k-8 child to another school building within the district, there will be no other transfer. An exception would involve a change of residence.

• Option – The act of sending your child (grades k-12) to a school district other than the one that your child is currently attending. For example – if your child is currently living in and attending school within the Columbus district, but you want your child to attend the SCS you would have to fill out an option form. This form should be available at the superintendent’s office of any school district within the State of Nebraska and on the Nebraska Department of Education website. The following comments are special guidelines to remember when dealing with options.
-March 15th is the deadline for options. However there are exceptions to this deadline.
-If you miss the March 15th deadline, you may request a waiver. This requires both the sending and receiving district to accept the waiver. If you meet the March 15th deadline, your option is - in most instances (special needs students and/or students that have behavior problems may be excluded) - automatically accepted by both the sending and receiving district.
-Options are not final. In other words, a child who options to a district may return to the district of their residence. Each of these actions may only take place one time. Another exception would involve a change in residence.

I realize that these explanations generally cause more questions than they answer. Therefore, I encourage you to give me a call. I’ll do my best to answer your question(s). But most importantly remember the date March 15th. This will make the transfer and option choices a much simpler process.