School District Question...

jebuell

How does the whole school thing work in San Diego?  Do you HAVE to send your child to the closest school in your district or can you choose any school in the district or can you elect to go outside of it? 

We are looking to buy a house in a neighborhood I LOVE, but I HATE the nearby schools.  But only a mile away are some great schools that I'd rather send my child to.  Some places I've lived at let you pick your child's school, others require they go to their local unless there's a reason not to send them there (i.e. they got expelled).  I know it really varies what the rules are and I can't find them online. 

mrs.erin

From the SDUSD website:

Formal agreements between San Diego County school districts
and the San Diego Unified allow students to transfer between
districts. An Interdistrict Attendance Permit may be approved into
or out of a district for specific reasons only. Students are allowed
to establish residency in the district if their parent or guardian is
employed within the district boundary. Approval of an Interdistrict
Attendance Permit does not guarantee enrollment in a particular
school. Once admitted in a school, a student on an interdistrict
permit is generally allowed to continue at that school to its highest
grade level. Interdistrict Attendance Permits are renewed annually.
Parents are notified within 90 days of submitting a transfer
application, if the application is accepted, rejected or if the student
is placed on a waiting list.

mrs.erin

I forgot to add that generally you have to send your child to the school within your district, however, can get approval to send your child to another district for the "specific reasons" as they indicate on the website.  When my brother and I were kids, we lived in the Poway USD but went to schools in the San Diego USD because of "child care."  As we got older we were able to continue to stay in the district because the schools in the district didn't offer the programs that we were a part of.

SillyStraw

In my experience growing up, you had to have a pretty good reason to be granted a transfer.

vigiltini

AND if the school (transfering into) has a large population of kids, you can forget it. Our dd's school )she currently goes to) is the only reason we are buying in that specific location. I don't want her to have to go to a new school, we love it, and she loves it. We haven't even looked anywhere else. Im sure if we did, we'd already be in a house, but we're doing it for her.

jebuell

Is "Your school is crap and rated one of the lowest in the county and I don't want my kid going there" a good enough reason?  The school is Kempton Elementary.  Ew ew ew!!!!  There are some great schools in the SAME district (Spring Valley-La Mesa) but are out of boundary for the house by TWO blocks! 

Though, if it's hard to get approved for a transfer then I will look harder at my #2 and #3 houses which are within the boundaries for those schools. 

TerraandHarold

The SD unified school district isnt all that bad!  I would STRONGLY encourage you to get your child into one of the SDUSD Magnet schools.  I went to Longfellow (Spanish immersion) and Horton (spanish immersion-no longer in the system).  Since I was already enrolled in them, I got to stay in the SD district instead of being transferred to Poway Unified.

You can find the info for the Magent schools at

http://sandi.net/enrollmentoptions/magnet/select_a_magnet.html

 

SillyStraw

jebuell:

Is "Your school is crap and rated one of the lowest in the county and I don't want my kid going there" a good enough reason? 

Haha - well just think, if it is really that bad, you are likely not the first person to request a transfer and they may have the ropes tied pretty tight on that one. I know it would be really hard, but if it were me, I would really consider the other housing options if there is no way you want your child attending that school.