CORDELE – A new Georgia law allows Crisp County parents with children in kindergarten through fifth grade to choose which school those children will attend.
In a called meeting Tuesday afternoon, Board of Education members here approved a procedure for the transfer of students across district lines.
House Bill 251 which was signed into law in May applies to four schools in Crisp County. Both Blackshear Trail and J. S. Pate house students in kindergarten through 2nd grade while A. S. Clark and Southwestern both include grades three through five.
According to the plan approved by the Crisp BOE, local parents have from July 1 through July 17 to request a transfer for their children. This request must be made in writing on the appropriate form and submitted to Connie Peeples at the central office by the July 17 deadline.
Actual approval for the transfers will not be made until after school starts as each of the schools has the capacity for absorbing only a limited number of transfers.
A school receiving transfer students must be able to do so without exceeding maximum class size or overtaxing the effective delivery of the instructional programs.
Also, the capacity of the physical facilities must be able to absorb a student increase without compromising health and safety regulations.
By the week of Aug. 10, Crisp school officials expect that a final determination for transfers can be made. If requests exceed capacity, a lottery system will be used to decide who will be allowed to transfer.
Should a student transfer outside his or her school district, transportation to and from the school will become the responsibility of the parents.
Assistant Superintendent Don Turner says he does not expect a lot of requests for transfers. “We must, however, notify parents that they have a choice by July 1.”
To maintain the quality of the learning environment, he added, “we want to keep our student-teacher ratio below the state maximum.”
