OAR 581-026-0310: Virtual Public Charter School Student Enrollment Appeal Procedure

(1) The State Board of Education delegates to the Director of the Oregon Department of Education or the director's designee all administrative functions necessary or reasonable in order to conduct a timely appeal process. This delegation includes issuing a final order. An order issued by the director or the director's designee shall be considered an order in other than a contested case under ORS 183.484. (2) A parent may appeal a decision of a school district to not approve enrollment of a student in a virtual public charter school under OAR 581-026-0305 by sending a notice of appeal in writing by mail, fax or e-mail or by personally delivering a copy to the director or the director's designee. The notice must be received by the director or the director's designee within 10 days of the date on which the parent received notice from the district, the district did not approve enrollment of a student in a virtual public charter school. The parent must also provide a copy of the notice of appeal and any other supporting documents included with the notice to the school district prior to sending the notice of appeal to the director or the director's designee or within 24 hours of when the parent sent or delivered the notice of appeal to the director or the director's designee. (3) The notice of appeal must include: (a) The parent and student’s name and contact information. (b) The name of the resident school district. (c) The name of the virtual public charter school in which the student wants to enroll. (d) A copy of the notice of intent to enroll provided by the parent to the school district. (e) A copy of the notice of disapproval of enrollment received by the parent from the school district. (f) The reason for the appeal and any supporting documents including evidence the parent would like considered as part of the appeal. (4) A school district upon receiving a notice of appeal from a parent may file a reply to the notice with the director or the director's designee. The reply must be received by the director or the director's designee within 10 days of when the school district received a copy of the notice of appeal from the parent. The school district shall provide a copy of the reply and any supporting documents included with the reply to the parent. (5) The director or the director's designee shall overturn the decision of the school district to not approve the enrollment of the student if the director or the director's designee determines that: (a) The school in which the student intends to enroll is not a virtual public charter school. (b) The resident school district does not have more than three percent of the resident students of the district enrolled in virtual public charter schools not sponsored by the district. (c) The parent did not receive the notice of disapproval from the district within 10 days of when the parent sent the district the notice of intent to enroll. (6) The director or the director's designee may consider the following in deciding whether to uphold or overturn a decision of the school district to not approve the enrollment of a student: (a) The health and safety of the student. (b) The student’s educational needs and interests. (c) The availability of other online options to the student. (d) Any other information that the director or the director's designee deems relevant to the decision. (7) The director or the director's designee shall issue a final order within 14 days of receiving the notice of appeal from the parent. The director or the director's designee shall send a copy of the final order to the parent, the school district and the virtual public charter school.