Is Your Child Changing Schools? Prepare for Paperwork

In preparation for fall enrollment at a new school in the , parents should be ready to produce an array of documents. There are deadlines so it is wise to initiate the process now.

 Parents of students going from elementary school to the or from the middle school to must re-certify their Benicia residency by providing three documents, one from each of the three following categories:

• Category 1: current passport, current drivers license, current California ID or current military ID
• Category 2: grant deed/mortgage coupon with parent’s name and address printed, current tax bill with parent/guardian’s name printed or an original rental/lease agreement with the name of the parent/guardian and the names and number of children in residence and the name and telephone number of the owner or manager
• Category 3: A state or federal tax return with current imprinted label with name and address of parent/guardian that has been filed within the past 12 months and has a W-2 form attached, A payroll check stub with imprinted name and address of parent/guardian, other form of identification or correspondence from a government agency or utility company with parent/guardian name and address

Students who live in Benicia with relatives will need a notarized letter confirming that, as well as other documentation. If the student does not live with the relative, but the relative is a caregiver, a Caregivers Affidavit must be provided.

These rules can be found in the California State Education Code 4820.6 and under Benicia Unified School District policy numbers 5111 through 5111.2. The BUSD takes residency requirements seriously and may conduct unannounced residency verification home visits.

First-time Benicia students will need a current passport or birth certificate for proof of age, proof of required immunizations, proof of residency, a completed enrollment form and an enrollment appointment at the school site.

New enrollees also need to have proof of vaccine treatments for polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, and measles, mumps and rubella.

Interdistrict transfer students must qualify under special rules at their home district. The deadline for fall admission with a regular interdistrict transfer application is May 30.

In January 2010, the California Legislature passed SBX5 4/Romero, the Open Enrollment Act, which allowed the Department of Education to make a list of 1,000 “low achieving” schools, now called Open Enrollment schools. Parents of children attending schools on the list can apply for admission to a different school as long as the new school has a higher score on the Academic Performance Index (API) than the school the student was attending.

There are no BUSD schools on the list, but there are several in Vallejo. The deadline for application for fall transferees under the new law was in January. Students wishing to transfer according to SB5X 4 must apply for 2012 entrance before next January.

More information is available at  www.beniciaunified.org. Find fact sheets  at www.csba.org, www.cde.ca.gov or by calling the Benicia Unified School District at 707-745-8300.