April 1st is Transfer Deadline

Oklahoma parents who wish to transfer their children into or out of any Oklahoma school district for the 2008-2009 school year have until April 1 to make their request, Putnam City officials say.

State law requires that students attend school in the district in which their custodial parents, legal guardians or others having legal custody reside. However, state law also allows families to request an “open transfer” for their children so that families may reside in one district while students attend a school in another district. By state law, open transfers must be requested between Jan. 1 and April 1 for the next school year.

Parents requesting open transfers should begin in the school district in which they want their children to attend, says Mike Fry, director of Student Services for Putnam City. Parents who want to transfer their children into a Putnam City school from outside the district should visit Fry’s office at 5604 N.W. 41st, Suite 100, to obtain the open transfer request forms. Official word on whether transfers have been granted comes to parents in early June.

Fry says every year thousands of students in Oklahoma use open transfers to attend school in a district other than where they live. The reasons parents seek open transfers are numerous. Sometimes a school in another district is closer to where parents work, making parenting and child care arrangements easier. Sometimes parents wish for their children to attend a school in another district that offers special programs or has a distinct emphasis in its curriculum. Sometimes parents simply want a fresh start for their child.

“It’s clearly something in which the public has a continuing interest. Because of that, it’s important to continue to get the message out that state law designates a timeframe for requesting open transfers. Each year that timeframe begins Jan. 1 and lasts until April 1. That’s when parents should act if they want their child to go to school in a different district the following year,” Fry says.