School Laws of Oklahoma

Chapter 1 - Oklahoma School Code
Article VII: Transfer of Pupils

Section 201. Pupils-Transfer-Appropriation-Expenditures. (70 O.S. § 8-101)

Any student residing in a school district that does not offer the grade which the student is entitled to pursue shall be allowed to transfer to a school district inside or outside of the transportation area in which the student resides which offers the grade the student is entitled to pursue. The district to which the student transfers shall be referred to as the receiving district. A student shall be limited to one transfer pursuant to this section. Thereafter, a student may apply for any other kind of transfer for which the student is eligible as provided for in the Education Open Transfer Act.

Section 201.1. Education Open Transfer Act. (70 O.S. § 8-101.1)

This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Education Open Transfer Act”.

Section 201.2. Approval of Open Transfers. (70 O.S. § 8-101.2)

A. On and after January 1, 2000, the transfer of a student from the district in which the student resides to another school district furnishing instruction in the grade the student is entitled to pursue shall be granted if the transfer has the approval of the board of education of the receiving district. A student granted a transfer may continue to attend the school to which the student transferred with the approval of the receiving district only, and any brother or sister of such student may attend such school with the approval of the receiving district only. No student shall be permitted to transfer more than once in any school year.

If the grade a student is entitled to pursue is not offered in the district where the student resides, the transfer shall be automatically approved.

B. When a student has been transferred and later changes residence to another school district in the State of Oklahoma, the student shall be entitled to continue to attend school in the district to which the student was transferred. If a change of residence is to the district to which the student was transferred, upon affidavit of the parent of the student, that district shall become the resident district. If a student changes residence to another district during the school year which is not the same district the student transferred to, the student shall be entitled to attend school in either the receiving district or the new district of residence for the remainder of the current year.

C. Any student transfer approved for any reason prior to January 1, 2000, shall continue to be valid and shall not be subject to the Education Open Transfer Act unless the parent having custody chooses otherwise.

Section 202. (Omitted)

Section 203. Application for Transfer - Procedure. (70 O.S. § 8-103)

A. In order that any student may be transferred, an application form specified by the State Board of Education must be completed by the parents of the student. For purposes of the Education Open Transfer Act, the term “parent” means the parent of the student or person having custody of the student as provided for in paragraph 1 of subsection A of Section 1-113 of this title. The application shall be obtained from and filed with the superintendent of the receiving school district for transfers to school districts in the State of Oklahoma and with the State Board of Education for transfers to school districts in another state. Except as otherwise provided for in this section, applications shall be filed no later than April 1 of the school year preceding the school year for which the transfer is desired. By April 1 of the same school year, the receiving school district shall notify the resident school district that an application for transfer has been filed by a student enrolled in the resident school district. The board of education of the receiving school district shall approve or deny the application for transfer not later than June 1 of the same year and shall notify the parents of the student of the decision. By July 1 of the same year, the parents of the student shall notify the receiving school district that the student will be enrolling in that school district. Failure of parents to notify the district as required may result in loss of the student’s right to enroll in the district for that year.

B. On or before September 1, it shall be the duty of the superintendent of the receiving school district to file with the State Board of Education and each resident district a statement showing the names of the students granted transfers to the school district, the resident school district of the transferred students and their respective grade level.

C. The receiving school district of a student transferred pursuant to the provisions of this act shall notify the resident school district and parents of the student of a cancellation of the transfer. Such notice shall be made by June 1 prior to the school year for which the cancellation is applicable.

D. For students who are deaf or hearing impaired who wish to transfer to a school district with a specialized deaf education program, applications may be filed at any time during the school year. Upon approval of the receiving school district, the student may transfer to the receiving school district at any time during the school year.

District of child’s residence is estopped to compel attendance where child had been attending another district for over five years under mistaken belief child was a resident of the latter district and where mistaken belief was induced by the district of child’s residence’s inaction, if not outright refusal, to enroll child. Burdick v. ISD No. 52, 702 P.2d 48 (Okla. 1985)

Section 203.1. Open Transfer Policy Required. (70 O.S. § 8-103.1)

A local school district board of education which receives a request for a transfer for a student who does not reside in the school district may refuse the transfer in accordance with the provisions of the open transfer policy adopted by the local school district board of education. Each local board of education shall adopt an open transfer policy for the school district which specifies its criteria and standards for approval of transfers of students who do not reside in the district. The policy shall include, but shall not be limited to, provisions relating to the availability of programs, staff, or space as criteria for approval or denial of transfers. A school district may include in the policy as the basis for denial of a transfer, the reasons outlined in Section 24-101.3 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

In considering requests for students to transfer into a school district, the board of education shall consider the requests on a first-come, first-serve basis. A school district shall not accept or deny a transfer based on ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, proficiency in the English language, measure of achievement, aptitude, or athletic ability.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the Education Open Transfer Act, transfers of children with disabilities shall be granted as authorized in Section 13-103 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

School Laws of Oklahoma | Chapter 1 - Oklahoma School Code | Article VII: Transfer of Pupils | Return to Top of Page

Section 203.2. Transferred Students Participation in Athletic Competitions. (70 O.S. § 8-103.2)

Except as otherwise provided, a student who enrolls, pursuant to the Education Open Transfer Act or pursuant to Section 2 of this act, in a school district in which the student is not a resident shall not be eligible to participate in school-related extramural athletic competition governed by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association for a period of one (1) year from the first day of attendance at the receiving school unless the transfer is from a school district which does not offer the grade the student is entitled to pursue. If the student is granted an emergency transfer pursuant to Section 8-104 of this title, was granted a transfer for any reason prior to January 1, 2000, or enrolls pursuant to the Education Open Transfer Act and qualifies for a hardship waiver pursuant to the rules of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, eligibility to participate in school-related extramural athletic competition shall be determined by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.

OSSAA is a “state actor” subject to the 14 Amendment of the th Constitution of the United States. Christian Heritage Academy v. Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Ass’n, 483 F.3d 1025 (10th Cir. 2007)

Section 204. Emergency Transfers - What is Included in Emergencies. (70 O.S. § 8-104)

In addition to the transfer process provided in Section 8-103 of this title, students may be transferred on an emergency basis. A written application for an emergency transfer designating the district to which the transfer is desired shall be made by the parent and filed with the superintendent of the receiving school district. On an adequate showing of emergency the superintendent of the receiving school district may make and order a transfer, subject to approval by the State Board of Education. An emergency shall include only:

1. The destruction or partial destruction of a school building;

2. The inability to offer the subject a pupil desires to pursue, if the pupil becomes a legal resident of a school district after February 1 of the school year immediately prior to the school year for which the pupil is seeking the transfer;

3. A catastrophic medical problem of a student, which for purposes of this section shall mean an acute or chronic serious illness, disease, disorder or injury which has a permanently detrimental effect on the body's system or renders the risk unusually hazardous;

4. The total failure of transportation facilities;

5. The concurrence of both the sending and receiving school districts;

6. The unavailability of remote or on-site Internet-based instruction by course title in the district of residence for a student identified as in need of drop-out recovery or alternative education services, provided such student was enrolled at any time in a public school in this state during the previous three (3) school years; or

7. The unavailability of a specialized deaf education program for a student who is deaf or hearing impaired.

An emergency transfer previously made may be canceled, with the concurrence of the board of the receiving district and the parent.

Section 205. School Dispensed With - Transfer of Pupils Annexation. (70 O.S. § 8-106)

A. Upon a majority vote of the electors in a school district voting at the annual school district election or at a special school district election called for such purpose and held not later than June 30, either a high school or a grade school, or both, shall be dispensed with for the ensuing year. An election for such purpose shall also be held upon petition for an election, signed by forty percent (40%) of the school district electors. To calculate the sufficiency of the number of signatures on a petition, the forty percent (40%) figure shall be applied to the highest number of voters voting in a regular school election in the school district in the preceding five (5) years as determined by the secretary of the county election board. The secretary of the county election board shall certify the sufficiency of the number of signatures on the petition. The election shall be conducted by the county election board in accordance with Sections 13A-101 through 13A-111 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The secretary of the county election board shall notify the State Board of Education of the results of every election held to dispense with school.

B. All of the pupils who would be entitled to attend school in the grades dispensed with shall be transferred to another school district or districts maintaining courses of instruction which such pupils are entitled to pursue. The parent or guardian of each child to be transferred shall be required to file an application for the transfer of the child or children with the State Department of Education within ten (10) days after the results of the election are declared. The procedures for such transfers shall be determined by the State Board of Education.

C. Any school district which dispenses with its entire school district for the ensuing year, as provided herein, shall be mandatorily annexed on July 1 by the State Board of Education to another school district or other districts to which pupils of such dispensed school district have been transferred. Provided, if a school district does not officially dispense with its school and fails to open or maintain a school for such ensuing year, the State Board of Education, except in cases where reasons over which the district had no control causes a normal delay in the opening or maintenance of such school, shall at its next regular meeting, annex such school district to another school district or other districts to which pupils have been transferred. Provided further that if a school district does not have an average daily attendance that meets the State Board of Education regulations for accrediting purposes and does not dispense with its school by June 30, the State Board of Education shall annex such district to the high school transportation area in which the district is situated at the first regular or special meeting in July.

Parents of children transferred to another district are eligible to sign petition to dispense with school in district which parents reside. April 4, 1980 (AG Op. No. 80-64)

Section 206. Transfer Fees Prohibited. (70 O.S. § 8-112)

A. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, on and after July 1, 1990, no school district shall be required to pay and no school district shall charge any other school district a fee for the transfer of a student. Specifically, transfer fees shall not be permitted for transfers between elementary school districts, for transfers between independent school districts or for transfers between independent school districts and elementary school districts.

B. Nothing herein shall prevent the payment or charging of any other fee for the transfer of a student as required by law. Except as otherwise provided for in the Education Open Transfer Act, school districts shall not be permitted to contract to waive transfer fees with regard to special education pupil transfers.

C. The State Board of Education shall establish the necessary and appropriate application forms sufficient to enable school districts to accomplish transfers and to comply with the provisions of Sections 8-101 through 8-106 of this title. Upon establishment of such forms, the State Board of Education shall notify each school district of the content thereof.

Section 206.1 Transfers - Parent employed as teacher (70 O.S. § 8-113)

A student shall be allowed to transfer to a school district in which the parent or legal guardian of the student is employed as a teacher, as defined in Section 1-116 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes, upon the approval of the receiving district only.