Resident Students

Resident students of the District, five to twenty-one (5-21) years of age, who have not graduated from high school or received any document evidencing completion of the equivalent of a secondary curriculum (G.E.D.), and are not barred from enrollment by provisions of the Safe Schools Act (See Policy and Regulation 2664) may attend District schools tuition free.  Resident students must provide proof of residency in the District at the time of enrollment. To be a resident of the District, a student must both physically reside and be domiciled within District boundaries.  The domicile of a minor child is the domicile of a parent, military guardian pursuant to a military issued guardianship, or court-appointed legal guardian.  Where due to military stationing or deployment out-of-state of one or both of a child’s parent(s), the child, a resident of Missouri, relocates to live with other family members that live in the District or lives in a military support community located in the District, the child may attend District schools.  If the parents’ active-duty orders expire during the school year, the student will be permitted to finish the current school year at the District.

In addition, the District will provide tuition-free special education services to resident students who qualify for special education services between the ages of 3 and 21 as required by law.

Students Entitled to Enroll Without Proof of Residency

The residency provisions of this policy are not applicable to homeless students, inter-District court-ordered desegregation students, wards of the state placed in residential care facilities, students placed in a residential care facility due to a mental illness or developmental disability, students placed in a residential facility by a juvenile court, students with a disability identified under state eligibility criteria if the student is in the district for reasons other than accessing the district’s educational program, students attending regional or cooperative alternative education programs, students attending an alternative education program on a contractual basis, or students attending a school pursuant to R.S.Mo.§ 167.151(2) or (4).  The exemptions to the residency requirement are expressly established by state law and entitle such students to tuition-free school attendance.  Additionally, a student may be partially exempt from the payment of tuition as set forth in Policy and Regulation 2240 and state law.  For purposes of IDEA special education evaluation and provision of special education services a student attending a private school located within the District will be evaluated as a resident student.

Requests for Waiver of Proof of Residency Requirements

Those students who are unable to satisfy the proof of residency requirements and who are not entitled to enroll as provided in the previous section of this Policy and state law may request a waiver of the proof of residency requirements.  Upon filing a Request for Waiver of Proof of Residency (Form 2230.1) and satisfaction of all other enrollment requirements, the student will be conditionally enrolled and allowed to attend school pending a Board of Education hearing on the student’s request unless there is reason to suspect that the admission of the pupil will create an immediate danger to the safety of other students or employees of the District.  If there is reason to suspect that the student poses an immediate danger, the Superintendent/Designee may convene a hearing within five working days of the request to register and determine whether or not the pupil may register. (See Policy and Regulation 2200, Regulation 2230 and Policy and Regulation 2664).

Students of Nonresident Teachers and Regular Employees

Nonresident students of District teachers or regular District employees may be permitted to attend school without payment of tuition.  Such students will be considered a "resident" student for purposes of state aid.

Remote Registration

Parent(s) who are being relocated to Missouri pursuant to military orders will be permitted to enroll their students remotely.  Proof of residence is not required at the time of registration but will be required within ten (10) days of the student’s registration.

Enrollment at the Option of the District

The Board in its discretion may also allow students to enroll and attend under the following circumstances without going through the waiver process. Unless required by law, no student will be enrolled in Sikeston R-6 if the enrollment might result in overcrowding, disruption to the educational environment or a financial hardship to the district.

1. The district may enroll and educate nonresident students on a contractual basis with another school district that will pay the tuition or educational expenses (§ 167.020, RSMo.). For example, students may attend a district alternative education program on a contractual basis or as part of a regional or cooperative education.
2. The district may enroll students pursuant to a contractual arrangement that complies with the Enrollment Option Act (§§ 162.1040 - .1059, RSMo.). A nonresident student enrolled pursuant to an enrollment option program shall be counted as a resident student for the purposes of determining state aid.
3. Nonresident students living in Missouri will be permitted to enroll in the district's schools upon payment of tuition as long as the admission will not require the district to exceed the district's target class sizes and student-to-teacher ratios set by the Nonresident students will only be permitted to enroll upon agreement to pay tuition, as calculated by Sikeston R-6 or the State Board, unless the students are exempt from payment of tuition as allowed by law or another arrangement has been made with Board approval. Tuition rates shall be determined annually on the basis of the per-pupil cost for the preceding year for the operation, maintenance and debt service of the schools, as prescribed by state law. A nonresident student shall be defined as a student who does not meet the requirements to be a resident student of Sikeston R-6, as defined in Board policies and law.
4. In accordance with law, the district may enroll nonresident students in its summer school program if there is room in the district's program to accommodate the students and the students are not attending summer school in another district (§ 167.227, RSMo.). The district will either count the students as residents for state aid purposes or allow them to attend upon payment of tuition by another district or the parents/guardians. The district will not enroll nonresident students in summer programs funded entirely by federal funds unless there is an interdistrict agreement to provide those services.
5. Foreign exchange students living within the boundaries of the school district who have obtained a J-1 visa and who are sponsored by an organization listed on the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET) Advisory List will be allowed to enroll in the school district. Such enrollment will be conditioned upon approval of the superintendent and in accordance with procedures set forth by the superintendent or designee. The Board of Education reserves the right to limit the number of foreign exchange students enrolled in a given Attendance by foreign exchange students is a privilege, not a right.
6. Children residing in institutions located within the district that provide a place of residence for three or more such children whose domicile is not in the state of Missouri may be admitted pursuant to a contractual arrangement, provided that the school district, its taxpayers, the state of Missouri or its political subdivisions bear no financial burden as a result of the placement (§ 126, RSMo.).

Removal of Students Ineligible to Attend

The superintendent or designee will investigate any information the district receives indicating that a student is not a resident of the district or not otherwise entitled to attend the district in accordance with law or this policy. If the superintendent or designee determines after the investigation that the student is not a resident of the district and is not otherwise entitled to enroll in and attend the district in accordance with law and the district’s policy, the district will notify the student's parents/guardians, ask them to withdraw the student by a specific date, and offer the parents/guardians a hearing. If the parents/guardians do not request a hearing by the specified deadline and do not withdraw the student, the district will formally remove the student from its rolls and notify the parents/guardians that the student may no longer attend school in the district.

Educational Larceny

It is a crime to provide the district false information regarding residency. The Board authorizes the superintendent or designee to seek all criminal and civil recourse against any person who attempts to fraudulently assert residency in the district.