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A student's school and resident school district is based on where the student resides. In some circumstances, a family may ask to transfer their student to a school outside of their resident district. This is called a nonresident student transfer. You may also hear it referred to as an out-of-district transfer, interdistrict transfer, choice transfer, variance, waiver, or school choice.
EXAMPLE: Sarah lives within the boundaries of the Green School District. Due to certain life circumstances, Sarah wants to attend a school within the Blue School District. In order for Sarah to attend school in the Blue School District, both the Green School District and the Blue School District must approve the transfer.
Online Choice Transfer Request Portal
Step 1: Contact the nonresident school district before starting the transfer process. Make sure the district is accepting nonresident applications for the school and grade level you are requesting. Many school districts are experiencing student enrollment growth and cannot accept students who live outside of their district. If the district is accepting nonresident applications, contact your resident district to complete a Choice Transfer application form. Many districts have the form on their website. In addition to the title of Choice Transfer, the form may be referred to as an interdistrict transfer, interdistrict variance, interdistrict waiver, or school choice form. You can also call the school district to find out how to get the form.
Step 2: Complete the application. As part of the application, the resident district will ask you to mark on the form which of the following best describes your reason(s) for requesting your district's release. The resident district must release the student from his/her district for any of these reasons:
No. Nonresident districts are under no obligation to accept the student for any of these same reasons.
School districts must have a policy for acceptance and rejection of nonresident transfer applications that is fair and equitably applied. Under the law, districts can deny nonresident transfer applications for the following reasons:
If your non-resident student transfer request is denied, you have the right to appeal that decision. An appeal means you are requesting a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge with the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH).
Many school districts have an internal appeal process in which district staff will again review a student transfer request. Many times, the issue can be resolved between the school district and the nonresident student's parent/guardian.
If parents/guardians choose to first appeal to the school district according to the school district's procedures, they maintain the right to submit an appeal to OAH if the district does not change their denial decision. Parents are not required to first follow a school district's appeal process before submitting an appeal to OAH.
If you choose to submit an appeal to OAH to request a hearing, complete the Notice of Appeal Form (PDF). Send only the appeal application form and a copy of the denial letter/email to (a brief cover letter is optional):
Appeals may also be filed via email: OAH.OSPI@oah.wa.gov. The notice of appeal form must be sent by secure email. If you do not have a secure email password, send an email to this address, without the form attached, to request instructions for filing the form by secure email.
Fax: 206-587-5135
Parents should be sure to have their child enrolled in a school while they are waiting to hear the outcome of their appeal.
The case is assigned to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) with the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). See the OAH Hearings Guide for full details on this process and what you can expect.
All non-resident student transfer appeal cases are heard by an ALJ. After hearing both sides of the case, the ALJ decides whether the nonresident school district must admit the student or if the parent's appeal is denied.
The ALJ is only permitted to decide whether or not the school district:
In the final decision, the ALJ cannot consider a family or student's personal circumstances, no matter how compelling. The law and regulations do not allow the ALJ to consider personal circumstances.
For example, the ALJ cannot consider the family's transportation needs, childcare needs, unique activities or courses offered at the nonresident school, social or academic struggles of the student, financial struggles, or any other personal reasons. The ALJ only has the authority to order a school district to admit a nonresident student if the district failed to comply with the law and/or its own policies and procedures.
In preparation for the hearing, parents/guardians should make sure to keep all documents relevant to the appeal. Carefully review the OAH Hearings Guide, and follow the ALJ's scheduling orders. The hearings are typically conducted by telephone. Find a private place where you can discuss the specific student information in confidence.
In the hearing, parents/guardians should keep their presentation to the reasons that their request was denied. The ALJ cannot consider a family or student's personal circumstances in the final decision.
As noted in "Who Decides?", the ALJ can only rule on whether the school district followed the law, whether the district has policies in place that support the reason for the denial, or whether the district applied its policies fairly and equitably.
Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and can take 4 - 6 weeks to resolve. A high volume of student transfer appeal cases are often filed just before a new school year begins. During this time of high volume, it may take a few weeks for a case to be processed, heard, and a decision made. Parents should not wait to hear the outcome of an appeal before enrolling their child in a school.
During the summer, Siyu's family moved out of the River School District into the neighboring Hills School District. Siyu is a model student who loves his school and has made many friends there over the years. His parents requested a nonresident transfer so he could continue to attend his same school. The Hills SD released Siyu but the River SD denied the request based on the lack of space in the school and grade requested. His parents filed an appeal.
Finding: The District can only accept a student if there is space. Even though Siyu previously attended school in the River SD, the River SD is first required to meet the needs of students who live in the district. The ALJ denied the parents' request because the district followed all nonresident transfer laws and school district policies.
Ian's guardian appealed the denial of his nonresident transfer request into the Blue School District. The Blue SD sent a letter to the guardian informing them of the denial. The letter did not provide a reason for the denial or explain the guardian's right to appeal to OSPI.
Finding: State regulation requires that a student be admitted when the school district does not comply with the standards and procedures set in law. The Blue SD had not informed the guardian of the reason for Ian's denial or the guardian's right to appeal to OSPI. The ALJ granted the guardian's appeal and ordered the Blue SD to admit the student.
Nara's family lives very close to the border of two neighboring school districts. Her parents want her to attend Landon High School, which is closer to their home. Landon HS is in the Carter School District, which is not their resident district.
Her parents apply for a nonresident transfer but are denied by the Carter SD. They are informed that the denial is based on lack of space in Nara's grade level at Landon HS. They are also informed of their right to appeal to OSPI. Nara's parents decide to appeal the decision to OSPI.
During the hearing, the parents explain that if Nara attended Landon HS, her schedule would allow her to care for a sibling after school. This would help their family financially. The parents also shared that they saw Landon HS as a better fit for their daughter because of its smaller size, greater number of course offerings, and more team sports than their neighborhood high school.
The Carter SD explained that they anticipated being over capacity in Landon HS with their resident students and showed how enrollment projections are determined. Carter SD must also consider their bargaining agreements with their teachers, which includes overload pay for each student that exceeds a class size limit. They have denied all nonresident transfer requests to Landon HS.
Finding: The ALJ acknowledged that the parents had important reasons for wanting their child to attend Landon HS, but that there was no legal basis to overturn the Carter SD's decision. The ALJ denied the parents' appeal request.
The ALJ cannot require a school district to accept nonresident students for reasons other than permitted by law. The school district must also follow its own policy not to admit nonresident students when there is no space available.