House Bill 905: Inter-District Student Transfers

February 22, 2024March 7, 2024 Bill Tracker

Latest Action

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The House Education Committee failed to vote on HB 905 by the March 5 deadline, causing the bill to die in committee.

Explanation of the Bill

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House Bill 905 would slightly revise residency requirements for an existing “open enrollment” pathway to allow children of active service members and civilian military personnel greater flexibility in transferring school districts. Under HB 905, military families would be allowed to transfer their children to any traditional public school in the state.

There is an existing “open enrollment” pathway that allows military families to transfer their children to a school district of their choosing, provided that the district is within 30 miles of the family’s residence. Unlike for most families, military families do not need to secure approval from their home school district (“transferor district”) and the receiving school district (“transferee district”) for a transfer. HB 905 would keep this pathway intact and allow for greater flexibility by removing the requirement that the transferee school district be within 30 miles of the family’s residence, as well as by specifying that military families may select the school of their choosing (in addition to the district). This would effectively allow children of military families to attend any traditional public school in the state, regardless of their residence.

HB 905 also specifies that a transferor district is not required to provide transportation to the transferee district, and that eligible students may only transfer once per academic year. By focusing specifically on the open enrollment pathway for military families, HB 905 is narrower than other open enrollment bills that have also been introduced this session (SB 2234; HB 867).