Open Enrollment

Open Enrollment is a program enacted by the Arizona Legislature and requires all school districts to allow students the opportunity to select a school of their choice, if classroom capacity permits. This also includes capacity in Special Education and programs offered. DVUSD complies fully with all provisions of the statute.

Any family living in Arizona who would like to attend a school that is outside their home school boundaries may apply for Open Enrollment into a DVUSD school. Please view the School Boundary Maps to determine the school you are applying for is not currently your home school.

Applications will be reviewed starting in January and approved if the school has availability.

Open Enrollment applications are accepted throughout the year for current year Open Enrollment.

Approval of Open Enrollment is based on school, grade level and program capacity. Using current enrollment, the District determines each school’s student enrollment, projected growth, and available space.

Families will be notified by email if the completed application has been approved, denied, or placed on a wait list. Upon an approved email notification, you must register online to the approved school no later than 10 days after the notification of the approval, or the student forfeits the approved Open Enrollment and will need to reapply.

Per Governing Board Policy JFB, students currently enrolled, children of employees, and siblings of students who are currently enrolled will receive priority.

If there is no capacity, the application will be wait listed. If capacity permits at a later time, applications that have been wait listed will be approved and the parent/guardian will be notified of the acceptance decision.

Applications will not be considered if they are incomplete.

False information submitted on the application will be considered a breach of the agreement and the open enrollment will be revoked.

If your student has been attending a DVUSD school, there is no need to upload a current copy of the IEP. There will be a copy on file and Student Support Services will review the IEP to determine if there is capacity.

If your student has been attending a school outside of DVUSD, you will need to upload a current copy of the IEP to the Open Enrollment application. If you do not upload a copy, it will take longer to have the application processed.

If your student has an IEP and you do not mark it on the application, you will not be able to register at the school and you will need to fill out another application marking there is an IEP. The application will need to go through the process again to verify there is capacity in the grade level and Special Education capacity for services.

Students approved for Open Enrollment for a specific program must remain in good standing and enrolled in the program throughout the duration at the school, or their Open Enrollment may be revoked. Students will need to reapply for Open Enrollment to that school if they were not accepted into the program and will only be accepted if there is capacity. The majority of the programs have specific criteria the get into the program. Once the criteria has been met and the student has been approved, we will then review the open enrollment application. Please contact the school to learn of the specific program application process.

It is not necessary to reapply for Open Enrollment every year to the school your child is attending unless your child is promoting from a K-6, K-8, or Middle School and the next level school is not your school of residence. You must complete an Open Enrollment application to attend the next school.

For schools that feed two different feeder systems (e.g., Hillcrest Middle School feeds both Mountain Ridge High School and Sandra Day O’Connor High School), open enrolled students will be given enrollment priority to attend the school of choice provided the school and grade level have capacity.

When a student is currently attending a DVUSD school and moves outside the attendance boundaries of the school or District during the school year, the parent/guardian must submit an Open Enrollment application. Since the student is currently attending the school, the application will be approved and the student’s enrollment will not be affected.

Students enrolling under the Open Enrollment process may not be eligible for participation in AIA events. Interested students and parents should contact the Athletic Director at the school they wish to attend for more information.

Once a student is accepted and attending the school of choice, the student must comply with the school’s rules as reflected in the Student’s Rights and Responsibility handbook. Students attending a school under Open Enrollment are subject to the same policies and procedures of all Deer Valley Unified School District students. Failure to follow all policies and procedures of DVUSD may result in a denial of a future Open Enrollment Application at all schools within the Deer Valley Unified School District in which case, the student will be accepted at his/her home school only. The student may reapply for Open Enrollment one calendar year following the revocation.

False information submitted on the application will be considered a breach of the Open Enrollment agreement and cause for enrollment to be revoked.

A parent/guardian of a student whose open enrollment has been revoked may file an appeal with the Deputy Superintendent of Human Resources within 10 calendar days of the date the parent/guardian receives notice of the revocation. Unless the pupil is emancipated, in which case the appeal must be requested and processed by the pupil.

The appeal request must be in writing, state the name of the pupil, and set out in detail the basis of the appeal (i.e., why the parent/guardian or pupil believes that the District’s revocation of open enrollment status is wrong or otherwise should be reversed).  The appeal shall be submitted to the Human Resources Open Enrollment Secretary.

Transportation is not provided to students on Open Enrollment status.

Please contact the school campus to which you are applying for to help answer any Open Enrollment questions.