Seattle Public Schools |

Enrollment and School Assignment

Students at any grade level who become homeless during the school year may choose to:

Stay in their school of origin and receive extended transportation (school staff will initiate the transportation arrangments for the parents by contacting the Transportation Office), or
Apply for a new school based on the new temporary address with transportation subject to standard transportation guidelines.

Students who are homeless and who currently live within the boundaries of Seattle Public Schools, but whose school of origin¹ is in another school district have the following choices:

Stay in their school in the other district and receive extended transportation services. In this case, Seattle Public Schools reserves the right to confer with the other school district to determine if continuing at the school of origin is in the best interests of the student. Issues that may affect whether the best interests of the student are being served include consideration of the student's age/grade, health, distance/time of travel needed each way, and month of the school year.
Enroll in Seattle Public Schools to be near where they currently live.

Even if the student stays at the school in the other district, they must be enrolled in Seattle Public Schools as an out-of-district student in order to receive transportation to the school of origin. Parents, guardians or other support staff should go to an Enrollment Center to complete the specific enrollment form for students who are homeless.
Therefore, students at any grade level who have been homeless, but now have permanent housing may choose to:

Complete the school year at their school of origin with extended transportation services and choose to continue at their school of origin the following year, subject to standard transportation guidelines, or
Complete the school year at their school of origin with extended transportation services provided, but submit an application for a new next year school assignment based on the new permanent address during the annual open enrollment period, or
Choose a new school based on the new permanent address, subject to transfer procedures in effect at the time of request. Transportation will be provided to the new assignment subject to standard transportation guidelines.

¹"School of origin" means the school that the student attended when last permanently housed or the school in which the student was last enrolled. The School of Origin may have been in another school district.