The Montgomery County Board of Education proposed amendments to the student transfer policy that allows students to apply for change of school assignments. 
The Board released changes earlier in the year to allow the public to comment, and after receiving public response, have made changes to the proposal.
Major changes include requiring students to re-apply for change of school transfers for high school, as well as more concrete definitions and examples on approved reasons for change of school applications, including a documented unique hardship, a recent family move within Montgomery County, and a transfer to be at the same school as a sibling.
One of the proposal’s most serious changes includes requiring students to re-apply for transfer approval after middle school.The old policy automatically approved students to attend the feeder high school of the middle school they were granted a transfer to.
The changes require students to submit a change of school application demonstrating significant hardship for any high school other than their assigned home school.
The amendments define “documented unique hardship.” Under the proposal, students may apply for a change of school transfer if their current school places them in a situation that is detrimental to their physical, mental or emotional well-being and would be mitigated by a change of school environment.
These situations include an inability to access necessary and appropriate before or after-school childcare at the location of the child’s assigned school, ongoing and long-term medical treatment that is a significant distant away from the child’s assigned school, or any situation that creates a documented need from treatment from a health care provider.
The proposal also clarifies the guidelines for approving change of school transfers for students’ whose family moves within Montgomery County. Previous language failed to address the timeline of approval for such transfers. Families who move within Montgomery County during the school year may apply to request a transfer without needing to prove that moving school would create a significant hardship.
However, these requests must be submitted immediately. The request for transfer will last until the end of the school year, and students will need to re-apply to stay at the school location. If students would like to attend their old school in the next school year, they must apply and demonstrate documented unique hardship.
The proposed changes clarify the policy regarding sibling placement, and extends the definition of siblings to include step-brothers and sisters, and half-brothers and sisters.
Finally, policy specifies that applications for change of school transfers must be submitted within the first school day in February and the first school day in April.
The Board is still accepting comments on the proposed changes. You can submit comments here: https://mcpsweb.wufoo.com/forms/syvnabc0h3fd6c/
