HB 1435 Summary

• Eliminates the requirement for a student's home school district to consent to transfers; only the receiving district must approve or deny transfers within 60 days, with failure to act constituting automatic approval.

• Allows siblings of lawfully transferred students to enroll in the same transferee district at their parents' discretion.

• Establishes the Student Portability and Open Enrollment Fund with up to $5,000,000 in annual appropriations to pay the local portion of funding formula costs for transfer students to receiving districts on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Requires school districts to publish available transfer capacity by school and grade level at least twice yearly, adopt transparent enrollment policies, and prohibit discrimination based on ability, disability, or socioeconomic status.

• Requires the State Department of Education to collect and publish annual transfer data including acceptance rates, denial rates, and student demographics, with reports to the Legislature by December 31 each year; provisions do not supersede enforceable desegregation court orders.