1. All applications submitted for Juneau School District Optional Programs are processed through the District Office, are considered confidential, and are used only for placement purposes. In the case of students new to the Juneau School District, the family will be required to provide further information to the child’s school before the registration process is complete.
2. The application for enrollment in any optional program is the Optional Program District-Wide Application Form. The Household Application for Free & Reduced Price School Meals may also be used to determine eligibility for placement preferences in weighted lotteries.
3. The goal of the Board in developing this placement process is, to the extent compatible with the intent of each Optional Program, to have the demographics of the students enrolled in each Optional Program reflect the population in the Juneau School District as a whole. This goal is not limited to the criteria actually used in placement. Targets applied in a weighted lottery should not be regarded as maximums; it is acceptable to have the number of students in a program who meet the targeted criteria exceed the proportion of students in the district with those characteristics.
4. Sibling preference shall be given to an applicant if a sibling of the applicant has been enrolled in the program during the current year, and will be enrolled and participating in the program during the coming school year. Sibling preference is also extended to the siblings of applicants who are selected through the placement process.
5. Children of Optional Program employees scheduled to work more than 15 hours a week are given preference in placement into the program in which their parent works. Employee preference is also provided to grandchildren of employees, such as elders working in the Tlingit Culture Language and Literacy program.
6. The District encourages teachers and principals to recommend students who would benefit from the optional programs.
7. Mid year openings in an optional program are filled by students drawn from the waitlist established through the placement procedure. The same weighted or random lottery rules apply to mid-year placements as apply to the initial placement process in the spring. Families may submit an application to be placed on the waitlist for mid year openings. Applications received after the application deadline will be placed at the end of the wait list. A mid-year spot in an Optional Program may only be intentionally left unfilled with the approval of the Superintendent. Applicants may choose to carry over their waitlist spot to the placement process for the next school year. Families will be contacted about their waitlist status prior to the next application period. Once a student accepts a position in an optional program, their name will be removed from any other optional program waitlist.
8. If an optional program has more applicants than openings for a particular grade, a lottery will be held to determine which students are placed in the program. This lottery will either be a Random Lottery or a Weighted Lottery, depending on the program. The steps required to be followed when placing students using either the random or weighted lottery are outlined below.
● The Random Lottery rules apply to the Juneau Community Charter School as prescribed by law.
● The Weighted Lottery rules apply to Montessori Borealis, with weighted preferences given to low income students or students who qualify for Special Education services.
● The Weighted Lottery rules apply to the Tlingit Culture, Language, and Literacy program, with weighted preferences given to students who have a foundation in Tlingit Language based on assessment or who are achieving at or above the proficiency target for their grade level based on recent MAP test scores or kindergarten screener.
Changes to these assignments may be made in future years as determined by the Superintendent who is responsible for notifying, in advance of the proposed changes, the Board of Education and explaining the rationale behind them.
9. The application deadline for Optional Program applications to be included in the spring lottery will be in April or May of each year.
10. A student who has attended an Optional Program in one school year is automatically placed in the same program for the following school year.
11. This placement process is used to determine which students will be placed in an Optional Program. The process may give consideration to diversity candidates or students in extraordinary circumstances. Once a student has been offered a place in a program, and has accepted that spot, they will be assigned to a classroom within the program by program staff using criteria consistent with Board Policy 6152. Classroom placement is not part of this Placement Process.