PACT Charter School

Original Creation Date: November 8, 1994
Last Approved By: PACT Charter School Board of Directors
Last Approved Date: June 2,2022
Year Reviewed: 2021-2022

Applicable State Statute: 124E.11 Charter Schools Admission Requirements and Enrollment.

DEFINITIONS

• Parent – The term “parent” as used in this policy refers to the legal guardian of a student as defined in State statute.
• PACT Charter School – PACT Charter School may also be known as PACT throughout this document.
• On-Campus Program – This program covers all students participating in the on-campus/traditional instruction where they meet face-to-face with the teacher on scheduled student contact days.
• Enrolled – if a new student accepted an enrollment offer for the following school year after the lottery, the student is considered “enrolled” at PACT on July 1 or after July 1 if the student’s previous school is still in session.

OPEN ENROLLMENT

A.  Deadline

All applications to be included in the lottery for the upcoming school year must be received by the school no later than January 15 (or the next business day if the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday). All applications will be stamped according to the date received.

*For the 2023-2024 school year only, there will be a one-time lottery adjustment. The enrollment application will open on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 and close at midnight on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 with the lottery being held on Monday, November 7, 2022. 

B.  Application

Any parent/guardian who would like their child's application to be included in the lottery each year will need to re-apply before the application deadline. It is the parent's responsibility to update the school with current contact information.

C.  Enrollment Preference Status (according to MN Statute):

Preference for possible enrollment will be acknowledged and given to:

• Siblings of students currently enrolled and in attendance at PACT Charter School
• Any child of a family unit related biologically, by marriage or adoption to one or both parents.
• Any child in placement within a foster-care situation whose foster parents have an enrolled pupil. 
• For families who receive an enrollment offer and accept a spot for one of their students for the upcoming school year, any siblings of said student that qualifies for sibling preference will be granted this on July 1st or after their previous school is done (if after July 1) and move to the preference section of the lottery list at that time.
• Any child of an employee of PACT Charter School

Siblings and foster children of an enrolled pupil’s parents will receive enrollment preference ahead of optional statutory enrollment preferences, such as children of employees.

D.  Foreign Exchange Students

Foreign Exchange students in a placement with an existing PACT family are welcome to be enrolled at PACT Charter School. They will be subject to the same policies for enrollment as all other students and efforts will be made to aid with the additional paperwork that is required. If a Foreign Exchange student is accepted into PACT, sibling preference does not apply to the host family’s students.

LOTTERY PROCESS

A.  General

A completed Enrollment Application is required to be included in the annual lottery and/or placed on the waiting list. 

The lottery for all Grades K - 12 will be held each February 15th (or the next workday if the 15th falls on a weekend or a holiday) to determine placement for the following school year. The lottery is open to observation by the public. On that date, all existing and newly received (as of each January 15th) Enrollment Applications, after being sorted by grade level, will be assigned a digital, random number and placed sequentially by each grade to comprise the lottery results list from which to fill the next year's class openings.  For the 2023-2024 lottery, the lottery applications will open on June 1st, 2022. Preference is given to siblings and children of employees working within the school. This process is overseen by the Enrollment and Volunteer Coordinator and at least one witness. All staff witnesses will sign a form certifying the lottery results and method, which will also be certified by the School Board.

Students qualifying for preference any time after the lottery, who were included in the lottery, will be placed at the bottom of the lottery "preference section" of that grade's lottery results list when they qualify (on July 1st or after July 1st if their previous school is still in session). Students who qualified for preference before or after the lottery but lost their preference qualification before being offered enrollment will be removed from the "preference section" and placed by lottery number in the "non-preference section" of that grade's lottery list. Students qualifying for preference after the lottery was held who had not submitted an Enrollment Application (and have therefore not been assigned a lottery number) must submit a completed Waitlist Enrollment Application before being placed at the bottom of the "preference section" for that grades lottery list. In the circumstance that the incoming grade increases in class size from the previous year (ex. kindergarten accepted 44 new students, 3rd grade increases by 10 students, etc) the name of the student who missed the lottery deadline will be placed at the end of those applicants on the lottery list who receive an enrollment offer (ex. they would be placed 45th on the kindergarten list, 11th on the 3rd grade list, etc.).

Initial annual lottery results will be shared on the PACT Charter School website in March following the lottery. Information on the initial annual lottery results includes (1) initial lottery results list position, (2) student’s first name, (3) student’s grade, (4) parent/guardian(s) first name, (5) last two digits of the primary phone number listed for the parent/guardian on the submitted application.

All new Open Enrollment Applications received since the previous year's lottery deadline will be compiled to create an active waitlist if the lottery list is exhausted and there are still open seats.

If these “Open Enrollment” students are not offered a seat, they will need to apply to be included in the following school year’s lottery. They will not be automatically included in the upcoming lottery.

Former students who have withdrawn will need to reapply if they want to be included in the lottery. Openings for the upcoming school year will be filled as they become available.

The lottery results list for PACT Charter School is intended for the sole purpose of enrollment and distribution of information deemed appropriate by PACT Charter School to be of interest to those parties. PACT Charter School will not sell, distribute or otherwise disseminate lottery results list information. PACT Charter School will not use this list for solicitation purposes other than to gather interest and involvement in those things related to enrollment, expansion or related benefits at PACT Charter School.

B.  Kindergarten and 1st Grade Age Eligibility

Openings will first be filled by students who have qualified for preference status and have a completed Enrollment Application on file before the lottery date. 

All Enrollment Applications will be subject to the general lottery process. After the February lottery (November lottery for 2022), new applications will be placed at the bottom of the waitlist unless they have preference. Half-day or full-day kindergarten options will be offered to all incoming students.

C.  Accepting and Confirming Enrollment

Students must be age five before September 1 to be eligible for Kindergarten.

To be eligible to enroll at PACT Charter School in 1st grade, a student must be age six by September 1 of that school year or completed kindergarten. Midyear enrollees must meet the age requirement or be currently enrolled in 1st grade in another public or private school.

D.  Enrollment of New Students

Openings for grades K-12 will be filled on a grade-level basis. The Enrollment and Volunteer Coordinator will contact the first student next on that grade's waiting list who has not already been reached for the current school year.

The Enrollment and Volunteer Coordinator, Office Assistant, and MARSS Coordinator will be notified when a position is open once the school receives a withdrawal form or confirmed enrollment from another school/district.

When accepting a position, the following must be discussed with the parent: The student’s start date (not to exceed ten school days from the offering date, unless otherwise noted by the school, such as at the beginning of a semester), grade level, transportation needs and siblings who may be on the waiting list or want to be added to it.

Once the decision has been made to enroll, the parent/guardian(s) must provide the name of the student’s current school so that PACT staff can request student records and inform staff if the student is receiving services of any kind.

E.  Exceptions to the Lottery Process

As outlined in the agreement between PACT's authorizer, Bethel University, and PACT Charter School, and following MN State Statute 124E.11, the Enrollment and Volunteer Coordinator shall allow exceptions to the lottery process. An exception will be caused when a position is open within the given grade, and the overall enrollment is within the maximum enrollment numbers, and there are no students on the waiting list (within the grade/classroom level), or students on the waiting list have refused or not responded to an enrollment offer.

If this is the case, the Enrollment and Volunteer Coordinator will work with the Administration to advertise for open positions by posting a notice in the PACT Pilot E-Newsletter and various other methods. A deadline date will be specified, and applications will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis.

ENROLLMENT LIMITS

Prior to the 2023-2024 school year:

The total enrollment numbers will not exceed per grade level, as noted in Table 1; the actual class sizes may vary depending upon scheduling. To anticipate late summer withdrawals, the maximum enrollment of students is set at 56 students in grades 7 and 8,  60 for students in grades 9 and 10, and 74 students in grades 11 and 12.

The actual total number of students attending PACT classes will vary based on the total number of students attending PSEO in grades 11 and 12. PSEO students may attend PACT part-time (Refer to Table 1). 

2023-2024 school year:

For the 2023-2024 school year, the number of classrooms and teachers per grade will increase due to the expansion, resulting in higher enrollment numbers. 

STUDENT WITHDRAWAL

When the decision is made to withdraw a student from PACT, an online Withdrawal Form must be submitted as soon as the decision is made to withdraw. If more than one student from the same family withdraws, a separate form must be filled out for each student. This form can be found on the PACT Charter School website.

During August, PACT will recognize a request for records from another school district as an official notification of that student’s withdrawal from PACT. (1) The Enrollment and Volunteer Coordinator will make reasonable efforts (phone call and written communication) to reach the parent and request that the Withdrawal Form be completed to formalize the withdrawal. If no response is received from the parent/guardian, or the Withdrawal Form is not completed, the attempts to make contact will be documented; and (2) The Enrollment and Volunteer Coordinator will make reasonable efforts to contact (i.e. phone and written communication) the school that sent the records request and attempt to confirm the student’s enrollment at that school. (3) A written notice will then be mailed to the parent’s address alerting the parent of the disenrollment action.

NON-DISCRIMINATION

It is the policy of PACT Charter School to maintain a learning and working environment that is free from harassment, violence or discrimination based on actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex/gender, marital status, disability, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation, age, family care leave status or veteran status. PACT prohibits any form of harassment, violence or discrimination based on actual or perceived protected class status.