1-2005

Initial Student Assignment Policy and Procedure

 

 

Initial Student Assignment Policy

  1. Every student will be assigned ASAP to an ES in their local area who has available space and that serves their grade level according to the agreement signed when interviewed for the ES position. (Parent requests will be honored if at all possible, based on the areas that the ES has agreed to serve as well as their available space.).
  2. If an ES is not available in a geographic area, we will attempt to hire another ES to serve that area ASAP.
  3. Students will be assigned first-come first-served within their geographic area. ESs need to wait to do enrollment paperwork with a student until they are placed on their prospective list. (ESs: Do not have any parents fill out a Student Agreement form or inform anyone that they are enrolled in the school until that student is officially placed on your ES prospective list).
  4. We expect our ESs to professionally represent the school. Personal recruitment of students assigned to another ES is not allowed. Working with another ES to request transfers that benefit both of the ESs and our service to the students should be done only through your ES Advisors.

Initial Student Assignment Procedure

  1. Student Assignment will assign a prospective student ASAP to a local ES with an available space, taking into consideration only the following initial criteria:
    1. ES service Zip codes will be honored.
    2. ES desired count (No ES will be required to serve any more students than they wish to serve, up to the minimum. It is the ESs responsibility to keep their desired student count up to date)
    3. Grade level and gender requests will be honored.
    4. Assignments of prospective students will be made to veteran ESs whenever possible since they will have materials to share with the new students and be better able to answer initial questions.
  2. The ES assigned a prospective student will attempt to make contact with the family to set up the enrollment meeting within 3 workdays. If contact cannot be made, the ES should leave phone messages and mail the ES Contact letter to the family, allowing 1 week (1 month in the summer) for the family to respond to a written request for a meeting. Consult with your ES Advisor for advice with an unusual situation. (Remember to use the emergency contact information, if necessary.)
  3. ESs should not enroll and transfer problem students (truancy or safety issues). Work with their ES Advisors to follow normal procedures to deal with these situations. A list of questions to discuss during the initial meeting is available for your use. Please use the family’s responses to these questions to counsel them as to whether or not this school can meet their expectations prior to completing enrollment paperwork. If you are having a conversation with a prospective family, and something concerns you, you need to tell the parent your concern, and give them a chance to address the issue. You may tell the family you would like to include your Advisor in the conversation as well, and give them a call on your cell phone while at the meeting. The parent should not be surprised that you have a concern, but be a part of deciding if this school will work for them.

    For example: A parent states they both work full-time and the students are 3rd and 5th grade levels. You should express your concern that the students will need supervision in their studies during the day while the parents are away, and ask the parent how they plan to address this issue. If they have a workable plan, then continue the enrollment process. If they had thought you would stop by everyday to see them, let them know this school may not be for them. If they have an older sibling or neighbor who will be involved, and you are not sure of this arrangement, call your advisor and include them in the discussion. Special Ed reminder: Special Ed students have already been approved for enrollment by the Special Ed Dept.

  4. Within 2 weeks of the prospective student being assigned to an ES during the school year or 1 month during the summer, the ES will email Student Assignments (stuassign1@ieminc.org) with the following information:
    1. The student is enrolling
    2. The normal process has been followed and the ES has been unable to make contact with the family. Detail your attempts to contact the family.
    3. The student is not enrolling; give the reason.
    4. The assignment was made in error. Examples: a southern California student is assigned to a CWCS ES, the prospective student actually lives in a county we cannot serve, or you have already filled your open space with enrollment paperwork that has not yet been entered into the database.
    5. The student lives in a dangerous neighborhood and would not agree to meet the ES in a neutral location.
  5. The ES is expected to meet with the students, do enrollment paperwork, place initial orders for educational material, and answer basic school questions. At that time, if the ES decides they do not want to continue to serve this student based on the criteria listed in transfer/drop procedure, they may immediately submit a transfer form to their ES advisor. The ES will continue to serve the student until the transfer is approved and completed.
  6. Transfer requests without a receiving ES noted on the form will go through the normal transfer procedure and be assigned to a newly hired ES (if one is available) as soon as the transfer is approved. If an ES is not available to take the transfer students immediately, the school will start the process to hire another ES in that location.
  7. Approved transfer requests with a receiving ES listed who has agreed to take the transfer will be processed within one week of the request, assuming the receiving ES has room for the transfer students and/or is cleared to work for the school.