On March 12, 2011 Superintendent Dr. Derby stated, and the Novato School Board unanimously approved 7 - 0 that “All K-12 intra-district transfer requests for all schools will be processed at the district office in the Superintendent’s Office beginning immediately. Parents must submit all intra-district transfer requests directly to the Superintendent’s Office. Forms are at the schools and the district office.”  This is in conjuction with Board Policy 5116.1 regarding “selection procedures”, #8 stating “ Wait listed applicants will remain on the waiting list for the duration of the school year. Applications must be submitted annually.”  Policy states there should not be any student on a list that rolls over year to year.

One school (Rancho Elementary School) is being allowed by the district to violate these board policies, to the detriment of other elementary schools in the same district.  Rancho is maintaining a rollover waitlist, and has contacted several families of 3rd graders from other NUSD schools, in direct violation of BP 5116.1.  So far the school board has done nothing to address this violation, even when directly contacted by concerned parents in the district.

We, the concerned citizens of Novato, ask that ALL board policies, including BP 5116.1, be applied equally to all elementary schools, and that the school district enforce these policies, especially when the actions of non-compliant schools harm the schools in compliance. We request that the Novato Unified School Board and the district stop providing inequitable support to a single school site at the expense of the other elementary schools in the district. We also request that any actions that violate stated school board policy be found to be invalid.

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