Children will be admitted into a public school if their sixth birthday occurs on or before the date established in Oregon Revised Statutes of the year they first enroll.  In addition, students whose sixth birthday occurs after that date may be admitted to the first grade if they have maintained regular attendance in any grade of a public full-time school during the entire school term.

Children will be admitted into kindergarten if their fifth birthday occurs on or before September 1 or they are a kindergarten student transferring from a public school in another district.

Special exemptions for early entry into kindergarten may be made for students whose fifth birthday occurs after September 1 but not later than October 1, and who is sufficiently advanced to succeed in the educational program based on an analysis by a qualified professional of their:

1. Cognitive functioning;
2. Social development;
3. Physical development.

The superintendent or designee shall identify screening processes and instruments that will provide standard assessment of the above criteria.

Parents or guardians may be required to pay a fee for the special testing involved.

END OF POLICY

ORS 327.006
ORS 336.092
ORS 336.095
ORS 339.010
ORS 339.115
ORS 343.395

Board Policy JEBA - Early Entrance indicates students may be enrolled in kindergarten if they are five years old on or before September 1.  Exemptions for early entry to kindergarten will be made based on an analysis by a qualified professional of the student's intellectual functioning.

To be in compliance with the policy, the District will accept, at the parents’ expense, district determined certain nationally standardized instruments administered and interpreted by a psychologist specially trained to understand and evaluate student growth and development.  Testing needs to occur between June 1 and August 1 in order to ensure that the test report is received by Teaching and Learning prior to the deadline of 5:00 p.m. the second Friday in August.

Testing may be performed by a psychologist of the parent’s choice, or from a list of qualified outside providers that the District has previously used.  The psychologist will charge a fee for testing.  If an interpreter is needed, the District can make arrangements for that service at the parents’ expense.  If financial need is established, District assistance will be provided.

In order to qualify for early entry, the student:

1. Must be five years old as of October 1^st to apply for the evaluation procedure and consideration for early kindergarten enrollment;
2. Must achieve a score on the intellectual functioning measure which places the student at or above the 97th percentile.

The examiner will provide all the testing data, as well as any observation data, to the parents, and with written consent, to Teaching and Learning.  Teaching and Learning will make the final decision on early kindergarten entrance based on the available data.

A student who is granted early entry into kindergarten as a result of this process will have her/his progress monitored during the first six to nine weeks.  Continuation or discontinuation in the kindergarten program will depend upon the progress the student has made during that time.  Data presented to the principal will include information from the student's teacher.  The decision relative to continuation or discontinuation will be the responsibility of the principal. The principal’s decision will be final with no appeal.

First Grade

If a request is made to enroll a student in first grade who does not meet the requirements identified in Board Policy JEBA - Early Entrance, the student will be assigned to kindergarten.  An assessment of the student's progress will be made no later than the end of the first grading period.  Based on the data available and after a conference with the parents/guardians to discuss the data, the principal will determine whether to maintain the student in kindergarten or accelerate him/her to the first grade.  The decision of the principal is final.  Provisions of Administrative Regulation IKE-AR - Promotion and Retention of Students regarding acceleration will be followed.

If a student is six years old but comes without a successful kindergarten experience, the principal will confer with the parents/guardians to determine whether the student should be assigned to first grade or assigned to kindergarten for assessment.  If assigned to kindergarten, an assessment will be completed no later than the end of the first grading period.  Based on the assessment, the principal will confer with the parents/guardians before making a decision concerning acceleration to first grade.  The decision of the principal is final.