# School place allocation in San Diego - Mid-term application



## christiansturt (Jun 29, 2014)

I have been offered the chance to move from the UK to San Diego by my company. I have already been there about 20 times and think it would be a great place for my kids to grow up.


I am at the beginning of my research, and having kids of 5 and 3 (who will be nearly 6 and 4 when we arrive early 2015) schools are very important.

Looking at the real-estate web sites it is easy to find out the neighbourhood school for a rental property, and the school district. It is also easy to find the reviews and ratings for all the schools. 

The one piece of information I can't find clearly is information on admission policy. I have read that if you live in area X your kids go to school X that covers the neighbourhood. 


Is this always true? 
Even if your kids arrive 1/2 way through a school year? 
What if the school is full, do they then send you to the nearest non-full school?

My wife if very concerned about this as in the UK one of the negatives of moving house is that your kids end up in the worst school in an area. Even if you move to a good area all the schools are full, so you end up in the nearest school with places, and that school only has places as nobody wants their kids to go there! 

Any advice or pointers to useful web sites would be much appreciated. I have tried all the official state education websites, but none seem to mention mid-term or mid-school applications. Perhaps I don't know the correct term used in the US to search for.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Some school districts have an application process for middle school and high school, but in general if you move in mid-year with kids of primary school age, you simply enroll in the school district and the kids go to the school according to where you live. 

Not all school districts have kindergarten or pre-school, however, so your younger child may have to wait a year or two.
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Not a concern in California, though, Bev. California offers universal Pre-K and K in its free public schools. (Pre-K is called Transitional Kindergarten in California.) Pre-K and K attendance is not _mandatory_, but I think it'd be pretty crazy to opt out.

That's an excellent time (age 4 and 6) to move into a new school district, by the way.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

OK, here's a little more info to clarify since it's a bit confusing in California. (And it's changed a bit recently, since 2009.)

California has universal Kindergarten. There's an age cut-off -- children have to be old enough to attend. For those children that miss the cut-off by a couple or three months there's "Transitional Kindergarten." So there's a year, _maybe more_, of kindergarten depending on your child's date of birth. Yes, that's a bit weird, but there you go. Most other places in the U.S. have 0, 1, or 2 years of pre-First Grade education in the public schools with an absolute age cut-off, sometimes subject to negotiation or individual exceptions depending on assessments. California has an odd "Transitional Kindergarten" program because the state increased the age slightly for Kindergarten eligibility, but they didn't want to leave out the kids born at the "wrong" time so they backfilled with TK.

That's in the public schools. If your 4 year old misses the cut-off date (too young) then it'd be a good idea to look into Pre-K programs, and there are lots of those in San Diego (usually not free).


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## christiansturt (Jun 29, 2014)

OK thanks, so it does look like if we take a house near a good elementary school our son will get into it.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

_Extremely_ likely, especially at the elementary school level as Bev noted. In the extremely unlikely event that's not the case, the school district is obliged to provide an alternative and (if far away) transportation to that alternative. Considering that transportation isn't free for the school district, there's at least some incentive to place children near their homes. But there are no absolute guarantees. Theoretically the district could close any particular school(s) and reallocate the students to other schools (or to a new school) in other areas.

There aren't absolute guarantees when paying for private school either, so I'm not describing a unique phenomenon.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Generally your realtor will be able to tell you which school district a property is in as it is a big selling point for purchasers and renters. Always check with the school district prior to signing a contract.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

As another idea, if this issue really concerns you, is to try negotiating an "adequate schooling" clause in your employment agreement. Here's some sample text (off the top of my head):

_Adequate Public Schooling

"Adequate Public School" is defined as the existence of at least one public school: (1) ranked in the top half statewide in the most recent state assessment of student body academic achievement, (2) located within a 10 mile drive (15 miles for Grade 6 and above) of the Employee's ordinary residence, and (3) offering admission to the Employee's Co-Resident Child at assessed grade level (Kindergarten through the 12th Grade, plus the "Pre-K" year before Kindergarten). The Company will pay tuition and compulsory minimum school fees at a private or parochial school of the Employee's choice up to a maximum of $15,000 (2014 dollars, CPI-U inflation-adjusted annually) per year per Co-Resident Child that does not have access to an Adequate Public School. The Employee will be responsible for all other school-related expenses and tax liabilities arising from the Company's payment of these school expenses if applicable.

"Co-Resident Child" means a biological or legally adopted child of the Employee ordinarily resident with the Employee at the Employee's ordinary residence._


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

You're likely to be looking at housing outside the San Diego city limits, but for the city itself, take a look at this: School Finder :: San Diego Unified

There's also this little quote that you may find reassuring:



> All students are required to attend the school serving the attendance area in which they reside, unless special arrangements have been made through the Neighborhood Schools and Enrollment Options Office.


I don't think you'll have any problem with school "admissions" - just let the real estate people guide you about what school district any particular property is in.
Cheers,
Bev


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## christiansturt (Jun 29, 2014)

BBCWatcher said:


> As another idea, if this issue really concerns you, is to try negotiating an "adequate schooling" clause in your employment agreement. Here's some sample text (off the top of my head):
> 
> _Adequate Public Schooling
> 
> ...



I am not sure whether they will negotiate on my contract, but I shall definitely try. As I initiated the request to transfer, rather than them sending me, I probably don't have as much negotiation power as I would. If they don't like it they can just ask me to stay in the UK. I was already considering asking them for a clause to pay for my relocation back to the UK if they terminate my contract in the first 18 months.


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## Suepp (Aug 11, 2021)

Hi! And is it possible to approve the year normally even though the kid started in the middle?



Bevdeforges said:


> Some school districts have an application process for middle school and high school, but in general if you move in mid-year with kids of primary school age, you simply enroll in the school district and the kids go to the school according to where you live.
> 
> Not all school districts have kindergarten or pre-school, however, so your younger child may have to wait a year or two.
> Cheers,
> Bev


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

As far as I know there isn't really a process to formally "approve" a school year. Add to that how things have had to be changed due to the pandemic situation. You may want to start a new thread to ask your questions. This thread is really pretty old and may be well out of date by now.


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