District Open Enrollment

Did you know that in many parts of Ohio, students can attend a school district other than the district where they live? This option is tuition-free and referred to as open enrollment.

Last year, more than 90,000 students participated in open enrollment.

Districts can decline to participate in open enrollment. Typically, about 100 districts, primarily districts serving suburban communities, decline to participate in open enrollment.

Districts that do participate must address the following issues in their open enrollment policies:

• Whether the district will accept students from only adjacent districts or all other districts.
• Procedures for application and notification of students. The policy should also include all deadlines.
• Any district capacity limits by grade level, school building, and education program.
• Procedures to ensure that an appropriate racial balance is maintained in the district schools.

If you are interested in open enrollment for your child, it’s important to get started early. We recommend that if you are interested in a specific district, that you contact the district early in 2021 and ask if they participate in open enrollment. If they do participate, request application materials.

For the current school year more than 500 districts accepted students through open enrollment. The full list of participating districts for the 2020-21 school year is available here:

http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Ohio-Education-Options/Open-Enrollment