South Dakota Open Enrollment

South Dakota’s open enrollment options law lets any K-12 student apply to a public school district other than their own. The receiving board must grant the request unless doing so would leave the district unable to provide a quality educational program under capacity standards it has adopted.

Program Type: Inter-district open enrollment, mandatory with a capacity exception

Tuition: $0 – Completely FREE

Authorization: SDCL sections 13-28-40 through 13-28-48

Who Can Apply:

• Any South Dakota K-12 student, to any district that serves their grade level
• Districts must also admit nonresident children excused from their resident district, or in alternative instruction
• Siblings get priority, and if a denial would split siblings between districts, neither board may deny
• No income test and no lottery in statute. Applications are reviewed in the order received

How a District May Say No: Capacity is the only permitted ground, weighed on program, class, grade and building capacity and pupil-teacher ratio. Districts may not discriminate on race, gender, religious affiliation, or disability. Denials go to circuit court, which hears the case fresh.

How to Apply:

1. Get the state Open Enrollment Form from the Department of Education or a district office
2. Submit it to the district you want, not your home district
3. The receiving board decides and notifies you and your resident board within 5 days
4. Approval carries forward, so you never reapply. To move back home after a school year, notify both boards by August 1

Application Timing: A transfer takes effect only before the last Friday in September for first semester, or the last Friday in January for second. Later approvals start at second semester or the following year. Deadlines do not apply if the student is moving to an alternative school or specialized nonpublic program, enrolling late, or the board finds special circumstances.

Transportation: The parent is responsible, without reimbursement. A receiving district may pick your child up inside your resident district if both boards approve the locations each year, and may charge a fee. That provision excludes sparse districts.

Special Education: A separate process applies: records review, discussion with you, and an IEP team meeting if needed. The receiving district then becomes responsible for a free appropriate public education, including transportation as a related service within its boundaries. It may deny the transfer if the IEP team finds it cannot provide an appropriate program.

Program Scale: 9,116 cross-district transfers in 2023-24, about 7% of traditional public school enrollment. Roughly 12% of those students had disabilities and 4% were virtual.

Important Notes:

• Credits transfer, but a diploma requires meeting the district’s graduation requirements
• You cannot enroll into a district that does not serve your grade level
• Homeschooling families may open enroll while continuing alternative instruction, but must update their state notification within 30 days
• Moving between schools inside your district is a separate process
• It cannot be combined with a Partners in Education scholarship

Where to Start:

• SD Department of Education: Open Enrollment
• Open Enrollment Form