Moving from one school to another can be very upsetting for children. The law is designed to increase school stability for students by maintaining students in the school of origin. The school of origin is the school the child attended when he or she was permanently housed or the school in which the child was last enrolled. When deciding if the child should stay in the school of origin, consider the following questions:
- How permanent is the current living situation? Will the child be moving back close to the school of origin or will the child stay near the current address?
- Is the child attached to his or her school of origin? An older child who feels very connected to the school of origin and is going to graduate soon may have a harder time changing schools.
- How anxious is the child due to the move?
- Would changing schools be overwhelming? Would changing schools cause the child to fall behind in school and result in poor grades?
- How much time would the child spend commuting to the school of origin?
- Does the student have special needs that impact school placement or bear consideration for transportation?
