Pre-enrolment

The Act distinguishes between pre-enrolment and enrolment.  (See Section 11O(2).)

“Pre-enrolment” refers to the process of applying for entry to the school.  “Enrolment”, on the other hand, occurs when  attendance at the school commences and the student is first marked as present on the school roll.

Out of zone students

Section 11C(1)(b) states that an enrolment scheme must set out pre-enrolment procedures for selecting applicants who live outside the home zone.  The matter of deadlines for receipt of applications is covered in the Secretary’s instructions, attached separately.  Boards would be wise, however, not to include specific dates in their schemes because, as required by Section 11M(4), they would need to go through the consultation process set out in Section 11H(3) if at a later time they wanted to simply change the date by which pre-enrolment applications must be received.  The pro forma enrolment scheme, attached as Appendix 1 (pages 26-27), includes a general reference to pre-enrolment procedures which boards might find useful.

Boards may wish to state that proof of a sibling relationship will be required and specify the type of proof necessary.

When an out of zone application is received, the board is required under Section 11N(2) to provide the applicant with certain basic information about the balloting process.  Attached as part of Appendix 2 is a statement which boards might find helpful in communicating with parents.  (Page 39)

In-zone students

A board cannot demand that applications for enrolment from in-zone students be made by a certain date, because the legislation gives an absolute right of enrolment to any student who lives within the home zone.

Almost certainly, however, boards will wish to receive such applications  by the same date set for receipt of out of zone applications, because boards have to quantify the number of places likely to be available for out of zone students before proceeding to a ballot.  Therefore the board may include indicative dates for pre-enrolment of home zone students in the same notice as that giving information to out of zone applicants.

In their scheme, boards may wish to indicate that proof of residence may be required in support of an application for enrolment in respect of a student living within the home zone.

Declining applications

The legislation specifies that students living in the home zone have an absolute right to enrol at the school, and it sets out the criteria for the selection of out of zone students.  There are, however, a number of other situations which need to be considered.

A board might decide to decline an application because:

• it is an application which does not meet the criteria for acceptance in an approved special programme run by the school and provided for in the enrolment scheme;
• the application is made on the basis of living in the home zone but the board does not accept that the given address is the student’s usual place of residence;
• the application is made on the basis of a sibling relationship, but the board does not accept that the relationship is consistent with the interpretation provided in the legislation.

In each of these situations the board must write to the parents explaining why the application has been declined and informing the parents of the Secretary’s discretionary powers under Section 11P(2).

If an application is declined for one of these reasons, the principal should offer to place the student’s name in the general ballot for out of zone places.