Confirm
Oakland Unified School District
Enrollment Options Guide 2015-16
Receiving a Student
Assignment Letter
Notifying a School of your
Decision to Attend
Parents and guardians who submitted an application during
the Options Enrollment period (December 8, 2014 through
January 16, 2015) will receive a Student Assignment Letter
during the first week of March. The purpose of the Student
Assignment Letter is to notify the family of the student’s
new school assignment. The letter provides significant
information that must be carefully reviewed. In addition to
the student’s school assignment, it also contains information
on how and when to confirm your child’s intention to
attend the school. Families must keep this letter in their
possession as documentation of their child’s new assignment.
The letter must be presented to the school at the time of
confirmation and enrollment. It is vital that you keep your
Student Assignment Letter because it will be the one and only
confirmation from OUSD of your child’s school assignment.
The confirmation process is vitally important in ensuring
that every child has an opportunity to attend the school of
their choice. Once the parent receives a Student Assignment
Letter they will make a decision with their child as to whether
they would like to attend the assigned school. Parents are
encouraged to act promptly upon their decision by taking one
of three steps:
Be sure to review the following information as soon as you
receive the Student Assignment Letter.
SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT
OUSD aims to provide a chance for all students to receive one
of their selected schools through the lottery process. Students
are placed in schools based on a lottery that takes into
account the priorities established for OUSD to enroll students.
See page 123 for Placement Priorities. Some students may
not get their first choice because there are more requests
than openings. When this occurs you may, receive one of your
other choices, or if all your choices are full, be assigned to a
school close to your home with available seats.
Parents are encouraged to keep copies of all forms submitted.
By doing this, they can confirm whether their child did receive
one of the schools of their choice.
CONFIRMATION OF ATTENDANCE
Parents must notify their new school of their intent for their
child to attend. This must be completed by the date that is
designated in the letter. It is imperative to check the letter
for the confirmation due date. Confirming your intent for
your child to attend the school by that date is the only way
to ensure that your child has a seat on the first day of school.
Parents that do not contact the school by the designated date
in the letter may lose their child’s spot at the school.
Confirmation of Attendance is a vital step that is often
overlooked by parents. The result is that families report to the
assigned school in the fall and find that they no longer have
a spot at that school. When this occurs, parents are forced to
re-register at the Student Assignment Center in August. By
this time, many schools are already closed and the parent may
be assigned at another nearby school with space.
122
DECISION TO ATTEND
If the parents’ decision is for their child to attend the assigned
school they must notify the school prior to the designated
date indicated in the letter. Notification involves presenting
the letter of assignment to the school that has been assigned
and speaking to a school official who will record your decision.
Schools will have received a list from the Student Assignment
Center providing them with the names of the students who
have been assigned to the school and need to confirm their
intent to attend the school, however, you must still bring
your assignment letter to the school. If the designated date
passes and the school has not heard from the parent, they will
consider the child’s seat vacant.
DECISIONS TO ATTEND A NON-OUSD SCHOOL — If the
parents’ determine to have their child attend a school other
than one in OUSD (such as a charter or private school), they
are asked to notify the OUSD assigned school immediately,
or calling the Student Assignment Center. By doing so, the
school will know that the seat is vacant and be able to advise
the Student Assignment Center to offer the seat to another
student. Once the parent informs the school of their decision,
their child will no longer be considered a student of that
school. If the parents, at a later date, determine that their
child should attend an OUSD school, they will have to go to
the Student Assignment Center at 746 Grand Avenue prior
to the first day of school to apply again and receive another
assignment.
DECISION TO APPEAL – If the parent would like to have their
child attend a different OUSD school than the one assigned,
they have a right to appeal. The appeal process is described
in detail on page 145. Parents will be notified of a window
or deadline to appeal by on their letter of assignment. Those
families who wish to initiate an appeal need to do so in person
at the Student Assignment Center at 746 Grand Avenue. If
a parent is appealing their child’s placement the