DATE:
November 10, 2025
TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary Registrars
Secondary Attendance Secretaries
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Scott Festin, Planning Consultant
SUBJECT:
School Choice Permit Allocations and Procedures
The open enrollment permit window opens on Saturday, November 15, 2025. Permit seat totals can be found on each school’s Enrollment Dashboard in Google Drive. Open the “2026-27” tab and scroll down to the permit section.
ACTION REQUIRED: Principals should review the individuals listed on their school’s dashboard in the “Permit” section and ensure that permissions are marked appropriately. Planning & Enrollment will defer to the permissions marked for various staff members when requests for additional seats are made. Please ensure that staff information is updated by December 5, 2025.
Schools should verify all outstanding applications prior to leaving for Winter Recess and verify any applications received during Winter Recess as soon as possible in the morning on Monday, January 5, 2026, so that the lottery can be run that afternoon. Once the lottery has been run, schools may immediately begin offering seats (if available). Seats not accepted within two weeks should be revoked (after attempting communication with the parent) and reoffered to the next student in line on the waitlist. At least weekly, schools should verify applications in the 2026-27 school year workspace and prepare them to be processed and moved to the waitlist. Schools should regularly continue to verify applications in the 2025-26 school year workspace and prepare them to be processed and moved to the waitlist.
During the early enrollment window (November 15, 2025 through February 6, 2026), the availability of permit seats is governed by BUILDING CAPACITY. Schools that are the most full will have the least available seats. Adding seats is governed by rules of the tier system established by the Board of Education and, in all instances, requires conversation with your Administrator of Schools. In the late enrollment window (after February 6 and 2026-27 FTE allocations are released), schools may request additional seats from their Administrator of Schools. Available seats in this window are determined by the availability of space and by grade in the teacher allocation based on current enrollment figures.
One final reminder: the early enrollment window (November 15, 2025 through February 6, 2026) requires schools to seat students if permit seats are available. Schools MUST follow the waitlist order when offering seats. It is inappropriate for a school to modify the waitlist order so that students who listed the school as a “first choice” are placed before others, regardless of their lottery priority. Schools who follow this practice may lose the ability to seat permit applications themselves. School administrators with concerns over this guideline may contact their Administrator of Schools.
