The United States Department of Education and United States Department of Justice have updated guidance to state education agencies to assist public elementary and secondary institutions to ensure enrollment processes are consistent with federal law and provide all students with equal access to an education.

The updated documents urge local education agencies (LEA) to review the list of documents used to establish proof of residency, proof of age, use of social security numbers, and documentation of race and ethnicity to ensure that these do not bar or discourage a student who is undocumented or whose parents are undocumented from enrolling. Furthermore, LEAs are encouraged to review enrollment data for precipitous drops in enrollment of any group of students that may signal barriers to their participation.

A guidance letter, fact sheet, and a question and answer document designed to provide LEAs with additional tools and practical guidance can be accessed in English and Spanish at the links below. This updated guidance includes examples of permissible and impermissible practices in the areas of proof of residency, proof of age, use of social security numbers and documentation of race and ethnicity. 

The English guidance documents:

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201405.pdf

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/qa-201405.pdf

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-factsheet-201405.pdf

The Spanish guidance documents:

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201405-sp.pdf

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/qa-201405-sp.pdf

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-factsheet-201405-sp.pdf

For general information about equal access to public education, please visit the U.S. Department of Justice’s website at http://www.justice.gov/crt/edo and the U.S. Department of Education’s website at http://www2.ed.gov/ocr/index.html. 

For Pennsylvania-specific guidance related to enrollment of students in Pennsylvania public schools, please consult the Enrollment of Students Basic Education Circular (BEC) at http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/purdon’s_statutes/7503/enrollment_of_students/507350.

You may also contact the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section, at (877) 292-3804 or at education@usdoj.gov. As well as the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at (800) 421-3481 or at ocr@ed.gov or the Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel at (202) 401-6000.

You may also visit the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights at http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/CFAPPS/OCR/contactus.cfm, for the OCR enforcement office that serves your area.