Ban on Elementary School Transfers Lifted

Elementary school children in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are no longer tethered to their neighborhood schools, now that the school district has lifted its 2-year-old ban on transfers.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District enacted the moratorium on student transfers between elementary schools because of the booming population in those grades and the requirements of class-size reduction.

But parents complained they didn’t have enough flexibility regarding what school their children attended. Many were especially concerned that native English speakers enrolled in schools with a majority of students learning English as a second language lost out because of the time spent on remedial language studies.

“This has been so disheartening to see parents come before this board time and time again, and this gives us an opportunity to help those parents,” Trustee Serene Stokes said.

At its meeting Tuesday night, the school board unanimously approved lifting the moratorium.

Transfers will be made on a first-come, first-served basis. Schools can accept transfers in grades 1-3 if they have 17 or fewer students in each class. In kindergarten and grades 4-6, the limit is 27 students. Some spaces will be reserved for students who move into the district during the school year.

Transfer applications are available at schools and at district headquarters, 2985 Bear St., Costa Mesa. The transfer requests will be accepted only at district headquarters from 7:30 a.m. Tuesday to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 18.

Parents will be notified Sept. 21 if their requests have been granted. Children can enroll at their new schools starting Sept. 22.