Education compact smooths enrollment

  • Published
  • By Carl Grusnick
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base --  Military moving season is upon us, with all the details demanding a relocating family's attention. In years past, registering for school was often problematic for students arriving from another state, but new policies are now in place to smooth the process.
The American Association of School Administrators says the mobile military lifestyle presents challenges for dependent children, who can average six to nine different schools systems during their kindergarten to 12th grade education. For students transitioning to new locations with the inherent social and academic adaptation challenges, and parents who often have to negotiate differing state rules and requirements, "PCS moves can be a time of great family stress," said Beth Mann, Kirtland Air Force Base School Liaison.
Parents and student s now have help to aid the transition. Last year, New Mexico joined the Interstate Compact on Education Opportunity for Military Children. The compact, signed by more than half of U.S. states, is designed to replace the varying and sometimes inconsistent, treatment of transitioning military children to a new school system.
The compact brings a comprehensive approach to providing a uniform policy in school districts in all signatory states.
As school liaison for Kirtland AFB, Ms. Mann knows firsthand the challenges facing a school-age military dependent. The daughter of a career Air Force officer, Ms. Mann moved 13 times, attending four different high schools.
"With the varying requirements, particularly with an out-of-state move, students and their anxious parents had to seek ad hoc remedies from local school administrators," she said.
In some cases, this meant summer school for new students trying to align their academic record with local requirements. The education compact levels the playing field for military children removing the frustration from enrolling in a new school, said Ms. Mann.
Receiving schools will accept unofficial student records for registration, pending receipt of official records. Students who need immunizations have 30 days to meet local requirements.
Another sticking point that affects young students is the starting age for kindergarten and first grade. States vary on the age cutoff for acceptance. Under the compact, students accepted in the former school will automatically be accepted in the receiving school.
"The compact significantly aids the registration process to ensure we get the student into the classroom quickly and avoid lapses in instruction," said Ms. Mann.
Other areas such as special needs, which can range from advanced prep instruction and gifted programs to developmentally disadvantaged curriculum, have been addressed. Students enrolled in those areas in the former schools will be admitted in the new school. The new school will perform an evaluation to ensure the student is appropriately placed, based on local requirement and applicable state law.
Ms. Mann said the compact isn't just about the classroom. After-school activities are addressed. "Extracurricular activities, like sports, music and others are memorable aspects of the school years," said Ms. Mann. States agree to be creative in providing new students with the opportunity to qualify for acceptance to activities, by making reasonable accommodations for military dependent students.
Additional compact language addresses student transfers in the senior year to ensure they can graduate on time.
"In my career in the classroom and as a curriculum director at the Gibson Childcare Center on Kirtland, I have found that military children bring academic success and life experience to the classroom that is very enriching," said Ms. Mann.
With frequent deployments and time spent away from parents, challenges faced by military students are also addressed by the compact.
Signatory states pledge to allow students more time off surrounding deployment periods. Also, students may be allowed to attend schools outside their geographical area to keep them in their same school while residing with outside family or other caregivers while parents are away.
"The compact strives to accommodate deployments and changed family dynamics by removing educational disruptions from the equation," said Ms. Mann.
This new agreement has significantly helped her in consulting with Albuquerque Public Schools, which most of Kirtland's school-age children attend.
"Kirtland has always had a great relationship with Albuquerque Public Schools. The compact has allowed us to formalize many items vital to educating our military children," said Ms. Mann.
For more information on the Educational Compact, visit www.AASA.org or email the Kirtland AFB School Liaison at Beth.Mann@Kirtland.af.mil