North Dakota Open Enrollment for Schools: Options for Relative Caregivers

When a child living with a relative caregiver in North Dakota needs to attend a school outside the district where the caregiver lives — maybe the child's school of origin is across town, or a neighboring district has a program that fits the child's needs — open enrollment offers a legal pathway.

North Dakota's open enrollment system under N.D.C.C. Chapter 15.1-31 allows students to attend public schools outside their home district, subject to space availability and application deadlines. For kinship caregivers, the process overlaps with residency questions in ways that are worth understanding clearly.

How Open Enrollment Works

Under North Dakota law, a parent or guardian may apply to enroll a child in a public school district other than the student's district of residence. The receiving district sets acceptance standards based on program, grade, or building capacity. A school board may opt out of considering open-enrollment applications only if there is a lack of capacity in a program, grade level, or school.

Key points:

• State law generally requires applications by March 1 of the school year before enrollment and a decision by April 1. The law waives these dates for some students who move between districts.
• The receiving district does not charge tuition for approved open enrollment students — state funding follows the student
• The district of residence may provide transportation; if it does not, the admitting district may provide it. McKinney-Vento transportation rules apply separately to eligible students attending their school of origin.

Who Can Apply

The application must come from a parent or legal guardian. This is where kinship care creates a wrinkle. If you hold a Minor Power of Attorney under N.D.C.C. § 30.1-26-04 granting you educational authority, you can submit the application as the designated attorney-in-fact.

If you hold court guardianship, you have clear standing to apply.

Without either — as an informal caregiver with no legal documentation — your standing to file an open enrollment application is uncertain. Districts may require the biological parent to sign the request, which creates a problem when the parent is unavailable.

Open Enrollment vs. McKinney-Vento

These two pathways solve different problems and should not be confused:

Open enrollment is a voluntary choice to attend a school outside your home district. It requires an application, may have capacity limits, and generally does not provide transportation.

McKinney-Vento is a federal protection for children experiencing homelessness. If a child qualifies — including when they lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and share housing with others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason — the district must immediately enroll the student in the school selected under the federal law, including the school of origin when appropriate. This does not require an open-enrollment application.

If the child moved in with you from another district because of a family emergency, check McKinney-Vento eligibility before pursuing open enrollment. McKinney-Vento is faster, has no capacity cap, and includes transportation.

The Residency Question

Open enrollment applications require identifying the student's district of residence and the admitting district. Under N.D.C.C. § 54-01-26, the residence of an unmarried minor with a living parent is the supporting parent's residence, and a guardian cannot change the minor's residence.

Attorney General Opinion 91-07 also says a parent-issued POA alone does not establish school residency. An open-enrollment transfer distinguishes the student's district of residence from the admitting district; the caregiver's address does not automatically become the district of residence.

Practical Steps for Caregivers

1. Determine whether McKinney-Vento applies first — it bypasses the open enrollment process entirely
2. If open enrollment is the right path, contact the receiving district's enrollment office to get the application form and deadline
3. If you hold a POA or guardianship, include a copy with the application
4. If you need the biological parent to sign, coordinate early — open enrollment deadlines do not wait

Our North Dakota School and Medical Consent Guide covers school enrollment for kinship caregivers in detail, including the McKinney-Vento pathway, the enrollment documentation requirements, and the escalation process when a district pushes back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a child attend a school in the caregiver's district even if the parent lives in a different district?

Not automatically. For an unmarried minor with a living parent, N.D.C.C. § 54-01-26 sets the minor's residence at the supporting parent's residence, and a guardian cannot change it. A POA alone does not establish school residency. The district must determine the child's district of residence under applicable law.

What if the open enrollment application is denied?

The receiving district can deny an application under its capacity standards or if its board has opted out of open enrollment. If denied, the student may attend school in the student's district of residence. If you believe the denial was improper, contact the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction for guidance on appeal options.

Does open enrollment follow the child if the living situation changes?

Once enrolled in the admitting district, a student remains there until graduating, relocating, the parent applies to another district, or the parent notifies the district of residence that the student will return there the following year.

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