Nevada pupils can apply to attend public schools outside assigned areas

Pupils may apply to attend a public school outside their assigned area if the school has room in their grade and approves the application. The option covers pupils seeking a public school outside the area they are assigned to attend. District policies must keep public schools open to applicants, except magnet schools, career and technical academies, and dual enrollment high schools, subject to capacity. Districts may not charge tuition or fees or consider a pupil's address, disability, English learner status, academic or extracurricular ability, or most disciplinary history. They may deny an application if the pupil was suspended for 10 or more days or expelled in the application year or the prior school year. If applications exceed capacity, districts must give priority to pupils assigned to schools with one of the state's two lowest performance ratings in the prior school year. These provisions took effect for all purposes on July 1, 2026.

School districts must set application rules, publish school capacity and vacancies, and let parents or guardians appeal a denial or no decision to the district superintendent. Each school district must adopt the rules. A pupil's parent or legal guardian may appeal if an application is denied or the district takes no action. Districts must set application dates and deadlines and use a consistent, public method to calculate capacity. If a district reduces capacity while applications are open, it must publish an explanation at least 15 days before application decisions are due. The superintendent's appeal decision is final. Districts and the Superintendent of Public Instruction must publish grade-level vacancy counts by the first day of each calendar quarter. Districts must publish school capacity at least 90 days before applications open.

The Department of Education must establish transportation grants if money is available, and districts that provide bus service may choose not to transport pupils attending outside their assigned area. Grants may go to organizations or a pupil's parent or legal guardian to provide transportation to an eligible pupil attending a public school outside their assigned area. Regulations must set grant application rules and pupil eligibility. Eligible pupils must live in an area assigned to a school with one of the state's two lowest performance ratings in the prior school year, attend a district that has chosen not to transport transfer pupils, and have no other viable transportation. Grant money may be used only to transport eligible pupils to and from a public school. A pupil using grant-funded transportation must notify the Department if they transfer to another school. The grant program and related transportation provisions took effect for all purposes on July 1, 2026.