A. Except as provided in subsections B, C, D, E, F, G and H of this section, children of nonresidents of this state may be admitted on payment of a reasonable tuition fixed by the governing board.

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 15-823

  • Charter school: means a public school established by contract with the state board of education, the state board for charter schools, a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents, a community college district or a group of community college districts pursuant to article 8 of this chapter to provide learning that will improve pupil achievement. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • enrollment: means that a pupil is currently registered in the school district. See Arizona Laws 15-901
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Governing board: means a body organized for the government and management of the schools within a school district or a county school superintendent in the conduct of an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Parent: means the natural or adoptive parent of a child or a person who has custody of a child. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association or public or private organization of any kind. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • School district: means a political subdivision of this state with geographic boundaries organized for the purpose of the administration, support and maintenance of the public schools or an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • Student count: means average daily membership as prescribed in this subsection for the fiscal year before the current year, except that for the purpose of budget preparation student count means average daily membership as prescribed in this subsection for the current year. See Arizona Laws 15-901
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215

B. The governing board shall admit children of nonresident teaching and research faculty of community college districts and state universities and children of nonresident graduate or undergraduate students of community college districts and state universities whose parent‘s presence at the district or university is of international, national, state or local benefit without payment of tuition.

C. The governing board shall admit children who are residents of the United States but who are nonresidents of this state without payment of tuition if evidence indicates that the child’s physical, mental, moral or emotional health is best served by placement with a grandparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, aunt or uncle who is a resident within the school district, unless the governing board determines that the placement is solely for the purpose of obtaining an education in this state without payment of tuition.

D. The governing board may admit nonresident foreign students who are in exchange programs without payment of tuition or as it may otherwise prescribe.

E. Notwithstanding subsection D of this section, beginning in the 2016-2017 school year the governing board may admit the same number of nonresident foreign students who are in exchange programs and who are recipients of a J-1 visa pursuant to federal law, that is equal to the number of resident students enrolled in that local education agency who are currently participating in a foreign exchange program, as determined by the department, without the payment of tuition.

F. The governing board may admit children who are residents of the United States without payment of tuition if evidence indicates that because the parents are homeless or the child is abandoned, as defined in section 8-201, the child’s physical, mental, moral or emotional health is best served by placement with a person who does not have legal custody of the child and who is a resident within the school district, unless the governing board determines that the placement is solely for the purpose of obtaining an education in this state without payment of tuition.

G. The governing board may admit children who are residents of the United States, but who are nonresidents of this state, without payment of tuition if all of the following conditions exist:

1. The child is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe.

2. The child resides on Indian lands that are under the jurisdiction of the tribe of which the child is a member.

3. The area in the boundaries of the reservation where the child resides is located both in this state and in another state of the United States.

4. The governing board enters into an intergovernmental agreement with the governing board of the school district in another state in which the nonresident child resides. The intergovernmental agreement shall specify the number of nonresident children admitted in this state and the number of resident children that are admitted by the governing board in another state.

H. The governing board may admit children who are residents of the United States, but who are nonresidents of this state, without payment of tuition if all of the following conditions exist:

1. The child is enrolled in a year-round residential boarding academy located in this state specializing in intensive instruction and skill development in sports, music or acting.

2. The child’s parents have executed a current notarized guardianship agreement covering the child while enrolled at the academy, which is a condition of enrollment at the academy and authorizes academy representatives to act on behalf of the child’s parent or legal guardian in making all decisions on a daily basis as to the child’s activities and needs for medical, educational and other personal issues.

I. The governing board shall charge reasonable tuition for the number of nonresident pupils who reside in another state and who are admitted by a governing board in this state pursuant to subsection G of this section that exceeds the number of resident pupils from this state who are admitted into a school district by the other state.

J. The governing board of a school district shall pay reasonable tuition for the number of resident pupils who reside in that school district and who are admitted by a school district in another state pursuant to subsection G of this section that exceeds the number of nonresident pupils from that other state who are admitted by the governing board into that school district in this state.

K. Children admitted under this section shall be counted or not counted as resident pupils as prescribed in section 15-824, subsection D.

L. Except as provided in subsections E, H and K of this section, a school district or a charter school shall not include pupils who are not residents of this state in the district’s or charter school’s student count and shall not obtain state funding for those pupils.