MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Schools’ General Choice Transfer process is officially underway Tuesday. This year, there is a slight change parents should be aware of.
This year, parents will get all status updates regarding the process from the district via email, not through the mail. The district asks that parents have a working email address.
Still, the reason behind General Choice Transfer remains the same.
Some parents, like Omar Padilla, came to SCS’ Parent Welcome Center for help with the process Tuesday.
They go through the process so they can send their child to another school within the district, if there is room.
“We know that sometimes circumstances dictate that you live where you live and that may be where you want your child to attend school, so we don’t want parents to have to be locked into that necessarily,” said Jeremy Yow, the SCS attendance and discipline official.
Padilla’s son will be in kindergarten next school year. He is zoned for a school in Southeast Memphis, but he wants his son to attend a different neighborhood school.
Yow said this process also gives options to families zoned for state-run Achievement School District schools if parents want their kids to stay in SCS.
He expects to see a similar number of applications to previous years, more than 7,000.
This process is first come, first serve.
WREG learned that in just the first hour and a half, the district got about 1,000 applications.
Applications received before March 25 will get status updates before the end of the current year.
Remember, General Choice Transfer is different than Optional Schools. Optional Schools applications are for specialized programs; General Choice is for parents wanting to enroll their students in another school that might better fit their needs.
If students receive the transfer, it is up to the parents to transport their children.