Open Enrollment
2024-2025 School Year
Parents may apply between February 5 - April 30, 2024 at 4:00 p.m., for open enrollment for the 2024-25 school year.
Parents are strongly encouraged to apply online during the open enrollment period at http://dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment.
What is Open Enrollment?
Wisconsin’s open enrollment program allows parents to apply for their children to attend school districts other than the one in which they live.
Who may participate?
Students in 5-year-old kindergarten to Grade 12 may apply to participate in open enrollment. Children entering 4-year-old kindergarten, Head Start or early childhood education may participate if the child’s resident school district offers the same type of program.
Can nonresidents pick the school they wish to attend?
Each year, the Whitewater Unified School District has a limited number of openings. Nonresident applicants are asked to indicate their top three school choices. A nonresident application does not guarantee admission in the school requested or in any district school. All applications are thoroughly reviewed and decisions are communicated by June each year.
Alternative Open Enrollment Application
There are several circumstances under which parents may submit an alternative open enrollment application for their child to apply for open enrollment outside the regular application period. Information regarding the alternative application procedure may be found at https://dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment/applications/alternative. The Alternative Open Enrollment Application Form PI-9421 must be submitted to the school district the student wishes to attend.
May a student who moves out of the Whitewater Unified School District during the school year continue attending WUSD?
Under certain circumstances, state law permits a student to attend school in a school district even after he/she moves out of the school district. In order for a student to continue attending school in Whitewater for the remainder of a school year already begun, parents must submit a Tuition Waiver Form PI-9419-B to the Whitewater Unified School District either shortly before or as soon as possible after the move. Tuition waivers are for only one year – in order for a student to attend the district after that, parents must apply for open enrollment the very next February after the move or complete an alternative application.
Who determines if a nonresident request or an in-district transfer request is granted or not?
Enrollment decisions are made by the school principals in collaboration with the Superintendent. Together they determine the number of students admitted to a school or program, using established guidelines of residency, space available, siblings, special needs, daycare, or other compelling educational reasons. Each request is judged on merit. The placements are unique and non-precedent setting.
Whom should I contact for more information?
Visit the Department of Public Instruction’s open enrollment website at http://dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment.
Call Jaclyn Tueting, WUSD Open Enrollment Coordinator, at 262-472-8702.
Apply online, or stop in at the Central Office at 419 South Elizabeth Street to pick up or submit paperwork.