The district already requires transfer students have a 2.0 grade point average and no recent expulsions. The transfer also cannot create a high student-teacher ratio or cause a student to enroll after the September student count date, which sets state funding levels for the year.

Fields said he doesn’t expect the district to change its policy.

“We’re still going to get these funds off the cash tuition students,” he said. “Except now they won’t be paying. It will all be paid by the state.”

Other districts will be reviewing policies in the coming days.

The board of Alexandria Community Schools is set to consider a revised transfer student policy at a meeting tonight. Anderson Community Schools is slated to do the same at a board meeting Tuesday.

In Anderson schools, the proposed policy will require transfers be made before the count date, Superintendent Mikella Lowe said.

Like other districts, ACS’s policy is based on sample wording from the Indiana School Boards Association. Along with the deadline, it would require the student be in good academic standing and have a clean discipline record, Lowe said.

It would also give the district discretion in determining if the school can comfortably accommodate the student, she said, and continue to prohibit transfers for athletic purposes.

Willey said he does not expect Alexandria schools to see a major influx of new students, but a stronger policy will help the district keep staffing in line with needs.

Along with a policy already in place that requires a transfer student be in good academic standing, have a strong attendance record and no major disciplinary blemishes, Willey wants to add a May 1 deadline to transfer requests.

And while Willey acknowledged that his district will likely not see a large shift, it’s better to be cautious.

“We don’t know what to anticipate at this point,” he said. “We just want to position ourselves in a way so we can accommodate our current students and deliver services in the way we should to all of them.”

If you go...

• Alexandria Community Schools board of trustees