- The 2020-2021 Discretionary Admission/Release process will begin on Feb 1, 2020.
- The application fee for DARs is $20 per student. Applications received after May 31 will be assessed a $30 late fee per application unless the verified reason for requesting a DAR has just occurred.
Applications are accepted annually February 1 through May 31 for the next school year.
**OUT OF COUNTY DAR applicants are subject to pay an Out-of-County Tuition fee.**
An application must be completed for each student, every year. This process is completed at the school level and involves approving signatures from both the releasing and receiving schools administrator.
*If you are being released from a Buncombe County School to attend Asheville City Schools or another school district you will have the releasing Buncombe County School sign releasing and an approval signature is not required.
Applications - please click on your preferred language to view or print the application below.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND REMINDERS
There is a $20 fee per student, with a maximum of $100 per household. Applications received after the May 31 due date will be assessed a $30 late fee per student, with a maximum of $150 per household. This also applies for parents who are employees of the school system. Policy 4130 is available on the district website, at each Buncombe County school, and in the Student Services office.
Complete
the Discretionary Admission/Release Application in its entirety. Incomplete applications will not be processed – they will
be returned to you for completion. Discretionary
admissions/releases will not be considered on the basis of a
disagreement with school staff regarding school decisions such as
grades, homework, discipline, retention, or class assignment.
Students who reside outside Buncombe County will be required to pay tuition.
Tuition must be paid upfront, in a lump sum, at the time the Discretionary Admission Release process is completed.
Discretionary
admission/release applications received in Student Services will be
submitted for approval at the next Board of Education meeting.
Applicants will be contacted within 10
business days of receipt of the application if there is any issue
impacting
approval. Notifications will only be made
if the application is denied by the Board. Confirmation letters of approvals
WILL NOT be mailed.
Release from another school, release from another district, or a
discretionary admission/release application approval in a prior year
does not automatically mean that the current application will be
approved.
NOTE: After initial entry to 9th grade, high school students with an approved discretionary admission/release forfeit, for one year, all athletic eligibility in any sport. Eligibility
is restored 365 days from Board of Education's approval of the
application. This is the statewide ruling of the North Carolina High
School Athletic Association. For more information, please refer to
their website: http://www.nchsaa.org/transfer-and-residency-requirements
NOTE: Court documents cannot designate that a student must be enrolled in a school in the middle of two parents' residences. The court system may not specify to a School Board where a student will be enrolled. As clearly stated in Policy 4120, Domicile or Residence Requirements
(excerpt below) students can only be enrolled in the district where a
parent or legal guardian lives, unless there are other criteria for a
discretionary admission/release:
"For the purposes of school enrollment, the law requires Buncombe County Schools to consider only the address of the student’s permanent domicile. The domicile refers to the permanent home of the parent/legal guardian with whom the child lives with the majority of the school year....Under no circumstances can a student have more than one domicile for the purposes of attendance."