New state law forces West Side to rethink student transfers

West Lafayette school board weighing options, including opening available slots to a lottery, after Statehouse closes door to passing along referendum cost to families of transfer students.

A new state law has the West Lafayette school board at a crossroads about how it handles transfer students looking to get into the district’s highly ranked classrooms – including a possible choice to open available enrollment space on a lottery basis to students who live outside the district boundaries in the future.

At play is a provision in Senate Bill 366, signed into law in May, that strips a school district’s ability to pass along the costs of a property tax referendum to families who live and pay taxes somewhere else.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)