The last day to submit an Out of Zone online application for the 2023-24 school year is Saturday, April 15.
If a student is approved to attend an out-of-zone school, the child’s family must provide transportation to and from school. All applications submitted after the April 15 deadline are denied for current students except those related to residential moves, program of study applications and WCS employee transfers.
A list of the district’s open-zoned schools and information about the application process was made available on Wednesday, January 18, after the Williamson County School Board approved the list at its regular January 17 meeting. The number of vacancies at each school was also posted.
Following the law passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2022, vacancies are not first-come, first-served. If the number of applicants exceeds the spots available at a school building, the district will conduct a lottery to select students. Families who applied for open-zoned schools will be notified the week of April 17 regarding their spot for the 2023-24 school year. The parent has to accept the seat in the out-of-zone portal before Skyward can be updated and the enrollment process at the out-of-zone school can begin.
At its meeting, the School Board also gave priority approval to a group of rising ninth graders. Those students must attend a Williamson County or Franklin Special School District middle school where less than 15 percent of its students are zoned to a different high school other than their classmates. Students in that small group may choose to attend the out-of-zone high school in the feeder pattern prior to any open-zone requests being granted and provided that the high school has the capacity and is eligible for open zoning.
This applies to Page Middle eighth graders who are zoned to Centennial High. They now have first priority for the 100 open seats at Page High. Eighth graders at Freedom Middle in the Franklin Special School District who are zoned to Franklin High will have first priority to Centennial High’s 219 seats.
Students currently approved to attend out-of-zone schools who are not changing buildings do not need to reapply. All rising sixth and ninth-grade students roll up to their zoned schools until the out-of-zone application is approved.
Grandfathering after a school rezoning is not automatic. All students affected by the rezoning are enrolled in the newly zoned school until the out-of-zone application is submitted and approved. Please note that out-of-zone students are not eligible for bus service.
For more information about school zones and open-zoned schools, visit the WCS School Zones page.
