Schools and districts can take proactive steps to minimize cultural and linguistic barriers faced by English learners during the school enrollment process. The following information and resources emphasize the importance of engaging families and providing accessible enrollment processes while ensuring compliance with federal laws.  

Accessibility, Communication, and Family Engagement

Federal law requires schools to communicate with parents and families in a language they can understand. Schools and districts can fulfill this need by taking proactive steps during the registration process, such as ensuring written registration procedures are available in multiple languages or having bilingual staff and/or interpretation services available at enrollment. All schools should maintain a list of interpreters who can provide spoken language support to assist families with limited English proficiency during the registration process. Additional guidance for working with interpreters is available here.  

Ohio’s language usage survey, offered at the time of enrollment, fosters parent engagement and helps schools meet federal requirements to identify English learners within 30 days. Schools can integrate this survey into enrollment processes. 

School districts with effective family engagement practices take proactive steps to inform families of their educational rights and responsibilities. Visit the Department’s Family and Community Engagement webpage for more information and resources. 

Flexibility and Support for Vulnerable Students  

Schools and districts may not delay or prevent students who are experiencing homelessness or English learner national origin minority students from accessing education services due to difficulties in providing proof of residency. The McKinney-Vento Act allows students in temporary living situations to immediately enroll in schools in the districts where they are temporarily living, even if they lack the typically required documents (including a birth certificate or driver’s license). Access the Department’s Students Experiencing Homelessness webpage for more information.   

Schools can provide families with options to show evidence of residency, including:  

• Telephone or utility bills,
• Mortgage or lease documents,
• Parent affidavits, 
• Rent payment receipts, 
• Copies of money orders made for payment of rent, or 
• Letters from a parent’s employer written on company letterhead.  

Additionally, students may arrive at school without the assistance of a legal guardian. For more information about supporting these students during enrollment, access Information on the Rights of Unaccompanied Children to Enroll in School or the Department’s Unaccompanied Youth FAQ webpage. 

Resources

• U.S. Department of Education toolkits
• ​​​U.S. Department of Education: Communicating with Families with Limited English Proficiency
• Ohio Department of Education and Workforce: Identification, Reclassification, and Monitoring                                                                                                                                                                   
• Ohio Department of Education and Workforce: Student and Family Supports for English Learners