Military families with school-aged children will be happy to hear of this development: School districts across the country are pledging to make the educational transition less burdensome for military children transferring to new schools.
It’s called the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. According to Brenda Kovach, School Liaison Officer for Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, the legislation’s intent is to lessen the impact of military moves on children’s educational experiences. So far, 39 states have signed onto the compact.
“A key provision of this compact requires schools to ship their records within 10 days,” said Kovach. She noted that in the past, that had been an issue for families, with some students barred from participating in honors courses until their qualifications could be verified. This process sometimes stretched into weeks or even months.
“Extra-curricular activities such as band and sports are addressed as well,” said Kovach. “Say a student is transferring mid-semester, after try-outs have already come and gone at the receiving school. Schools in the compact agree to either waive these deadlines, or find an alternate way to qualify, such as by accepting submissions of taped auditions.”
Kovach acknowledged that schools still have some leeway and flexibility in meeting the compact’s provisions. For example, some districts in other states have magnet schools, which do not exist in Washington state.
“The schools are not required to create something that doesn’t exist,” explained Kovach. “What they are agreeing to provide is an opportunity and a chance for students to participate and compete.”
Kovach said that other provisions of the compact address immunizations, kindergarten/first grade entrance age, and graduation. One important stipulation regarding graduation says that graduation requirements from sending states, such as exit or end-of-course exam results, or national norm-referenced achievement tests, will be accepted by the receiving school district.
The state of Washington signed onto the compact in 2009, said Kovach. In fact, Oak Harbor School District Superintendent Dr. Rick Schulte served on a legislative commission during the 2009-2010 school year that studied the legislation in the proposed interstate compact.
Schulte said there were at least four districts statewide, including Oak Harbor, that had high concentrations of military students in the public schools.
“These are districts that have had years of experience in dealing with the provisions that make up the interstate compact,” said Schulte. “We took a close look at existing Washington regulations on education in light of the needs of the transferring military families.”
Schulte said he believes other schools with fewer military students may actually be impacted more by the compact, because those with high numbers of military are already sensitive to the records transfer issue, for example.
Kovach said if anyone has questions about how the compact will affect them, can call her at 257-6863. A Navy wife and mom for 20 years, who raised three sons and also worked as a substitute teacher for a time, she is well acquainted with all sides of the issue.
“I’m here to serve military families,” said Kovach.
