The Bismarck School Board refined a policy regarding registered sex offenders on school property.

Registered sex offenders can only be on school property to vote or attend a public meeting, which is allowed by law, unless they are a parent or student. The board approved the policy on first reading at its meeting Monday in the Tom Baker Meeting Room of the City and County Building.

The policy goes a step further and allows nonparent sexual offenders to ask the superintendent for permission to be on school property and for sex offenders who are students of other educational institutions to seek written permission from the superintendent to attend classes on district property. This would cover the district's classes at the technical center at Bismarck State College, Superintendent Paul Johnson said.

"We would deal with it on a case-by-case basis," he said. "We're comfortable with it."

Parents who are registered sex offenders need permission from the superintendent to attend conferences and individual education plan meetings. The parent must also give 72 hours notice before attending an event. The board modeled the policy on the one recently adopted by the Mandan Public School District.

The policy specifies parents should drop their children off in a public right of way. This keeps them from dropping students off on school grounds.

Students who are registered sex offenders would need permission from the superintendent about what school to attend, unless the student has a disability. If the student is disabled, they also need to meet with members of the individual education plan team, which is comprised of teachers, administrators and parents.

The board also considered changes to an open-enrollment policy Monday, but instead of taking a final vote on the policy, the board decided to table its decision until the next meeting. The cause: foster care.

Kevin Miller, of Burleigh and Morton County Social Services, talked to the board about problems he foresees with closing enrollment. If the policy changes, about five to 10 children of the 100 children in foster care could be affected. When they are placed in a foster home, which could be from a day to more than a year, the child could be in a home in a different school district, he said.

"It is a pretty traumatic experience." Miller said. "Kids under our care should be exempt from the open enrollment policy so we can work out a transition that allows them to continue to attend their school."

The district already has an agreement with the Mandan School District regarding special education service placement that requires special education students to be placed in the school district where the student resides, Johnson said.

There are more foster homes in Bismarck than Mandan, Miller said. Transportation is not always available for students to be transported to their original school district, if they are moved to a new school district, he said.

School board members want to know if there is another way to handle foster care placement, such as a tuition agreement where the residing school district pays tuition to the receiving school district, before it finishes approving the changes to the open enrollment policy.

The Bismarck School Board on first reading has voted to change its open enrollment policy for out-of-district-students starting April 1, 2008. The policy after April 1 would not allow open enrollment, with one exception: Siblings of currently open-enrolled students could open enroll in the district. Students who are already open enrolled in the district are enrolled in the district until they graduate or enroll in another district.

A second approval is needed before the policy can take effect.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)