Residency FAQ
We have moved to a different address within HPISD. What do we need to do in order to change our address?
Please go to the front office of your child’s elementary school or to the counseling office at your child’s secondary school and provide office personnel with the following three required residency documents: the new deed or lease, an electric or water bill at the same address, and a driver’s license at the same address.
We’ve just moved and don’t yet have a water or electric bill or an updated driver’s license. What can we do in the meantime?
The district will accept certain temporary documents. For the water or electric bill, the campus will temporarily accept a copy of the request for service to begin in your name at that address. For the driver’s license, the campus will temporarily accept a printout of the change-of-address request from the Texas Dept. of Public Safety website. Each of these temporary documents must be replaced at the school with the required item within 30 days.
Our family is moving to another house in HPISD, but the home is in a different elementary attendance zone. Can my child continue attending the current elementary school?
When the move is within the school district, Board policy permits the student to continue at his/her school for the remainder of the school year during which the move occurs. Going forward, the parents will be required to annually apply and be approved for a voluntary transfer if they wish the student to remain at the same campus. Please contact the child’s current school office for information about the form, timelines, and unique provisions involved with a voluntary transfer request. [See also Board policy FDB.]
Our residency is based on a lease. What documentation must be provided to continue the student’s enrollment?
A copy of the updated/ renewed lease and an updated electric or water bill for the same address must be provided to school office personnel prior to its expiration date.
Our household situation has changed. One parent has moved outside the district, and one still resides in HPISD. How will that impact my children’s enrollment?
If the parents are separated, the child must live with the in-district parent to remain in the school district.
If the parents are divorced and the parent who resides in the district retains some level of conservatorship, the child may remain in school in the district. There is no restriction as to where the child must reside in this situation. [See FD(LEGAL).]
This is our last child in HPISD and we’re thinking of moving out of the district during his/her senior year. We’ve heard that a senior is only required to start the school year as a resident. When can we move without jeopardizing our senior graduating from HPHS?
Seniors who attended HPHS during the full previous school year and who move after the first nine weeks’ grading period of the senior year may complete the school year during which the move occurred. [See also Board policy FDA(LOCAL) and FDA(REGULATION).]
We’re thinking of moving out of the district and have students who are younger than seniors. How will our move impact them?
Any student who moves out of the district is permitted to complete the grading period during which the move occurred. This applies to all students in all grades - unless they qualify for the senior exception described in the question above. [See FDA(LOCAL).]
Does HPISD accept tuition for an out-of-district student to attend school in HPISD?
Board policy prohibits out-of-district students from paying tuition to attend school in HPISD.
Under specific limited circumstances, however, a nonresident student who is in the process of becoming a resident student may apply for approval to enroll and pay tuition for the limited time until the residency begins. [See FDA(LOCAL) and FDA(REGULATION).]
My friend’s child attends a low-performing school in another district. Is it possible to request a transfer for the child to attend school in HPISD?
HPISD does not accept transfer students who reside in another district. [See FDA(LOCAL).]
State law does provide for students who attend an unacceptable school or school identified for improvement with the option to transfer schools. However, the transfer is limited to another public school only within the same district. [See FDB(LEGAL).]
I’ve heard that a family living outside the district can enroll a child in HPISD if they lease an apartment and sleep in it during the week. Is that correct?
The situation described does not meet the residency requirement. The primary residence must be within HPISD. FD(REGULATION) defines residency as follows:
“A person resides in the district if the true, primary, physical place where the person lives with the intent to remain for a considerable amount of time is within the boundaries of the district. A person’s residence is the fixed, permanent, and principal place of habitation that is the center of the person’s domestic, social, and civic life. A person can reside in only one place at a time.”
To whom do I report information about a family living outside the district but attending HPISD schools?
Contact the campus principal or the HPISD Student and Administrative Services Director. Every report is kept confidential and every report is investigated. Prior to starting an investigation, the district first rules out any unique, permissible exception.