Coordinated Re-entry Plan

Virginia legislation establishes rules and regulations for reenrolling children in public schools after release from the Department of Juvenile Justice. The legislation establishes a re-enrollment coordinator in each school district to oversee re-enrollment, requires preliminary transition team planning for each youth while still in placement, and mandates final re-enrollment planning that must be completed prior to release.

Re-enrollment planning begins at least 25 calendar days prior to the student’s scheduled release. At this time, the re-enrollment coordinator meets with a re-enrollment team, consisting of, at a minimum, the principal or assistant principal of receiving school; guidance counselor; special education director; parole officer; parent or guardian; and social worker. The re-enrollment team reviews student records and a preliminary re-enrollment plan – previously developed by a transition team including team members from the Department of Correctional Education (DCE) in consultation with the student – all of which must be forwarded to the receiving school district by this time. The re-enrollment team develops a final re-enrollment plan which at a minimum must contain: educational status (recent assessments, standardized or otherwise, special education eligibility, most recent IEP, partial and complete credits earned, vocational and career programs attended) and recommendations prior to commitment; educational status and recommendations of the DCE; educational status and recommendations of DJJ; educational and re-entry goals developed with the IEP team, if applicable; support services the student will need to make a successful transition to the public school (e.g., counseling); educational placement and timeline for placement; and names and contact information for the re-enrollment coordinator and the DJJ and DCE representatives serving the student. The final re-enrollment plan must be provided to the student, parents/guardians, and re-enrollment team members at least 10 calendar days prior to scheduled release. The student must be enrolled and receiving instruction in the receiving school within 2 school days of release. The student must also receive weekly counseling for a specified time period. 8 VA. ADMIN. CODE § 20-660-10 (2016), et seq.