The Feldmanns are residents of the Grand Community School District. They have three school-aged children: Megan who is in 8th grade; Tony who is in 5th grade; and Amy who is in kindergarten. The District is in the second year of a one-way whole grade sharing agreement with the Ogden Community School District. The agreement will expire at the end of the 1999-2000 school year. Grand students who are in grades 7-12 attend the Ogden District.

This appeal involved two separate denials of the Feldmanns' open enrollment applications: the Feldmanns filed for open enrollment for Megan, Tony and Amy to attend Ogden beginning in the 1999-2000 school year in February 1999. The applications for Megan and Tony were denied for being untimely filed. Amy's application was approved because she would be entering kindergarten and the deadline for those students is June 30. The Feldmanns timely-filed an appeal to the State Board of Education seeking review of the denials for Megan and Tony's open enrollment applications. Their appeal was based on evidence that the District had approved other untimely open enrollment application on prior occasions.

Before their appeal could be heard, the District informed its patrons in May 1999, that Southeast Webster Community School District would be its new sharing partner beginning with the 2000-2001 school year. On August 10, 1999, the District received the second open enrollment applications for Megan and Tony to attend Ogden for the 1999-2000 school year.

The Board met on August 18, 1999, and denied the applications for Megan and Tony because they did not meet the "good cause" definition in the Open Enrollment Law. At the same meeting, however, the Board approved the open enrollment applications of nine students to attend Southeast Webster for the 1999-2000 school year. All nine of these applications were also untimely filed and did not meet the "good cause" definition.

Since there was no basis in Law or in the Board's policy for the distinction between late-filed open enrollment applications to Ogden and late-filed open enrollment applications to Southeast Webster, the Board's denials of the Feldmanns' open enrollment applications for Megan and Tony were arbitrary.

The Administrative Law Judge and hearing panel recommended that the decisions of the Board of Directors of the Grand Community School District, made on March 17, 1999, and on August 18, 1999, that denied open enrollment for Megan and Tony Feldmann, be reversed.