40% Rule Maps and Information

The District has the goal of promoting residence-based attendance at non-boundaried schools. As such, the Forty Percent Rule has been created, stating that students residing within a 40% superimposed radius of a non-boundaried, choice school be given second priority in the open enrollment process. The open enrollment process is typically held in the winter of each school year, for enrollment in the following year. The 40% Areas are created using combinations of study areas that fall within a certain radius of the school. This radius is adjusted so that the ultimate number of students included equals approximately 40% of the school’s capacity, based on its current configuration and utilization. If a study area is partly within the established radius, the entire study area is included. This ensures that all students within a given radius are eligible for the Forty Percent Rule, while also including some students who live a little further away. Since whole study areas are used, it is easy for students and parents to use the online street directory to determine if their address is within one of the study areas that would qualify for the Forty Percent Rule. 

Maps showing which study areas are included in the Forty Percent Rule for each non-boundaried school are available by clicking each school’s name below:

El Camino   Arcade     Orangevale   Cambridge Heights    James Cowan     Harry Dewey     Green Oaks     Mission Avenue

For example, a student residing in the 3000 block of Mission Avenue could input their address in the online street directory, and see their study area, highlighted below. Note that the study area can be different for the odd and even addresses along a given street:

If this student desires to attend El Camino High School, they could check the Forty Percent Rule maps to see if their study area is included, or consult the table below. As seen on Forty Percent Rule map for El Camino High School, its current 40% Area uses a nine-tenths mile radius, and includes 39 study areas. There were 718 9-12th grade students living in these 39 study areas as of 09/06/2013, which is 41.6% of the 2013/2014 utilization capacity of El Camino High School (1,728 students). Students from these 39 study areas who want to attend El Camino will be given increased consideration during the open enrollment process. In the example above, study areas 461 and 458 are both included in El Camino’s 40% Area, so the student would have increased enrollment priority.

If you have any questions about the 40% Rule or the individual school maps for the 40% Areas, please contact the Planning Department at (916) 971-5720.