RESERVE — Students entering the ninth grade at East St. John High School for 2017-18 academic year and beyond can request a transfer to West St. John High School.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District announced the move this week.

“We have many families on the East Bank of St. John the Baptist Parish who have ties to the West Bank,” Superintendent Kevin George said.

“Each year, we get requests from parents who would like their child to attend West St. John High School. Two years ago we started the process with the Justice Department to make this happen and are finally able to offer this option to our students.”

Eighth graders interested in attending West St. John High next school year must fill out an application and return it to the Child Welfare and Attendance Department in the annex building behind the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board Office by May 1.

Applications are available from the Child Welfare and Attendance Office or can be downloaded at stjohn.k12.la.us. Eighth graders will also receive an application at school this week.

Should the number of applicants exceed the available openings, a lottery process will be used to randomly select students. School officials said majority-to-minority student transfers will be granted automatically prior to the lottery process as required by the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to school officials, majority students refer to Caucasian students.

Except in the case of a majority-to-minority student transfer, students permitted to transfer must provide their own transportation. All attendance and tardy policies will still apply.

Should any student granted a transfer wish to transfer back to East St. John High School, he or she would be required to submit an application as required for all transfers.