Long-awaited guidance from Homeland Security on the operations of the Oxford International Program (OIP) has finally come– bringing changes to the program.

In short, all second and third-year international students will begin attending courses on the Rochester College campus, beginning in the second semester and their coursework will no longer take place on-site at Oxford High School.

Students’ Rochester courses will still align with Oxford graduation credits and they will still be working towards Oxford diplomas.

These changes follow the district’s request for guidance from the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a department of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security, to ensure the OIP was meeting federal regulations.

According to the Oxford International Program’s Director of International Operations Jill Lemond, Superintendent Tim Throne requested guidance regarding the district’s F-1 nonimmigrant student programming, and whether those students were legally able to attend OHS beyond their first year last spring. At that time, school officials were told to continue “business as usual” until the relationship between Oxford Community Schools, Weiming Education Group and Rochester College could be fully reviewed.

The F-1 visa category is reserved for academic students enrolled in colleges, universities, high schools, language training programs, and other academic institutions.

“We recently received a guidance document from SEVP that clarified regulations pertaining to F-1 nonimmigrant students physically seated in public high schools, regardless of the students’ I-20 sponsorship… Even though return students have been properly sponsored by Rochester College in full-time college courses (12 credits), receiving instruction from Rochester College instructors, and the district was receiving ample payment to reimburse the cost of the instructional resources, SEVP has provided guidance that explains that no instruction can take place in our public school building beyond the aggregate twelve month period,” said Lemond.

Now that district officials have received their answers from Homeland Security, they will begin making the necessary changes immediately, said Lemond.

“We are committed to operating our programs with great integrity and practicing in moral, legal, and ethical ways… While the timing of this is admittedly not ideal, it is welcomed information that we have requested and are quite happy to have… We are taking swift action to ensure that we remain compliant with federal regulations and we will continue to operate a robust international program in which students are seated at our high school for no more than one calendar year,” Lemond said.

The changes will affect a total of 41 students in the international program.

According to Lemond, administrators are hoping to keep the students in close connection with Oxford native students, so they may continue to learn from each other.

Lemond added that this change will likely simplify the lives of affected international students, as they will no longer be taking additional courses at Oxford High School.

“Our international students have been participating in a very rigorous academic schedule of concurrent coursework. We have already heard from many students that they are relieved to have some of their time freed up to focus solely on their four Rochester College courses next semester . . . The students’ new schedules at Rochester College will afford them more time for not only studying, but also preparing for their next steps following graduation,” said Lemond.

Because the state only paid a foundation allowance for year one foreign students and the $10,000 tuition per student in the second and third year was used to pay the education cost of each foreign student also went to Rochester College and cost of classes, leaving only a small portion going into the Oxford International Residence Academy budget, Lemond said the change is unlikely to have a large effect on revenue for the international program.

Lemond asserted these changes did not come with any red marks against the district.

“We did not receive any disciplinary measures, nor have we experienced any interruption in our ability to access the SEVP online system. We have always maintained our good standing as a SEVP-certified school program and we are grateful for the recent guidance that will aid us in continuing to do so,” said Lemond.

To ensure a smooth transition, the district’s tuition-funded OIP staff will frequent the Rochester College campus to check-in on students and to continue to provide college application assistance.

The students will be invited to walk at OHS graduation, should they meet academic requirements.