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**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE **
June 4, 2008
Contact: Sarah Krauss
(212) 669-4193; (917) 541-0936
Release #:19-2008
Public Advocate Gotbaum, Councilmember de Blasio Demand Answers from the Department of Education About Pre-K Enrollment Glitch
Call for DOE to extend deadline for appeals until the end of June and ensure that parents have access to detailed information about the appeals process
MANHATTAN – In response to numerous complaints from New York City parents, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Councilmember Bill de Blasio are calling on the Department of Education (DOE) to correct mistakes made in the pre-Kindergarten admissions process and improve the appeals process for parents who have experienced problems.
On behalf of New York City parents, Public Advocate Gotbaum and Councilmember de Blasio are specifically calling on the Department of Education to:
1.Correct all mistakes made in the admissions process and immediately provide parents with the appropriate placement for their children;
2.Extend the deadline for appeals until the end of June;
3.Provide additional ways to file an appeal with the DOE besides e-mail, for parents without email access;
4.Ensure detailed information on the appeals procedure is easily accessible to parents and widely publicized
After years of pre-K admissions being handled individually by schools, the Department of Education centralized the process this year intending to simplify pre-K enrollment. But, these changes have left many parents upset about inappropriate placements and a lack of information about their options.
Less than two weeks ago, parents across the city received letters informing them of the pre-K program that their child would begin in September. Many of those letters informed parents that none of the schools they had chosen were available, and a high number of children were rejected from programs where their older siblings are enrolled, although the new process is supposed to give them priority.
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said, “These changes to the pre-K admissions system have had some chaotic consequences for parents. We are hearing from many concerned parents that this system just didn’t work the way they were told it would. At the very least these parents need more time to file an appeal and adequate information about the process.”
Councilman Bill de Blasio said, "A solution for sibling issues must come faster and cannot wait until the second round of placements this month. As a public school parent, it is understandable that parents who rightly believed that they would receive preference in placing all of their children in the same school are anxious. I will work around the clock until this problem is fully resolved."
Parents believe that the rejection letters they received were unclear and failed to provide needed information about the process, as well as next steps parents should take. The DOE’s website does not provide a fax or phone number, or a physical address where parents can file an appeal. In attempts to contact the DOE via email, the Public Advocate’s office and parents have not received a response in a reasonable time frame.
According to the DOE website, “Families who wish to submit an appeal must do so in writing to ES_Enrollment@schools.nyc.gov no later than June 13, 2008.”
Marina Celander, whose older child Maya goes to P.S. 10 in Brooklyn, had her younger child Solvej rejected from the school’s pre-K program by the DOE’s new system. In response to the situation, Ms. Celander said, “I am yet another one of those with a rejected child who has an older sibling in the school we applied for … We just need some answers … We just need the DOE to explain to us how they are going to deal with this mess.”
In a letter sent to Chancellor Klein on May 28th Gotbaum said, “I am troubled by these early indications of problems in the new enrollment system, as I am sure you are too …The failure to properly communicate changes to pre-K has plagued the new program since the very start … I’m calling on you and the Department of Education to immediately address the complaints and concerns of every parent … and reach out to all the parents who did not receive a placement and work with them to find a proper school for their children..”
Current information about pre-kindergarten enrollment on the DOE’s website is at: http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnrollment/PreK/default.htm
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