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After frightening hundreds of parents with a mailing mix-up, the school district will send out a new batch of letters to reassure them.
By KELLY RYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 6, 2002
The letter from the Pinellas County School District scared hundreds of parents. They knew they had filled out their school choice paperwork, but the letter said they had not.
Those parents have flooded Family Education and Information Centers, in person and by phone. They demanded their kids' records be looked up to prove they had returned their applications. They asked for written confirmation that they had met the Dec. 13 application deadline.
It's in the mail.
Early next week, the school district will mail letters -- it can't determine exactly how many -- to families who got incorrect letters the first go-around. The letters will reassure parents that the school system has their choices on file.
"It's unfortunate because we have worked so hard at communicating that it is a simple process," said Kathy Walker, the director of student assignment. "If the letter was wrong, we apologize."
The letters correcting the error will be among 10,000 letters the district is sending out for a variety of reasons. Some will go to students who have made choices since Nov. 15, when the last letter was generated.
District officials say the confusion and the last-minute rush on the family centers is to be expected when 103,000 letters are sent out. The letter worked, they said. It confirmed that most choices had been entered correctly and identified problems that could be fixed before the deadline.
"It's similar to what the IRS must feel the week before the April 15th deadline," said Jim Madden, the district's choice plan director.
All families who want their children to attend Pinellas public schools in 2003-04 must fill out a choice application by 7 p.m. Dec. 13, even if they want their kids to remain in their current school.
More than 80,000 of the district's 103,000 current students already have made their choices.
Families who have not made choices can visit a family center Monday through Friday. They are at 3420 Eighth Ave. S in St. Petersburg and 1101 Marshall St. in Clearwater. Six schools will be open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to take applications. (See accompanying list.)
District officials can provide written receipts when applications are turned in. They said parents should rest assured that student application information is safely recorded in district computers.
When an application is turned in, it's stored in two places. First, a picture of the paperwork is scanned into the computer. Second, the information is entered into the student's record.
Computer experts have found several reasons why the letters were wrong. Early on in the application process, data entry clerks struggled to keep up with the workload.
In some cases, the applications were scanned but the choices were not entered into the computer. In other cases, the choices were entered but the clerks forgot to hit "save." Still others had been received but not processed yet.
Al Swinyard, the assistant superintendent of management information systems, said the inputting errors are no longer a problem. All of the records are being double-checked for accuracy, he said, adding that this new round of letters should reassure parents.
"They should see things are okay now," Swinyard said.
If families are still worried about whether their records are correct, they should call one of the family centers. The numbers are 552-1595 and 298-2858. Madden advised parents to be patient when they dial.
"The family centers are extremely busy," he said. "If at first they don't get through, keep trying."
These schools will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. District employees can collect Choice applications and answer questions:
-- Blanton Elementary, 6400 54th Ave. N in St. Petersburg, 547-7820.
-- Clearwater Intermediate, 1220 Palmetto St. in Clearwater, 298-1616.
-- Countryside High, 3000 State Road 580 in Clearwater, 725-7956.
-- Ridgecrest Elementary, 1901 119th St. N in Largo, 588-3580.
-- Sanderlin Elementary, 2350 22nd Ave. S in St. Petersburg, 893-2643.
-- Sutherland Elementary, 3150 Belcher Road in Palm Harbor, 724-1466.