After months of planning for historic change, Pinellas schools opened Tuesday under the controversial choice system with the usual assortment of opening day glitches, late buses, crying kindergarteners - and an overall sense of normalcy.
But for a relative few caught in a late wave of registrations and last-minute changes, the day was a nightmare of long lines, paperwork and limited options.
One school district. Two worlds.
On the sunny side were schools such as Palm Harbor Elementary, where administrators set up a waiting room with cookies and coffee to accommodate a potential overflow of parents with problems.
It went unused.
Known for its stability and parental involvement, the school of 430 had only 37 new students, not including kindergarteners. It was largely untouched by choice's race-conscious system of assigning students, which has dramatically shaken up enrollments at less popular schools.
"The teachers are great, it's a small neighborhood school, and everyone is friendly and knows each other," explained Amy Doussan, a mother of two who delivered a fruit salad with a note: "Welcome back! We love our school!"
Such cheerful conditions were a utopian dream at the district's Family Education and Information Centers in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, where long lines of parents from all manner of family situations presented district officials with a range of problems.
The centers were a blemish on what otherwise was a good day across the district, said superintendent Howard Hinesley. "We underestimated the number of people, so we've got to greatly improve that," he said.
"Overall, it went pretty good," he added. "But in a few weeks we'll critique it and see where we can improve."
The crowds at the centers included recently blended families, foster kids with new households, new arrivals to Pinellas and parents leaving private schools.
Among their problems: siblings who ended up in different schools, new addresses requiring new school assignments and last-minute requests by parents who didn't like their first assignment.
Also, district officials were surprised by what appeared to be a large number of families who recently moved within Pinellas County and needed a new school.
The movement illustrates what officials call the "mobility rate." In Pinellas, the rate is 30 percent, meaning nearly one-third of the district's 112,000 students move into, out of and within the county in any given year. It's the kind of upheaval that puts Pinellas in a league with the nation's largest urban school districts when it comes to the size and scale of its challenges.
The choice system, which replaces court-ordered busing, adds yet another layer of complexity to the nation's 21st-largest school district. The system that debuted Tuesday features more complicated bus routes and special "attractor" programs at more schools, all aimed at encouraging families to integrate schools voluntarily.
As part of the settlement to end court-ordered busing, two new elementary schools and a new middle school opened in predominantly black St. Petersburg neighborhoods. While initial enrollment figures reflected limited interest from white parents, many seats were filled over the summer as word of the specialized programs spread.
The system will remain in flux for another two weeks as students continue to ask for transfers and new spots open.
Then, just as the dust settles, it will be time for the next round of choice. The application period for the 2004-05 school year begins Sept. 1.
The traffic at the family centers has been high over the past week or two, with an estimated 600 people showing up each day.
On Tuesday, it was all hands on deck for district officials. Well-paid officials with doctorates and master's degrees worked shoulder to shoulder with lower-level administrators to handle the load. Several School Board members, including Jane Gallucci, Nancy Bostock and Mary Russell, pitched in at the St. Petersburg center, making copies, helping place students and walking briskly from task to task.
The signature moment came shortly after 8 a.m. when Gallucci plucked a screaming baby boy out of a carrier while his mother filled out forms, preoccupied with getting another child in school.
"I'm so sorry you're sad," Gallucci, the mother of two grown sons, cooed as she lifted the baby into one arm. With the other arm, she sorted through another parent's paperwork. The baby left a drool mark on her two-piece beige ensemble.
The up-close experience convinced some board members that the system needs improvement next year.
"We need to get families in as soon as they need to make a change, not on the first day of school," Bostock said.
Lee Benjamin, who watched the mayhem from a counter, said he wanted to open more centers with trained employees next year, perhaps even making administration buildings available to parents.
"Any time you make this kind of change, they're not going to be satisfied," the one-time principal said. "Even under normal conditions the first week has problems."
It was difficult to tell whether the overall load was greater than in past years, when first-day problems were handled at schools and spread across the district. As part of choice, most last-minute placement problems are being funneled to the centers.
At Pinellas Park High, this year's start was smooth compared to last year. Usually, 125 parents show up to register their children, principal Denise Hart said.
This year, the number was more like 25. A few buses were late, but that's normal for a first day.
