Attention dawdlers: About 16,400 students must register their school choice by Monday.
By STEPHEN HEGARTY
Published October 30, 2003
[Times photos: Jamie Francis]
Nicole Severin waits Wednesday to find out whether her two daughters will be able to attend the same school.
Edin Fekovic and his daughter, Eimana Fekovic, 5, wait with others Wednesday at the Family Education and Information Center at 3420 Eighth Ave. S to register under the school choice plan for the 2004-05 school year.
ST. PETERSBURG - Jaime Warren stood near the back of the line at the family education center Wednesday and admitted she could only blame herself for the hour or two she was about to lose.
"Why am I here? Procrastination," said Warren, who was waiting to register her child for school next year. "I kept putting it off."
She has plenty of company. Though the deadline for submitting choice applications is only a few days away, Pinellas school officials say thousands of parents who still need to select schools for their kids have yet to show up.
They must register their children by Monday. If they don't, the district will choose a school for them, and it may not be a school they want. About 8,500 students didn't select a school last year, leaving them little or no choice.
This year, school officials say about 16,400 students need to register. That includes about 8,000 kindergarteners, more than 4,000 fifth-graders who will enter middle school next year, and more than 4,000 eighth-graders entering high school. Fifth- and eighth-graders who qualify for extended grandfathering do not have to register.
As of late Wednesday, the school district had applications from less than 10,000 of the kindergarteners and incoming sixth- and ninth-graders entered in their computers.
School officials are starting to get nervous.
"This is important!" said Kathy Walker, the school district's director of student assignment. "Don't let the district make that decision for you. You can make that decision for yourself. But you have to do it now."
Unlike last year, the first year of school choice, parents don't have to file paperwork for all their children. If they want a child to stay in his current school in 2004-05, they don't have to do a thing. And the many children who are grandfathered into a school also can ignore choice. But all children new to the district need to register and apply.
School officials are especially concerned about the estimated 8,000 kids who need to be registered for kindergarten next year. The school district has no surefire way to contact their parents because the district doesn't know who many of them are.
Thus far, about 4,600 kindergarteners have registered.
Ursula Chambers was among the parents registering a kindergartener Wednesday. She went to the registration center in St. Petersburg a little before 4 p.m. to sign up her 4-year-old daughter Ciara. It took about 30 minutes. "It was easy, but I know I should have taken care of this long ago," Chambers said. "I should have been here in September."
Other parents had a tougher time. The county's two family education centers were especially busy from their 8 a.m. opening through the early afternoon, when parents stopped by during their lunch breaks.
Tammy Ponder showed up in the morning and waited in line for hours only to learn she didn't have all the paperwork she needed. She had a copy of her son's birth certificate, but needed a certified copy to register him for kindergarten. Ponder returned in the late afternoon and took care of business in 35 minutes.
"If they come prepared with proof of birth and proof of residency, it's a great thing," said Susan Avery, coordinator at the Clearwater Family Education Center. "If they don't have the documents, we can't process them." Parents of kindergarteners and other students new to the district need to register their children before applying for a school. To register, they will need:
A birth certificate or other proof of birth such as a baptismal certificate, insurance policy, a Bible record with a parent's sworn statement, a passport or certificate of arrival in the United States showing the child's age, or a previous school record showing the birth date.
Proof of residency such as a bill for power, water, sewer, cable television or noncellular phone service.
The child's Social Security number, which is optional.
A recent report card for new students not entering kindergarten.
- Times staff writer Donna Winchester contributed to this report.
Where and how to register
Parents who need to register their children for the 2004-05 school year are almost out of time. Two Family Education and Information Centers are still taking applications, as are several satellite centers.
Here are their locations and hours of operation:
The information centers are at 3420 Eighth Ave. S in St. Petersburg and 1101 Marshall St. in Clearwater. They will be open today from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The centers also will be open Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Because the application deadline falls on the weekend, parents can complete paperwork until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3. Applications postmarked by midnight on Nov. 3 will be accepted.
Satellite locations also will be open, but only today. The satellites open from 9 a.m. to noon are: Madeira Beach Elementary, 749 Madeira Beach Causeway, Madeira Beach; Safety Harbor Elementary, 535 Fifth Ave. N, Safety Harbor; Tarpon Springs Elementary, 525 Disston Ave., Tarpon Springs; Oak Grove Middle, 1370 S Belcher Road, Clearwater.
The satellite at Meadowlawn Middle at 6050 16th St. N in St. Petersburg will be open today from 10 a.m. to noon.
Parents who want to apply to a career academy, magnet or fundamental school can do so until 4:30 p.m. Saturday by calling the district's automated phone system: 501-0871.
