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THOMAS C. TOBINConfusion over the assignment system's nuances hurts many parents' chances of getting their children into favorite schools.
Two years into the choice plan, the No. 1 error parents make is not knowing the implications of submitting an application.
A whopping 50 percent of appeals come after the parents of children already enrolled in a Pinellas public school for the following year apply for a "choice attendance area school." Not only did they not get into the school they selected, they learned they had forfeited their child's existing seat.
It's a tough but vital lesson: Choice is a complicated system that requires you to be a savvy parent.
Many parents find the rules perplexing. They understandably figure that, under a system called "choice," they would have the ability to shop around and apply wherever they wanted. But the design of Pinellas' plan has restrictions that give the most choice to students at the major entry points to schools: kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades.
If your child is at any other juncture, proceed with caution.
Here's the rule that has so many parents groaning: The very act of applying to a "choice attendance area school" for the 2005-06 academic year will forfeit the spot your child holds in his or her current school for next year. For example, you take a big risk if your second-grader holds a seat in a magnet elementary school and you apply to a "choice attendance area school" - a nonmagnet - for her third-grade year.
You might get into that nonmagnet school - or you might not. Typically, about 20 percent of applicants do not get their first choice.
Perhaps you get your second- or third-choice school and you don't like either one. Now, however, you can't use your child's current school as fallback. You've given up that seat by applying.
You're down to the least desirable of choices: picking from schools that have space left.
Families don't suffer the same consequences when applying for any of the district's countywide programs, such as magnet and fundamental schools or high school career academies.
The reasons for these rules are complicated and are dealt with in more detail in the question-and-answer section. See the link below. Suffice it to say, they have to do with the way the choice computer lottery is set up.
Here are some additional tips for being a choice-savvy parent:
--Make a realistic, informed selection on the school you list as your first choice. It's the cleanest shot you will get at a school, but if you aim too high, you might miss.
Here's why: If the random computer selection rejects your first choice, your chances of getting your second choice school are greatly diminished. That's because you then fall in line behind everyone who wanted your second-choice school as their first choice. You can fall even farther back in line as you get bumped down to your third, fourth and fifth choices.
In making choices, consider the school's popularity in general and with members of your child's race. Should you explore a school you hadn't considered before? Perhaps a school in another neighborhood?
In the first two years of choice, many African-American parents in St. Petersburg spent all five choices on schools in their neighborhoods that were being selected by other black families - schools such as Lakewood, Maximo, Perkins, James B. Sanderlin and Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. elementaries.
In the first four years of choice, no school's enrollment may be more than 42 percent black. The result: too many students chasing a limited number of seats. Hundreds of black families got none of their five choices and ended up being offered seats in schools they had never heard of.
In the Clearwater-Safety Harbor area, meanwhile, hundreds of families typically spend their first choices for kindergarten on one of three highly popular elementaries: Leila Davis, McMullen-Booth and Safety Harbor. A limited number of seats are available, leaving many with a fourth or fifth choice.
Some were among the hundreds of students who got none of their five choices, partly due to aiming so high. This is not to say families shouldn't try for popular schools. Just be aware that the strategy can be risky.
To help assess your chances, consult the school index in this publication, which lists how many black and nonblack kindergarteners applied last year and how many actually got in.
--Don't list the same school five times on your application, as some families have done in the past. It doesn't help your chances.
--Pay attention to the ways the school system lets you verify that your application was submitted the way you wanted. When you apply by phone, your choices will be read back to you, and you will get a confirmation number. When you submit a paper application, either by mail, fax or in person, you will be given a confirmation sheet.
When you apply over the Internet, you will be given a screen that lists all the choices you made. Be prepared to print it. And save all of your paperwork. "It's just like paying a bill," said Andrea Zahn, spokeswoman for the choice plan. "You keep some record of what you've done at home so you can reference it later on."
--If you live close to the school you want, don't assume you'll get in on the "proximity preference." The preference kicks in after all grandfathered students and all siblings of older students have been admitted to the school. It gives 35 percent of the remaining spots to those who live near the school. But for many schools, "near" has turned out to be a matter of blocks, even feet. Some families who live a mile or two away expected to get the proximity preference and didn't. Race also factors in. For example, if a school needs more African-American children to make its ratio, a black student who lives a mile away may get in over a nonblack child who lives next to the school.
There is a little good news for families who live near schools they want. In a change from last year, families on waiting lists for schools are ranked by their proximity to the school.
--Take the application process seriously. Some parents have treated the choice application with a casualness befitting a form for summer camp.
Last year, about half the early applications submitted by parents were completed incorrectly and had to be sent back. Pay attention. It's important to meet the choice deadlines, but two months should be enough time to avoid rushing. Whether you like the choice plan or not, it requires the same level of care you would give an IRS tax return.