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DONNA WINCHESTERRegistering a child for school? Then you'll find one of two Family Education and Information Centers in your future.
The district's two Family Education and Information Centers - one in St. Petersburg and one in Clearwater - are the places parents go to register students for a school assignment, get information about schools, and complete applications for choice attendance area schools.
The centers' role in the controlled choice plan has become increasingly important since they opened in July 2002. Back then, they offered little more than school brochures and bare bones rules about the choice plan.
Things changed when the first choice application period got under way two months later. At that point, the centers became the heartbeat of the controlled choice plan.
Thousands of families came through the centers that first year, when all Pinellas County children were required to make an application. Lines were long. Tempers flared. Cars were towed.
A steady stream continued to flow through the centers after the first application period closed. By that time, parents could no longer go directly to the school that was closest to their home to register their children. Those new to the county and those who were transferring students from a private school had to visit a family center to register their children and get a school assignment.
When the second application period opened last fall, long lines - and frustration - returned. Extra staff was hired. The district opened several satellite centers to handle the crowds, even though fewer families were required to submit applications.
Again, things calmed down after the application period closed. But then, as the first day of the 2004-05 school year approached, things heated up again. On the first day of school, a woman who came to the St. Petersburg center at noon to register her two daughters for high school wound up waiting in line until 8 p.m.
The district has no plans to open more family centers, but it has pledged to continue operating the satellite centers during peak times. While there seems to be no cure for long lines and frayed nerves, choice officials offer several suggestions for making the experience easier to bear.
--Parents should take advantage of slower times - generally before 9:30 a.m. - to come to the centers.
--They should allow adequate time to complete the registration process. It's not a good idea to arrive at the center a half hour before closing time.
--Children do not have to be present for the registration process. If parents can make other child care arrangements, they can spare their children the wait.
--Most important, parents should come prepared with all the paperwork necessary to register. Parents who fail to bring everything on the list will have to come back - and wait in line all over again.