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Time is almost up for parents who still need to register a child or choose a school for the 2005-06 school year.
The deadline for parents to register children new to the district, including incoming kindergarteners, or to make a school choice for incoming sixth- and ninth-graders who do not have extended grandfathering, is 5 p.m. Monday.
The district will place all children who need to register or choose a school but fail to do so before the deadline at a school that has room after all students who completed the application process have been placed.
"At this point in time, the volume of traffic is quite heavy," said Andrea Zahn, choice communications director. "It is most important that parents come prepared with the proper documents."
Some parents are bringing a hospital-issued birth certificate instead of one issued by the state, Zahn said. The district cannot accept those, nor can it accept as proof of residency any bills other than those for power, water, sewer, cable or noncellular phone. Zahn urges parents to check the district's Web site, www.pinellaschoice.org for a complete list of acceptable documents before they come to a Family Education and Information Center or to a satellite center.
* * *One of the errors that the family center representatives are noticing is that some applications that are being faxed or mailed have addresses that do not match the addresses the district has in its system.
When a parent shows up in person and talks to a family center customer service representative, the discrepancy is cleared up at that time. But applications with mismatched data that are mailed or faxed must be sent back to the families because they cannot be processed until the addresses are reconciled. Obviously, that slows down the process.
Another thing customer service representatives are noticing is that parents of current fifth- and eighth-graders are showing up with registration documentation. The reps want to remind parents that if their child is currently enrolled, all they need to do is apply and make school choices. They do not need to present registration information for a child who is already enrolled in the school system.
And one more reminder: Children applying for a choice attendance area school under the family preference application must live at the same address. Children who are related but who reside in different homes are not eligible for the family preference.
* * *Choice question of the week: My daughter is currently attending sixth grade at Coachman Fundamental Middle School. I'm told that if I apply to John Hopkins Middle School, she will lose her place at Coachman next year whether she gets a seat at Hopkins or not. Is this correct?
Answer from the choice office: If you live in Attendance Area A and are applying for an attendance area seat at John Hopkins, your daughter will lose her seat at Coachman Fundamental at the end of the year, whether she gets a seat at Hopkins or not. If you apply for a countywide seat at Hopkins using the automated phone system, she will not lose her seat at Coachman unless you accept the seat at Hopkins. Here's the rule of thumb: you give up a seat in a countywide elementary or middle school program only if you submit a choice application or if you accept a seat in another countywide elementary or middle school program.
* * *Parents have one more day to register at one of several satellite centers as an alternative to going to a Family Education and Information Center. They can visit these sites between 4 and 8 p.m. today: Eisenhower Elementary, 2800 Drew St., Clearwater; Walsingham Elementary, 9099 Walsingham Road, Largo; and Bay Point Elementary, 5800 22nd St. S, St. Petersburg.
* * *The last word from the choice office: Parents who wait until the last days of the application period to register their children or choose schools are asked to be patient. Lines will be long and tempers can become frayed.
"Those representatives will be working as quickly as they can to accommodate families," said Zahn, the communications director.
- Send questions about choice to Donna Winchester, and please indicate whether your name can be used in the column. E-mail winchester@sptimes.com Write to St. Petersburg Times newsroom, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL, 33731. Or fax 727 893-8675.
Puzzled about picking a school for your child? Check out strategies, details about kinds of schools, test scores and how to understand them, tales of those who have searched before and much more at www.sptimes.com/schoolsearch