Does this sound right????? (school related)

[live4christp1]

Our kids have attended a private school in the past (both since age 4). DS is entering 7th grade this year and DD 1st. With the down economy DH's job/work has been up and down (electrical). Sometimes they might go two months in between jobs. So we have made a tough decision and decided that this year it isn't feasible to pay for private school so the kids will be entering public school. Registration is this Thursday. Let me first say they will be attending the local public county school (the one we are zoned for - we aren't trying to hop schools or anything). Well I contacted the school to tell them that they will be transferring and find out if we need to wait until Thursday or could be go ahead and take care of it. Explained that we are in the county and they will be transfering from a private school. They said that we will have to go to the school board and get permission to transfer because they are overcrowded. Does that sound right????? We live in this county and pay taxes etc.......have for many years without using the public school system and now we might not be allowed too??????

Now I'm worried about the overcrowding......I already didn't feel good about this but it seems like our only option.......

 

[ORMom2Four]

Wow, I have never heard of such a thing. Did you talk to the school principal or a receptionist? (I'm wondering if the person you talked to was venting their frustrations and hoping you would change your mind)

 

[Justanopinion]

Hopefully, whoever you talked to misunderstood you in some way. To have to go before the board to see if you can attend just doesn't make sense.

As for the over crowding, that seems to be happening in a lot of places. Just stayed involved. Volunteer at the school when you can. Talk to your kids everyday about how their day went. Take each problem slowly, think it through and don't over react.

 

[tinkfan4ever]

I'm not sure if they understood you. I would go into the school and tell them that you are enrolling your child (don't go into specifics unless they ask). If they do ask I'd just simply say that you've decided to enroll in public school and that you are in the process of getting their private school records. Be prepared to prove residency (name on a bill, driver's license, etc.). You should not have to go before the school board to gain approval. Sometimes secretaries misunderstand over the phone and give the best advice they know of. I'd go personally to the school and if you get the same message I'd ask to speak immediately to the principal.

 

[java]

I have never heard of that either. I would call the superintendant of the school and see what is the policy. You should just be able to register your kids. Not jump through hoops.

 

[live4christp1]

I have to take some time off tomorrow for both their dentist appointments so I think we will go ahead and drive over to the schools after their appointments and see what happens from there. Don't really think they can stop us from sending our kids to the public school system to which they are assigned.

 

[Becky2005]

I've not heard of that one, unless they are bussing the overflow to a different school or something. That would still be odd.

What is the difference between you enrolling them in the school they belong in & say someone moving into the district in say January with kids, that they have to come in & register? What are they going to tell them? No, you can't go to the public school that the house you just bought is assigned to?

I do know you will need to prove residency (here we need 2 items -- utility bill, etc...), a birth certificate for the children, whatever else for enrollment. You will probably have to get them a physical if it's their first time entering -- although I'm not sure since if the private school follows the same rules as the public in regards to state requirements for schools, you may just need to transfer all that info. You can check to see if your school district has a website that tells you what information you need for enrollment.

 

[Pakey]

We live in an area with overcrowding and it would work this way here: OP, since your children would be new to the school and it's already at it's limit, your children would be first on list to transfer because all of the children who had attended last year would take priority over your children. Children are only transferred one year; after that, they are exempt from the priority based rules and would then attend the school in their area. Here, it's almost a given that a new student will transfer the first year in the district to another school.

 

[Feralpeg]

Here, when a school is over crowded and a new student enrolls, sometimes the students are actually sent to other schools in the area. I would definitely call the school board office and talk to them.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Our kids have attended a private school in the past (both since age 4). DS is entering 7th grade this year and DD 1st. With the down economy DH's job/work has been up and down (electrical). Sometimes they might go two months in between jobs. So we have made a tough decision and decided that this year it isn't feasible to pay for private school so the kids will be entering public school. Registration is this Thursday. Let me first say they will be attending the local public county school (the one we are zoned for - we aren't trying to hop schools or anything). Well I contacted the school to tell them that they will be transferring and find out if we need to wait until Thursday or could be go ahead and take care of it. Explained that we are in the county and they will be transfering from a private school. They said that we will have to go to the school board and get permission to transfer because they are overcrowded. Does that sound right????? We live in this county and pay taxes etc.......have for many years without using the public school system and now we might not be allowed too??????

Now I'm worried about the overcrowding......I already didn't feel good about this but it seems like our only option.......

That stinks and yes I have heard of this.

Yes, your child will be enrolled however your child may have to be bussed to another school.

I imagine you are not the only one dropping private school.

 

[NewCrew42]

Here, when a school is over crowded and a new student enrolls, sometimes the students are actually sent to other schools in the area. I would definitely call the school board office and talk to them.

I think this happens here as well. Sometimes, this can work to your advantage in that you might be able to request a better school than your neighborhood school. However, in most cases, a public school here is overcrowded because it is one of the better schools in the district.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

wow.

My first instinct was to say that if you just walked in to registration with proof of residency and didn't say why you were enrolling them, then they'd have to take you, just like they take all the other people who have lived in the county and are enrolling their kids for the first time, like kindergarteners, homeschoolers, people who moved in over the summer.

How are you any different? You live there, you pay taxes, you have kids to enroll. But from some of the other posts it sounds like you may end up in a different school in the county than the one you're zoned for.

The previous school our kids attended was at 175% of capacity. I kid you not, it's not a typo.

The majority of the student body was actually housed in trailers all day long-it was one of the reasons we left the county. When more kids moved in, they just put up more trailers. That was how overcrowding was addressed. Your county may have a different system, but I think by law they are required to allow you to attend in your county if you are a resident (taxpaying or not).

 

[ajk912]

Here in my part of VA it seems that they rezone just about every other year so there is always a chance you could be rezoned to a different school. BUT...there ws one year that my dd was zoned to a school that didn't take special needs kids, and the nearest local school that school usually sent their kids to was at capacity, so she was sent to the school past THAT. It worked out, and we LOVED that school, but it was a bit annoying that she was transferred out twice. She still had a bus, though!

BUT, I have heard of what some people are saying..that the local schools are already overcrowded, they aren't admitting any new students BUT of course you have a right to a free, public education. So what that school does is for new students/transfers is they bus them to the next available school that has room.

 

[Nicolepa]

Legally they must provide you with an education. It does NOT have to be at the school closest to you (or the one you are zoned for), but they do have to allow you to enroll in a school in your district.

Beyond that how it is run is up to the specific district. Here if you are overflowed to a different school they provide transporation from your local school to the overflow school. In our area this typically only happens for K.

 

[laurie31]

My guess is that the secretary heard the word "transfer" and didn't really listen to what you were trying to explain. Good luck getting your kids enrolled and please update us!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You cannot be denied access to a public school.

However, district lines are a whole different bear. But I don't think you can be denied access to a school for which you are zoned unless they gave you another option and provided transportation.

 

[minkydog]

My guess is that the secretary heard the word "transfer" and didn't really listen to what you were trying to explain. Good luck getting your kids enrolled and please update us!

Yeah, that's what I thought to. She probably thought you meant you wanted to transfer within the district from one public school to the other. Wonder how she would answer is you just said, "I need to register my kids for school. How do I go about doing that?"

 

[live4christp1]

Thanks everyone for your insight.

The kids both had check ups/cleanings at the dentist office early this morning so I decided since I've got to take a few hours off work when we get finished with the dentist we will go ahead and go over to the schools and see what happens instead of waiting until Thursday (offical registration day). I did not go to the school board as was directed. I just went into the school for each child and told them we needed to register. They never said anything else about over-crowding etc. I think maybe she thought we lived in the other county (where my kids went to private school) and were trying to move them to a public school in a different county. I didn't even bring up that I had called.