In bound sibling preference with additional preference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is word going around Brent elementary that a child will receive additional preference if an older sibling is already enrolled as apposed to a new Kindergarten student just starting out and an additional sibling starting at PK3. Appears to be a grey area of confirming sibling preference when the lottery results come out as apposed to pending sibling preference to those siblings that will have a Kindergartner who has not been fully enrolled in the school. Seems Principal Young is misinformed of DCPS regulations or there is another loophole in the system that pits an individual school against DCPS rules and the child is the ultimate loser in the situation.

Anyone else familiar with this issue?

I wouldn't be surprised if this rumor is true and the school follows this additional sibling preference regardless of what central office says.

But this is how it has always been at all schools! "Enrolled" gets preference over "admitted." Why is this even a thread?

+1 This is NOT new.

[Anonymous]

Sibling enrolled has always been a higher category of preference then sibling admitted.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I don't see the issue. A sibling who is not yet enrolled is not a current student and so can't count as the sibling already at the school! Just echoing previous posters, especially the point about how can DCPS know that you really will enroll your K kid in the fall?

[Anonymous]

I've been in touch with both the Brent registrar and My Schools DC (several times in fact) about this. Younger siblings lotterying for PK3 and PK4 of IB students currently at Brent as well as IB students who will be joining in K or above will have equal standing in the lottery. For IB students joining in K or above, the older and younger siblings need to be enrolled as soon as possible and can't be quickly disenrolled.

The My Schools DC folks have said that their policy is to try to keep siblings together whenever possible. This applies to families joining a school as well as families already at the school.

Certainly with our situation, this only seems fair. Our oldest was waitlisted for PK3 and PK4. He will not be in the lottery for K since Brent is our IB school. So if his younger sibling had lesser status in the lottery, there is no chance of the younger being admitted or preschool even though we will just as much be at Brent as a family that got lucky two years ago and has had their kid there for the last two years. (Yes, yes, I know, preschool isn't a right! I'm not complaining.)

Anyway, to all, may the odds be ever in your favor!

[Anonymous]

I think there is even a place where you need to enter sibling's DCPS number when doing the lottery to confirm their enrollment, correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is even a place where you need to enter sibling's DCPS number when doing the lottery to confirm their enrollment, correct?

There is, but the My School DC folks were able to enter the application in the system with the proper preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sibling enrolled has always been a higher category of preference then sibling admitted.

If the older sibling is also lotterying into the school. In the case of an IB kid entering K or higher, they aren't in the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been in touch with both the Brent registrar and My Schools DC (several times in fact) about this. Younger siblings lotterying for PK3 and PK4 of IB students currently at Brent as well as IB students who will be joining in K or above will have equal standing in the lottery. For IB students joining in K or above, the older and younger siblings need to be enrolled as soon as possible and can't be quickly disenrolled.

The My Schools DC folks have said that their policy is to try to keep siblings together whenever possible. This applies to families joining a school as well as families already at the school.

Certainly with our situation, this only seems fair. Our oldest was waitlisted for PK3 and PK4. He will not be in the lottery for K since Brent is our IB school. So if his younger sibling had lesser status in the lottery, there is no chance of the younger being admitted or preschool even though we will just as much be at Brent as a family that got lucky two years ago and has had their kid there for the last two years. (Yes, yes, I know, preschool isn't a right! I'm not complaining.)


Anyway, to all, may the odds be ever in your favor!

If this is true, next week is going to get ugly when lottery results are out and parents of already "enrolled students" find out their younger sibling did not get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sibling enrolled has always been a higher category of preference then sibling admitted.

If the older sibling is also lotterying into the school. In the case of an IB kid entering K or higher, they aren't in the lottery.

Excellent point. IB kids that are rising K and above won't even show a record in the lottery so how is it an IB family that does not already have a child at Brent is claiming sibling preference? Based on what proof exactly? That seems totally sketchy.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for calling the My School DC Hotline about this particular situation. Thanks to your inquiry I feel that we have a timely answer and procedure for something that may be of interest to quite a few DC parents. Below is the question I posed and the answer I received.



The situation: A family has a student eligible for and planning to enroll in Kindergarten for Sept. 2015 at her IB school. A family has another sibling who will be in the lottery for PK3 for SY2015-16. Can the parents claim sibling enrolled preference on their lottery application? If not when does the preference kick in, e.g. right after the Kindergartner is registered in April?



Answer: Confirmed, the younger sibling does receive a sibling enrolled preference. The parent should 1. Apply to the lottery in Round 1 and indicate a sibling preference (we hope to have an option for a parent to indicate the IB “will be enrolled” situation- worst case scenario I suggest she type that in with the sibling’s name). DCPS Central Office will confirm with her before taking a preference away, so she will not lose the preference without being given a chance to clarify. 2. Enroll the older child after April 1, hopefully with the younger child if they get matched!



Note: The preference is only good if the older sibling enrolls. A parent cannot claim the preference and then not enroll or quickly dis-enroll the older sibling.



I hope this helps you both. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with by calling the Hotline, 202-888-6336, or by email [e-mail].

[Anonymous]

Above is the answer I received from My School DC.

[Anonymous]

stuff like this is why it takes a couple weeks for the lottery results to come out.

I wonder how they'd enforce it though if someone did quickly unenroll their kid. I mean, that would normally happen if the older kid got off the waitlist at a preferred OOB DCPS or a charter, and the younger kid was high up but not in off that school's waitlist. It seems unfair to boot the little kid out of the IB PK, but also unfair that a family that was more committed to the school couldn't get their kid in at PK. I guess the best solution for DCPS is to leave the little kid in the IB PK and if he gets in to the school his older sib is at, then go down the waitlist for another PK kid.

[Anonymous]

True, enforcement is tricky. But an older sibling that attended Brent last year might just as easily transfer to another OOB DCPS or charter that they preferred leaving their little sib in Brent.

[Anonymous]

Bret isn't a large school. Parents will take note if, for example, there is a PSer whose older sibling suddenly was attending Basis or Latin. Remember there will about a dozen families sniffing around for address cheaters and other irregularities. This shit will be toxic.