Changes to prevent sitting on charter spots THIS YEAR?? Maybe!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.latinpcs.org/apply-enroll/newly-admitted-students.html

This form on the Washington Latin website seems to be a part of the duplicate enrollment prevention process.

That form seems very serious. So at least for Washington Latin, you need to decide quickly, by April 12th. Although if you were also holding a spot at other charter schools that don't demand paperwork until later, you could take a bit longer to decide. If people are deciding between Latin and Basis, it does seem less of a risk to disenroll from basis since they still have spots on offer in 5th grade. Anyone know how many? I guess it will change as soon as that Latin deadline passes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps this is a stupid question but what advantage does one have for sitting on multiple spots at the same time? They have to make a decision eventually. Is it just that they want to take as long as possible to decide?

Not a stupid question, but all kinds of answers. Some people just want to leave their options open to have time to think, and don't care about being jerks. Others are waiting to find out if before or after care will work. Some might also be waiting to see if a sibling gets off a waitlist at their preferred choice, so the kids can go to the same school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the one who posed the question about privacy, and I'm not trying to say people should be entitled to double-enroll their kids or anything goofy. Just wondering HOW they're doing this without breaking the law unless - as some of you have noted - by getting written consent, individually. And the reason why I thought of this was remembering what was in LAMB's application form, viz.,

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that LAMB PCS, with certain exceptions, obtain your
written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, LAMB PCS
may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the LEA to the
contrary in accordance with LEA’s procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the LAMB PCS to include this
type of information from your child’s education records in certain school publications.

This policy refers to the disclosing of personally identifiable information to OUTSIDE agencies/people. This does NOT refer to what PCSB gathers and shares within its network. Keep reading your LAMB document, or any disclosure of privacy practices literature you got when you enrolled. PCSB regulates and monitors ALL DC PCS's. Once you submit this info to them, if they are using it to do their job in supervising the schools, they are not breaking any rules.

You still have not identified any HIPAA or other privacy policy that would be violated by charters and PCSB checking double enrollments. And that's because, it's totally legal for them to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps this is a stupid question but what advantage does one have for sitting on multiple spots at the same time? They have to make a decision eventually. Is it just that they want to take as long as possible to decide?

Not a stupid question, but all kinds of answers. Some people just want to leave their options open to have time to think, and don't care about being jerks. Others are waiting to find out if before or after care will work. Some might also be waiting to see if a sibling gets off a waitlist at their preferred choice, so the kids can go to the same school.

I'm glad I asked then. This and other answers make sense. I'm new to this rodeo (son entering pk4 in the fall). We got into one charter so we have just the one option, which I'm grateful for, but means we don't have to think about jockeying multiple schools.

[Anonymous]

This policy refers to the disclosing of personally identifiable information to OUTSIDE agencies/people. This does NOT refer to what PCSB gathers and shares within its network.

Look - I'm really not trying to get anyone's dander up. I had conceptualized this as each charter school being a separate school system, with the PCSB being some kind of umbrella, not really over each of the schools to bind them together as a unit authorizing sharing between its different parts.

I'm not going to go chasing HIPAA stuff. Just noticed the one thing there about FERPA. You feel comfortable that all public charter schools are one entity within its terms, I'm happy to go with that. I just didn't come to this question thinking that was the case.

[Anonymous]

And mr. dc.gov might simply be a dick

[Anonymous]

Is this really a big issue? I mean, yes, some people are lucky enough to get spots at multiple charters, but is it really enough to make a significant difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this really a big issue? I mean, yes, some people are lucky enough to get spots at multiple charters, but is it really enough to make a significant difference?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Expansion year at Cap City, my daughter's second grade had new students showing up til late Sept, about 4 new kids, some on the rolls that never showed up (if you believe a 2nd grader, she's pretty accurate).

Where are those kids? Did they also get into XYZ charter and hold multiple slots? Who knows. But for every one student you stabilize in the slot before the school yr starts, the easier time the teacher has getting the year going.

[Anonymous]

I think "sibling is still on the waitlist" is a valid reason to hold multiple spots. And this situation isn't limited to families that win multiple lottery spots. It also comes into play when a family is already at one school but then plays the lottery and has to decide if they'll leave the old school for the new school. This is a tough decision for most families and they need a little time (but hopefully not all summer) to figure it all out. But in the meantime, most families don't want the new school calling the soon to be old school and blowing the whistle that the family is bailing. I'm not in this situation, but I'd hate to have my child attend a school for the last few months of the year with that school knowing we'll be leaving by choice. Sort of like staying on a job too long after you've given your notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This policy refers to the disclosing of personally identifiable information to OUTSIDE agencies/people. This does NOT refer to what PCSB gathers and shares within its network.

Look - I'm really not trying to get anyone's dander up. I had conceptualized this as each charter school being a separate school system, with the PCSB being some kind of umbrella, not really over each of the schools to bind them together as a unit authorizing sharing between its different parts.

I'm not going to go chasing HIPAA stuff. Just noticed the one thing there about FERPA. You feel comfortable that all public charter schools are one entity within its terms, I'm happy to go with that. I just didn't come to this question thinking that was the case.

Hey, you're the one who brought up HIPAA in the beginning. You also questioned how much I know about privacy, so you shouldn't be surprised to be asked what section of the Act that you brought up is relevant.

And to you or the other poster poster who called me a dick, that's MRS. DC.gov Dick to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think "sibling is still on the waitlist" is a valid reason to hold multiple spots. And this situation isn't limited to families that win multiple lottery spots. It also comes into play when a family is already at one school but then plays the lottery and has to decide if they'll leave the old school for the new school. This is a tough decision for most families and they need a little time (but hopefully not all summer) to figure it all out. But in the meantime, most families don't want the new school calling the soon to be old school and blowing the whistle that the family is bailing. I'm not in this situation, but I'd hate to have my child attend a school for the last few months of the year with that school knowing we'll be leaving by choice. Sort of like staying on a job too long after you've given your notice.

But some waitlists don't budge until Sept and some sibs are on multiple waitlists. Howany waitlists and for how long should people be able to wait and figure it out? And for being at one school and making a move taking long to decide, this year there is 2 weeks between most waitlist/acceptance notifications and the commitment deadline of April 12. For those who didn't do their research before the lotteries, that's still 2 weeks to gather intel and visit.

Bottom line: it was never DCPS or PCSB's intention to sanction committing to multiple schools. It's been a loophole that people have knowingly or unknowingly taken advantage of. It's high time that loophole closed, because admitted and enrolled families and kids deserve as much time as possible to make their adkustments and get ready for school. Unnecessary last mintute shuffles should be avoided as much as possible for kids, families and teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the one who posed the question about privacy, and I'm not trying to say people should be entitled to double-enroll their kids or anything goofy. Just wondering HOW they're doing this without breaking the law unless - as some of you have noted - by getting written consent, individually. And the reason why I thought of this was remembering what was in LAMB's application form, viz.,

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that LAMB PCS, with certain exceptions, obtain your
written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, LAMB PCS
may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the LEA to the
contrary in accordance with LEA’s procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the LAMB PCS to include this
type of information from your child’s education records in certain school publications.

Is LAMB the owner of the information? Or the PCSB?

[Anonymous]

LAMB is governed by PCSB. Enrollment info, while possibly "owned" by LAMB, can be required by PSCB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This policy refers to the disclosing of personally identifiable information to OUTSIDE agencies/people. This does NOT refer to what PCSB gathers and shares within its network.

Look - I'm really not trying to get anyone's dander up. I had conceptualized this as each charter school being a separate school system, with the PCSB being some kind of umbrella, not really over each of the schools to bind them together as a unit authorizing sharing between its different parts.

I'm not going to go chasing HIPAA stuff. Just noticed the one thing there about FERPA. You feel comfortable that all public charter schools are one entity within its terms, I'm happy to go with that. I just didn't come to this question thinking that was the case.

Charters are their own "school system" or LEA. HOWEVER, if you read FERPA, if a child has enrolled elsewhere, the other school is legally allowed to share student records with the school that the child enrolled into regardless of parents providing permission. As an admin I can tell you that this system of sharing info is the exact same system that was used last year and the year before that, but simply with an earlier timeline of when schools upload all the students and the duplicates are identified and shared. Ultimately, I believe this will help schools and families so I see it as a great improvement.