DC Regulations for these families is clear:
“Pre-k age” means children 3 or 4 years of age, and children who become 5 years of age after September 30th of the upcoming school year. Per DC regulations their children are not Pre-K Age AND those parents should be charged with breaking the law and not enrolling their child in school (compulsory attendance. DC Code § 38-202(a)) |
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This is so dumb. Their kids were in private prek somewhere they didn’t break the law. The amount of vitriol on this thread is sad regardless of what you think about the issue or these people. |
Right, this is the thing I’ve been wondering. In your scenario, your child wasn’t forced to skip a grade because it wasn’t his first time in school? Why is it that kindergarten is ok for these three students to skip, but not 3rd grade for your child? Just because your son already had a few years of school already? |
But they are not PreK. They were 5 before 9/30 and therefore should be in K - which is what this is all about. Jen & Jen & Avra thought their snowflakes were super special. And now they are wasting the time of the ANC representative because the Principal at the school didn't let them make their own rules? |
Now that they are known to the school, did the school say they should be enrolled in K right now. Today?
Does the law say that children of their age need to be an actual Kindergarten program vs " private preschool"? What a mess these entitled parents have created. I hope they are held accountable for their disregard for dcps policy. |
Because DCPS doesn't want redshirting, full stop. So Larlo with a September 15 birthday who started in a school system with an August 31 cutoff and later moves to DC is going to continue on his path. But Larla who also has a September 15 birthday and lives in DC is expected to start kindergarten with the correct cohort. And to prevent redshirting by sending a kid to private pre-K rather than public K and then enrolling in public K a year later, DCPS has said no, those children go directly to 1st grade with their correct age cohort. Parents who want to redshirt their kids have to send them to private for pre-K and Kindergarten. DCPS won't make a kid who just completed K go to second grade, regardless of age. At the same time, DCPS is trying to stop the achievement gap between the JKLM schools and everyone else from getting even wider. If you're willing to pony up the money for two years of private school and then move to DCPS for first, they won't stop you. But your kid won't be with the correct age cohort, and there will be very few, if any, redshirted kids on their grade. |
I think your very particular case is what "principal discretion" is intended for. Look at the individual child and the particular circumstances that were not manipulated by entitled parents. This is clear "red shirting" intended to give their kids unfair advantages over everyone else. Size for sports, attention, fine motor skills, language development, etc etc. All so their kids are always at the top of the class from day 1. |
There are tons of kids who turned 5 before entering prek at independent schools. Should we arrest those parents too or is it those ones who can’t afford private school? Talk about inequality. |
I will say that my DCPS ES (not in UNW, but not T1) got loosey goosey with this during COVID, because lots of super young PK3ers- Kers just could not handle zoom school. It was a complete disaster. Kids functionally withdrew and were allowed to repeat the next year. It means we have quite a few old 2nd and 3rd graders and they tightened up again, so virtually no old 1st graders down. |
Private school have their own cut offs. |
Quick googling brought this up. It answers all the questions in the thread:
https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/page_content/attachments/Pre-Kindergarten%20and%20Kindergarten%20Enrollment%2C%20Promotions%2C%20and%20Retentions%20FAQs%20for%20Parents%20and%20Guardians%20December%202022.pdf |
I would almost have some sympathy here if it weren't for the gaslighting language about "A change in interpretation of the policy...."
That's just a lie. There was no change in interpretation. There was a regulation that was not being followed. |
These people went on TV asking for sympathy fur their situation, which is entirely of their own making. That is what sad. FAFO. And that's not vitriol, it's just true. I feel bad for their kids, for several reasons. |
There was a lot of grace offered through COVID where parents voice may have been given more weight- but we are way past there. |