Reply to LAST APS meeting on new high school and countywide rezoning (4/4, 7 pm Yorktown)

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Reply to "LAST APS meeting on new high school and countywide rezoning (4/4, 7 pm Yorktown)"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Families with "no interest" will not enroll in these programs. [/quote]

I think this is why it is an admin nightmare.  Let's take this example.

For argument's sake lets make this a bit less complicated and assume both parents are in the West Zone.

Parent A's native Spanish speaking K child gets a lottery spot in immersion.  Parent A has no interest and opts out. 
Parent B's native Spanish speaking K child is on the immersion wait list.  Parent B really wants immersion but by the time Parent A, who was NEVER interested in immersion, gets around to opting out, Parent B who was interested has already decided they'll just go with a guaranteed spot in their neighborhood STEAM school.  So now you have a parent who was interested losing interest b/c they lost a lottery spot to someone who didn't want immersion to begin with.

BTW native language is important b/c the suggestion is to have two lotteries, Spanish speaking and non Spanish speaking.  Which actually raises another question.  If you are going to auto enter all the K kids into the immersion lottery you need to know which children are native speakers so you know which lottery to enter them into. So again, more unnecessary admin burden. If you are taking the time to collect the native language of each child, why not take that same time to inform all parents about option schools so they can enter, or not enter whichever lottery they think is right for their family.

I am hoping if they do this there will be a lottery for each option and that winning in one lottery doesn't impact the other lotteries.  For example if you get a lottery spot in IB but you want immersion, being selected in the IB lottery should not mean you loose your chance to get a spot in the program you actually want for your child.

So while I understand the problem I am not sure the plan can easily be executed without causing widespread issues. [/quote]

It's not all that hard, DC and MoCo have been doing this for years. You are guaranteed admission to your n'hood school. Sometime in February [b]you fill out your "choice" application,[/b] ranking the schools you're applying to in order of preference. The first one that comes up spits out a "match." You either take it, or decline and go to your n'hood school. In terms of immersion, you simply check whether you're applying through the Spanish or English-speaker track. If it becomes a problem where families are trying to skirt the system & apply under the wrong track, maybe down the road you'll have to test AFTER a kid is selected. And just like DC and MoCo, spots will open up for families on the wait list as people move, decline the choice match, etc etc. [/quote]

Yes, this works because parents are taking the step to fill out the application with their preferences.  PP was commenting on how just throwing all families into the lottery without applications doesn't work.  This was suggested as a way to ensure that disadvantaged families are given the same opportunities as parents who take the initiative to be informed and enter lotteries.[/quote]

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