Anonymous wrote:…these families have older kids who were allowed to be held back at Lafayette. That’s a change in policy. It should be communicated to parents. They have email! It isn’t hard! And they know all the neighborhood nursery school heads. There are far fewer of them! Again, not hard!

So the principal should have combed through the records of all students, figured out which ones had been redshirted, and emailed their parents just in case they had younger children they also planned to redshirt?

And also should have emailed principals at local elementary schools?

What would she have even told them to do? It's not like there were available prek 4 spots at the start of the year.
Plus, even if she had told those people, what about the people who moved in from out of DC, or had their kid in PK at a non-neighorhood nursery school (or--gasp--a different DCPS or charter school)? If someone expects to be granted leniency, it's on them to ask for it and be aware that it's a privilege rather than a right.

My guess is the new principal didnt even know that the old principal disregarded dcps policy.

Does anyone really think the outgoing principal really said "oh btw, I ignore dcps policy for enrollment age for K. You have to do that too."

And even if the new principal knew about it, he/she owes nothing to the offending parents and actually should be following dcps policy.

End of story.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the previous principal allowed parents to do it at Lafayette so all the preschools told their parents it was fine? In many cases two kids in the same family? If they were going to change longstanding school policy they should have given people a years heads up at a minimum.

Also the law says to go to first grade to you have to be six on the first day of school and that’s in direct conflict with the cutoff for anyone born in September.

do you have a cite for that?

Not even sure how a new principal would know that private preschools were telling parents that their kids would be allowed to redshirt. Surely it's easier for the parents to identify the new principal (especially if they already had kids enrolled there) than for the new principal to identify the parents who thought they would be allowed to break the rules?

The mom who keeps posting that parents "should have been TOLD" is so deeply entitled. It's so informative about the kind of parent at Lafayette . "We should be allowed to break the rules whenever we want, and if we aren't we should somehow be proactively identified, out of a community of hundreds and hundreds of parents, and told way in advance. Being told onc we try to break the rules is offensive and WRONG."

If what she now wishes she did was enroll her kid in PK4 at Lafayette rather than private school for the 2024-5 school year, she would have had to enter the lottery in early 2024. I don't think Principal Prall had even been hired by then. So who would have told her, and when?

…these families have older kids who were allowed to be held back at Lafayette. That’s a change in policy. It should be communicated to parents. They have email! It isn’t hard! And they know all the neighborhood nursery school heads. There are far fewer of them! Again, not hard!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the previous principal allowed parents to do it at Lafayette so all the preschools told their parents it was fine? In many cases two kids in the same family? If they were going to change longstanding school policy they should have given people a years heads up at a minimum.

Also the law says to go to first grade to you have to be six on the first day of school and that’s in direct conflict with the cutoff for anyone born in September.

do you have a cite for that?

Not even sure how a new principal would know that private preschools were telling parents that their kids would be allowed to redshirt. Surely it's easier for the parents to identify the new principal (especially if they already had kids enrolled there) than for the new principal to identify the parents who thought they would be allowed to break the rules?

The mom who keeps posting that parents "should have been TOLD" is so deeply entitled. It's so informative about the kind of parent at Lafayette . "We should be allowed to break the rules whenever we want, and if we aren't we should somehow be proactively identified, out of a community of hundreds and hundreds of parents, and told way in advance. Being told onc we try to break the rules is offensive and WRONG."

Anonymous wrote:Because the previous principal allowed parents to do it at Lafayette so all the preschools told their parents it was fine? In many cases two kids in the same family? If they were going to change longstanding school policy they should have given people a years heads up at a minimum.

Also the law says to go to first grade to you have to be six on the first day of school and that’s in direct conflict with the cutoff for anyone born in September.

do you have a cite for that?

Not even sure how a new principal would know that private preschools were telling parents that their kids would be allowed to redshirt. Surely it's easier for the parents to identify the new principal (especially if they already had kids enrolled there) than for the new principal to identify the parents who thought they would be allowed to break the rules?

Because the previous principal allowed parents to do it at Lafayette so all the preschools told their parents it was fine? In many cases two kids in the same family? If they were going to change longstanding school policy they should have given people a years heads up at a minimum.

Also the law says to go to first grade to you have to be six on the first day of school and that’s in direct conflict with the cutoff for anyone born in September.

This is so fu**ing annoying. The rest of us have had zero bend on DCPS guidelines for years. Where do they get off thinking they are worthy of an exception??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So last year they attended PK4 at Lafayette and this year they will be put into 1st grade? Did DCPS change the age requirement from this year to last (not to my knowledge). Did they move from another district? I'm confused.

My guess -
they decided to enroll their child in a private PreK instead of DCPS K last year.
Now they are being told that based on their child's age, they will need to enroll in 1st grade.

Parents thought they would be able to red-shirt and the school is telling them - sorry we reflected on the guidelines and you thought you were special but you really are not.

I’ve been massively eye rolling these parents but I do feel bad for the kids. Alrhough I kind of doubt that the parents won’t eventually get their way.

Oof, those parents don't garner my sympathy with their statements. Kindergarten is foundational? Then why didn't you send your kid?

Anonymous wrote:So last year they attended PK4 at Lafayette and this year they will be put into 1st grade? Did DCPS change the age requirement from this year to last (not to my knowledge). Did they move from another district? I'm confused.

My guess -
they decided to enroll their child in a private PreK instead of DCPS K last year.
Now they are being told that based on their child's age, they will need to enroll in 1st grade.

Parents thought they would be able to red-shirt and the school is telling them - sorry we reflected on the guidelines and you thought you were special but you really are not.

Principal should turn them in to CFSA for not sending their kids to Kindergarten when they were of age.

Anonymous wrote:So last year they attended PK4 at Lafayette and this year they will be put into 1st grade? Did DCPS change the age requirement from this year to last (not to my knowledge). Did they move from another district? I'm confused.

I don’t think they were at Lafayette for pk4. There’s another thread on this but it seems like the administration changed and a handful of families had relied on the prior principal’s rule bending.

So last year they attended PK4 at Lafayette and this year they will be put into 1st grade? Did DCPS change the age requirement from this year to last (not to my knowledge). Did they move from another district? I'm confused.

Sounds like some parents thought they could put their 6 year olds in kindergarten and are sad to realize they have first graders: https://wjla.com/news/local/dcps-parents-dc-public-schools-lafayette-elementary-school-kindergarten-jennifer-lilintahl-avra-siegel-age-cutoff-dcps-cheif-integrity-officer-advisory-neighbor-commissioner-anc

I'm not clear on whether the families enrolled their kids in DCPS/charter preschools even though they were supposed to be in K (one of the kids is shown wearing a Lafayette tshirt), if the kids went to private school, or if the parents just kept them home (which would technically be educational neglect in DC; curious if Lafayette would report that--they are mandatory reporters of abuse and neglect, though I don't expect CFSA would do much about it).

If Lafayette let the kids enroll in PK4 when they should have been in K, I can see an argument for letting them continue to progress with their class--and Lafayette should get a scolding and an audit from DCPS and OSSE. But if the parents just showed up and expected to enroll in a different grade than their kid's age would dictate, I have less sympathy. If the parents are worried that their kids won't succeed in first grade, maybe they should start the 504/IEP process.