School District Confusion!! HELP PLS! (live, bus, moving to)

[stahltkd]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Also, the IB schools in Lee County are now numerous. And schools that once were terrible are now so much better. My daughter was put into the newly-opened Rayma C. Page. What a nightmare! Yet, it has good reviews now.

Rayma is still not a school I'd put my kids...

2 10 year old charged

From the people I've spoken to - Rayma C. Page is still needs a lot of work.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by stahltkd

Rayma is still not a school I'd put my kids...

2 10 year old charged

From the people I've spoken to - Rayma C. Page is still needs a lot of work.

Ugh. I was going by what I've seen on greatschools.com. When my daughter attended the first day a little girl was sent to the principal's office. She was a little hoodlum. And this was kindergarten. It seemed like people were bussed in from all over the place to that school. I think it was our 13th choice. Something like that. We lived in Island Park, so we were close to the school. But what a nightmare. I try to stay positive but our experience is what it is.

Originally Posted by paulapoo

Yep hiknapster, I totally agree with you. It's a game, and it's really stressful! I hope that woman that you had to deal with at the school choice dept. doesn't work there anymore.

I almost have a phobia when it comes to dealing with bureacracy. I hate the randomness of how you can be treated. One person can walk in and get their questions/issues dealt with one way, another can walk in with the same questions/issues and get a completely different outcome. When we moved from St. Louis county to St. Louis city, my husband was able to walk into the local library branch and get a library card without showing a utility bill to prove residency or even showing ID. He just had to fill out a form. I go to the same branch a few weeks later, and they want me to show ID and a utility bill(which is probably the correct procedure). That kind of stuff drives me nuts! Grrrr.

I am still incredulous that we were assigned our tenth choice. That school is 11 miles from our house. If it were our 3rd or 4th choice then it might be worthwhile to drive our kids 11 miles to go there, but the TENTH choice? Hmph.

Lately, I've been getting that at different branches of my bank. I finally told them they need to be on the same page.

I don't think the woman at the school department was rude. She was just being realistic.

I am delighted to see that there are a lot more choices within the school district than there use to be. And I hope your child gets into that school.

But I know what you mean. I've read a lot of things on this forum that did not add up to my experience or my family and friend's. What happened to you sounds more like how things occur.

And stahl knows first hand what is going on in the schools.

If we aren't honest about things, nothing will change.

Oh! I am reading the comments after the article. Someone says the school's majority of students are Hispanic. I don't know about that but when my daughter was put in a class half of the kids didn't speak English. It was heartbreaking. Every one of them looked adorable and eager. And the teacher could only speak English. That neighborhood is not Hispanic. Not at the time, anyway.

[CCRESI]

Paulapoo, I'm sorry you didn't get your first choice, or your 2-9! What school did you end up getting?
I think we got our 1st choice when we moved here in the middle of a summer, bc the school we picked is one of the oldest and I think it wasn't an A school at the time. A lot of people want new

[paulapoo]

We are assigned to Ray V. Pottdorf. Unfortunately they are a C school. On their website it states:

"School Grade for 2009-10 was a "C." Adequate Yearly Progress has not been met for two consecutive years. Therefore, Ray V. Pottorf has the designation of being a School In Need of Improvement. AYP and SPAR (No Child Left Behind School Public Accountability Reports) reports are available for review in the school office."

Notice that they misspelled the name of the school in that paragraph which is right on their main webpage. A typo probably, but not encouraging.
(*****Edited to add: I just found out the name of the school really IS Pottorf, not Pottdorf, so they DIDN'T misspell it! I look like a fool!)

We have no desire at all to drive our kids 11 miles one way to go to a C school. If the waiting list thing doesn't pan out, we'll be getting out the checkbook and sending them to private school. Argh, I hate it that they make us rank ALL the schools in our zone. Anything after the #7-#8 pick is ridiculous to even be listed for consideration.

[hiknapster]

It's funny. Rayma C. Page and Ray V. Pottorf opened at the same time; 2005. The same thing happened to us. They stuck our daughter in that school even though it was our next to last choice with your school being our last choice.

I swear they are the default schools that they stick people with. At Rayma C. Page you could see that the majority of kids were bussed in. We actually lived close by but the other kids were not from around there.

There was one sweet little girl that sat next to my daughter. They both looked terrified. As it turned out, five weeks later both girls left. On the same day. Her dad got custody of her and yanked her out of the school, too.

You know, after a few years I finally said to someone on here, you know, maybe you didn't mind where your children went because you don't really know what a good school is. No response. I said it again after she got nasty, again. No response. It was several, several months later that she finally had an answer. Lo and behold she had a list of the top schools and how her children had attended those schools; been admitted without any fuss.

Well, granted, her kids went into the school system long before mine, and once one is in, the siblings get preference. Of course, she never saw it that way.

But I also wondered about that school list. My guess is she had a friend help her look up ratings and come up with those schools.

Just my opinion.

[paulapoo]

I really would like to know the inner workings of their lottery system for school assignment. I wonder if the families who are in the first several slots on a waiting list for their top pick are given an assignment for one of the typically worst-ranked schools, knowing that those child(ren) will not likely need to ever go to that school since they are so high up on the waiting list for the other school. Hmm.

It's possible that we are ranked high on the waiting list for our top pick because we live in close proximity to that school. Proximity of less than a mile or two is supposed to give you priority over others.

[hiknapster]

I doubt it. We weren't high on any waiting list. In fact we were told we didn't have a chance in hell.

I've said it for years. If people want to twist things for their agenda, fine, but I've found that honesty will get you through in the end, and the truth is School Choice in Lee County means that the school department is going to choose where your child goes to school. For the rest of the country, it seems, School Choice means something quite different.

By the way, I am one of the loudest advocates for equality. Anyone that personally knows me knows there is a reason for this, and it is quite moving.
But busing doesn't work. It didn't work in Boston and it doesn't work in Lee County. All it does is wreak havoc and in a community that has always struggled to maintain strong roots.

[paulapoo]

It's so aggravating. Like my nephew said when he found out they assigned us to a school 11 miles away, "what's wrong with the school down the street?". Lol. The whole thing makes no sense. If you want to go to the school nearest your house, they assign you to a school far away. If you want your child to go to a better school farther away from where you live, you have no chance to get into that school and you get assigned to one nearer to you.

[CCRESI]

Maybe they placed you in this 10th choose knowing your first had a waiting list and you were going to be high on the list?

Being no 2 on a waiting list is great, better than a flat NO. Plus it's only April. The way this area has new families moving in and out, I would say you have a good chance of getting into your no1. Fingers crossed!

I'm sure if I had picked a school and didn't get in the first try, I would have a negative outlook on it. I'm pretty sure the only reason I got the school my kids attend, is the fact it's wasn't as desirable as others. I also didn't waste time on waiting lists, since we rented first I figured if we get a school in this area- then I'll buy a house over here.
I hope it works out for you! Keep us updated.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by CCRESI

Maybe they placed you in this 10th choose knowing your first had a waiting list and you were going to be high on the list?

Being no 2 on a waiting list is great, better than a flat NO. Plus it's only April. The way this area has new families moving in and out, I would say you have a good chance of getting into your no1. Fingers crossed!

I'm sure if I had picked a school and didn't get in the first try, I would have a negative outlook on it. I'm pretty sure the only reason I got the school my kids attend, is the fact it's wasn't as desirable as others. I also didn't waste time on waiting lists, since we rented first I figured if we get a school in this area- then I'll buy a house over here.
I hope it works out for you! Keep us updated.

That's exactly the way to do it.

It's very much the opposite of what you usually do, that's for sure. I use to be an agent up here in Knoxville and most people buy according to the local schools.