Glen Rock Parents Upset Over Kindergarten Shuffle

A group of  area parents are up in arms after receiving registration letters that their soon-to-be kindergartners will be attending other schools in the district.

The drama began when a select number of families in the Central School neighborhood – ten, multiple sources said – discovered late last week that their kids would be joining and other schools.

The parents were flummoxed – most who spoke with Patch said their schedules would be totally upended, their children would face potential social difficulties, and they complained of an apparent communication disconnect with the district.

"My son has a lot of friends in the neighborhood and now he's going over a mile-and-a-half away to a different school where he knows no one," one parent said. "I have other kids younger than him, so I'm going to have to figure out how to schlep across town for the next decade? Really!?"

Said another parent whose child is now set to go to Hamilton, despite living well over a mile away: "This impacts my family for the next eight years. They'll be the only ones across town going to that school, there will be nobody to carpool with when I go back to work. It affects a lot of things."

Others wondered what will happen when students in private schools make the leap to the public schools in first grade. Will they get into their neighborhood schools after students who entered kindergarten in Glen Rock are shuffled to other borough schools?

None of the parents who contacted Patch were willing to speak on the record, each saying they feared their children might lose any shot they have getting into their area school if they were identified.

'Nervous nellies,' says superintendent, should be patient

For superintendent David Verducci, the issue much ado over nothing, and a protocol that's been in place for three years will sort it all out.

"They didn't get what they wanted right away," the departing superintendent said of the upset parents, stating the district was "explicit" there was no guarantee that when they registered their students would end up in the neighborhood school.

"People don't want to be patient to let the system work its way through. We've accommodated something like 99 percent of our folks last year, if not higher," he said. "There were very few that ended up in the end in schools further away. If we can't place them in Central, we'll place them in or Hamilton depending on which they're closest to."

What we told people specifically is that once everybody gets their placement letters, as the enrollments go up and down, kids sign in and out, we have an ongoing wait list in each school that when the space becomes available, the folks on that list get first shot."

According to Verducci, there are 164 students enrolled for kindergarten for the 2012-2013 school year (consistent with previous years, he said), and a "rebalancing" process evens out enrollment disparities between the schools, which he said made educational and fiscal sense.

Verducci did not say how many kids in the Central area have – at least for the time being – been selected to attend other schools. He did say, however, that each of the four schools has 20 or 21 students registered for a total of eight sections.

The district strives to keep class sizes at or around 20 students, he said, and unless an additional 8-10 students register for the fall, Verducci doesn't expect another section will be added.

Eliminating two of the ten sections and "rebalancing" saves $250,000 a year, the superintendent claims. Besides, he said, it's a much better way of balancing district needs than the 'lottery' system that pre-dates it.

Open another section?

But reducing the sections with an uptick in enrollment has left affected parents have wondering why the district can't simply open up another section if there is such an overflow at particular schools.

In many cases, there is the space to accommodate, they say. And a part-time teacher would cost a fairly small amount of money.

Verducci says it isn't as simple as it might seem. Opening up an additional kindergarten section would require the district to add another section in first through fifth grade, and the cost could total in the millions, he said.

Summer placements leave some parents in limbo

So what happens next to those impacted? Well, it's a lot like rolling admissions in college, Verducci said.

The principals and superintendent (Verducci remains in place until July, when new interim superintendent Raymond Albano takes over) check the enrollment figures and fill openings throughout the summer.

"We do that up to and including the day before school opens," Verducci remarked. "We will have a lot of kids over the course of the summer register for Glen Rock kindergarten and decide to go to AOL (Academy of Our Lady). That's how a lot of spaces open." 

The superintendent disputed the point parents made, that students from private schools will enter and tip the scales in first grade. "We get a very small number of kids coming in from first grade," he claimed.

'This may be your school but I really hope not'

Still, as it stands, ome parents remain in an awkward position. Orientation was on Thursday and it's a long summer for those in limbo.

"I'm very concerned over what I say to my child," one parent told Patch on Tuesday. "Do I say 'this may be your teacher, this may be the school you go to for kindergarten but I really hope not?' This is not how I wanted to start the next stage of her schooling."

When September rolls around, Verducci remains confident most will get what they initially expected.

"I think very good," he said when asked of the chances students can stay in their neighborhood schools. "Do I think all of them? No, I wouldn't say that because I don't know that. If it's like most years, it will be a very good chance."