KELLNER ON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAITLISTS

Kindergarten Waitlists

For far too long, our zoned elementary schools on the Upper East Side have been overcrowded. To this end, we've opened three new neighborhood elementary schools in as many years and had two rezonings.  Yet the problem of waitlists persists.

On Monday, April 23, 2012, I attended a meeting held by the City's Department of Education to discuss kindergarten waitlists with many very angry and frustrated parents.  Everyone who attended has children on waitlists and are stuck in education limbo until they are told which school they will be attending.  I made it perfectly clear to the scores of parents at the meeting and representatives from the Department of Education, that this lax timeline will not be tolerated anymore.

The Department of Education must do a better job in ensuring that every child has a seat at their zoned elementary school to which they are entitled to go. Upper East Side families should not have to wait until June to get their child's placements and I am working to end elementary school waitlists.