School choice: report for tonight

Bob Vartanian (who runs the Parent Information Center) is talking tonight about school choice tonight.
School choice: outside of Worcester can be taken to attend kindergarten only. McGrath Elementary takes those students, historically. This year, children attended other kindergartens, depending on what sending community they were coming from.
Worcester children choosing to attend those schools get to pick first (if it's outside their neighborhood).

Inter-choice: kids within the city that want to go to a school other than their neighborhood school. (This no longer can be suggested/determined by race per the Supreme Court decision.) So long as there is space avaliable, Worcester children may attend the school of their choice. Quadrant managers make these decisions; appeals go to Bob.
133 children from outside of Worcester started the year; 32 have since left. 101 children are attending WPS past kindergarten (kids that have moved outside the city and chosen to stay in school in the city).
Children must stay within the quadrant that they started school in (if you move to Holden while attending Nelson Place, you can stay in the city, but have to attend Forest Grove, for example).
Nine children are ch.74 kids, attending Tech from outside the city.
Nine children from outside the city are registered for kindergarten for next year.

He's suggesting to the admin that we take kids on a space avaliable basis for kids in older grades. Bob estimates that he gets 15 or more requests from kids outside the city wanting to come here.

685 kids registered for kindergarten this year that were 4 year olds.
Question on how many kids who enter at 4 are asked to repeat kindergarten? Most, Bob says from past experience, succeed.
How do you go about researching school choice? Where do you start?
Previously we did put children in schools based on race; we no longer do that. Children in a school out of their neighborhood have chosen to be there. Most of our kids are racially imbalanced now. "We're moving children from any school to any school based on space."
There's an application for voluntary grade level, K-12.
Decisions are made sometime in May. Repealed decisions may be appealed during the summer.
"It's up to the principal looking at their table of organization"
37% of the 14,000 elementary kids go to a school other than their neighborhood schools.
Six magnet schools, only two don't have a neighborhood they draw from: Jacob Hiatt and Tatnuck Magnet (Worcester Arts Magnet is a lottery, as is Jacob Hiatt.).
Siblings aren't separated, either.
400-600 calls about preschools, for which we are not yet taking applications for next year.

High school choices are done partly based on student behavior. There's been some talk about registering everyone downtown.

What is the process of informing people about these programs?
Open houses at high schools and middle schools--parent comments that this isn't covered during the open houses.
Monfredo says that we should treat it as a private school: "We want you to go here."
Home quadrant students get to choose first (for example, for arts programs)
"We move a lot of kids in grades 7-12...what they won't do is move a kid in 11th grade."
"not a central way for any parent who doesn't have information to know that..."
Bob says it's the principals.
"There's not a portal for parents" to get this information.
Request from admin a report on communicating to parents for middle and high school choices.
Question on magnet schools, as well...how do kids get in there? how do we know about those?
Mention about special ed students...narrowing of options for kids in particular programs
Monfredo says he'll file the motion at School Committee as well.

Three people doing registration, no greeter...see over 12,000 people a year.
You know, maybe we could get volunteers to do that part?
Online, changed year to year, in parent guide...