Gifted and talented score release delayed
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The Department of Education announced on their website that score notifications for applicants to elementary school gifted and talented programs would not be released today, as scheduled, but on Monday instead. Last year, the process was delayed repeatedly and students’ placements were eventually delivered by a courier service. Parents who were closely watching the Department of Education website last night noticed that around 5 p.m. the timeline changed from May 1 notification to notification “shortly”.
This morning, the following message appeared: “Gifted & Talented Final Update – May 1, 2009 - Score Reports and Applications (for eligible students) will be mailed to families by Monday, May 4, 2009. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Amy Rabinowitz, whose daughter is on the waitlist for PS 290, said that the DOE has exhausted all of her patience and understanding. “I have been trying very hard to lay low and say that it will all work out,” she said “but at this point I am convinced that it isn’t going to work out. I am infuriated.”
Rabinowitz had never been convinced that a gifted and talented placement was the best option for her child. She really liked PS 290 and had thought initially that if her daughter was offered a G&T placement then she would have a difficult decision to make. “Now, essentially, the G&T is backup for the local school,” she said, “which is a mess.”
She is hoping that even if her daughter doesn’t score high enough for a gifted and talented program, the G&T placements will result in movement on the PS 290 waitlist. She is furious at the delay in releasing the scores. “To change the date at the end of the day that the schools are supposed to be posted?” she said. “It is like taking the knife and pushing if further in. I question how the Department of Education is going to be able to educate my daughter when there is such poor planning and poor organization.”
Parents posting on the Insideschools forum are also finding their “patience and understanding” tested.
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This is like the 4th time they pushed back the date for release of scores. Originally it was April 6th, then mid-April, then April 21st, then April 30th and now May 4th.
I am like the women in the article, my daughter was waitlisted at all the schools we applied and I am waiting for the release of the scores so that the shift will finally gain us entry into a school.
I also hate that there has been no explanation from the DOEs end.
Extremely frustrated mom.
Cathy
Comment by Cathy — May 1, 2009 @ 11:06 am
In all of his infinite business wisdom, Bloomberg must understand … and perhaps should pass this sentiment onto Klein … that we, as parents, are the school systems “clients” and from all parts of the city and from many different angles we are telling them we are not happy with their services. Being that their services are for our most-important investments is where they turn the tables to make us feel powerless … but we are their clients and they need to be more accountable and equitable. Have a deadline, meet it. Have a service (an educational program like G&T, preK, etc) you make it available where your customers are.
Comment by Anonymous — May 1, 2009 @ 11:29 am
Did you note that the DOE web site is calling the current G&T update “Final”? Do you think that the concept of “Final” is fully understood by the DOE.
Comment by Anonymous — May 1, 2009 @ 11:40 am
I am having a hard time to understand the outrage over this. Did your life come to a standstill because of these delays? Are you like children who were promised something to happen at some certain day but it didn’t work out and now you need to throw tantrums? Or are you one of those zoned school, G&T, or bust kind of families? Help me out here.
Comment by Clemens — May 1, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
Clemens,
I am having a hard time understanding your irritation with this. Did your life come to a standstill because of some parents being upset about these delays? Are you like a child who is uncomfortable because he or she can’t control how other people react to certain things? Or are you a private school parent or a DOE adminstration employee?
Help us out here.
Comment by TJ — May 1, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Clemens is obviously not a parent to a child who has been waitlisted at a zoned school. Bottom line is the DOE has lots of room for improvement; yet not much movement in that direction. All children should have a right to a seat in their zoned school and not have to go through such a circus in order to obtain it. Asking parents to wait in limbo for unspecified period of time is ludicrous.
Comment by Motherof2 — May 1, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
Like the parent in the article, I am also waiting on G&T scores to make a final decision on kindergarten. We are wait listed on all our charter school choices and have a spot at a District 3 public school I am not thrilled about, but will keep as stand by. If all else fails, my daughter will remain at the catholic school she is currently attending. Financially, it will be very difficult for me, but the city doesn’t really leave me much of a choice when it comes to obtaining free education. As far as Clemens, if he/she was in the position that some of are in, his/her comment wound not have been written. I am exercising ALL my options as I have a right to.
Comment by AriannaFan — May 1, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
Clemens,
I’ll help you out. Why don’t you move to the Upper east side and have your child be put on the waitlist like other children. Then you will find your answer to your ignorant questions.
Comment by Anon — May 1, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
Thanks for the replies. The thing is, my child is on the waiting list. I know, though, that we will have a spot for my child sooner or later. We are waiting for the OLSAT scores as well. Life goes on as usual. One day we will open the mailbox and we will find the results. And soon thereafter (within the next two months) we will know what school she will go to. I guess it is just a different attitude toward the process and the DOE?
Comment by Clemens — May 2, 2009 @ 7:12 am
Did DOE give a reason it had to push the mailing back? My child did get accepted last year in a g/t class, but I received the info by courier. That can’t be cheap. I’ve given the DOE a lot of slack and often defend the organization. But after the pre-k craziness last year, kindergartners on waiting lists for their zoned school (this is my biggest complaint), and what appears to be a bias toward kids attending charters, I’ve started to question the DOE’s commitment to public schools and the children attending them. I won’t flee the city because of work and, let’s face it, I love the city, but please DOE, be an advocate for the children and cut some slack to the parents of those children. Stop acting like we’re the enemy.
Comment by Anon — May 2, 2009 @ 7:13 am
TJ, I don’t know where you get this idea from that I am irritated. I am doing the exact same thing like you folks. Waiting for the placement. My life is going on as usual but I think it is quite amusing to see the reaction to a harmless delay like this. There must be a deeper seating hate for the DOE at work. Otherwise I just don’t understand the outrage. Maybe we should save that when the DOE comes back to us with absolutely no seat at all at the latest possible time? Yes, if that’s the case sign me up for a rally. Until then I sit at home, do my thing, let my children do their things, and check my mail once a day as always.
Comment by Clemens — May 2, 2009 @ 7:16 am
If Bloomberg and Klein didn’t pride themselves on their “business-like” attitudes, then the DOE’s deadline shifting wouldn’t be so pronounced (god knows they’ve done it before). But any business that promised a certain product on a certain date and then kept pushing back that date would draw a lot flak from its customers for breach of contract … And the lack of explanations from the DOE (including its “randomized” wait list policy) does fuel the idea that parents don’t much matter in the scheme of things: what about, for example, families who have to move into the city for work and are wondering what neighborhood/school zone they should move into? Given the waitlists at so many schools, they can’t be assured that they will be able to go to their neighborhood school, much less a G&T. So no, we don’t let the mailbox (with scores, or letters of acceptance, or waitlist notification) rule our lives, but on the other hand, is there anything wrong with wanting to know, before Sept. 8, where one’s K student will be going?
Comment by deborah l quinn — May 23, 2009 @ 7:36 am