Comments made by Anna Commitante at aparent forum this weekin Brooklyn seemed to contradict the posted, published gifted and talented handbookin regard to DOE policy on sibling preference.

For clarity: DOE officials say there is, in fact, sibling preference , in both district and citywide g+t programs. Siblings who score above minimum thresholds will be permitted to enroll in the school/program their older sibling attends, provided that's the school that's ranked first on the g+t application.

In fact, siblings who are eligible can be offered seats ahead of non-siblings with higher scores. As David Cantor of the DOE wrote, "If the sibling is eligible, he or she gets preference for admission into the program over a student who may have scored higher. E.g, the sibling of a student enrolled in Anderson who scored in [the] 97th percentile will get preference for admission into Anderson over an applicant who scored in [the] 99th percentile but doesn't have a sibling in the school."

So, yes to sibling preference, provided minimum scores are met; and tough break for non-sib kids who score higher, because the sibs get the first shot at the coveted, g+t seats.