Dear Judy,

My son has been assigned to a high school he doesn't want to attend. How does the appeals process work?

Queens  Mom

Dear Queens Mom,

While the initial high school placements are made by computer, appeals are handled by human beings. If you have not already done so, enlist the help of your son's 8th grade guidance counselor. The guidance counselor is a key player, while an appeals committee makes the  final decision. The counselor is responsible for entering data from the appeals form into the Student Enrollment Management System (SEMS) data base and also adds a confidential recommendation. So get her on board.  It doesn’t hurt to speak to the school that you are requesting, but the decision is not up to them.

In the past, appeals have been pretty successful. In 2008 – the latest year for which we have data – out of 3,722 appeals, 3, 234 were granted.<!--more-->

The Department of Education enrollment office had this to say about the appeals process:

"Appeals are reviewed case by case and determinations are made based on a number of factors including:

  • Reason for the appeal; the strongest appeals are generally due to travel, safety or medical hardship (as defined by Chancellor’s Regulations) associated with the current match, or data entry error through no fault of the family
  • Admissions methods, admissions priorities and eligibility for the program(s) and schools that the student selected on the appeals form
  • Whether or not the student was already considered in previous rounds, and if so, any rank that was already assigned by the program
  • Whether or not the appeals form indicated that the student was willing to be placed in a program other than the one(s) selected on the appeals form, if selected programs could not be accommodated

·         Seat availability"

Travel hardship is usually defined by a commute of more than 90 minutes. Additional reason for an appeal might be that there are unmet special education needs such as a non-accessible site or lack of needed services. You may also ask for a new small school that is opening in September.

Parents and students may also appeal on the ground that the curriculum at the assigned school is unsuitable.  I heard of one case some years ago when a Brooklyn student who could not sing was assigned to Choir Academy of Harlem. That may be an extreme case, but clearly a mismatch between a student’s interests and talents and the school to which he was assigned is a good reason to appeal.

If your appeal fails, ninth grade provides another chance. Ninth graders may apply through the admissions process all over again and with savvy born of past experience, can try for a better placement. Of course, freshman year at his assigned school can turn out to be much better than anticipated, if  your son gives it a chance.  Remember, you have to turn in the appeal to the middle school guidance counselor by June 3rd

Good luck!

Judy