Elissa Gootman writes today about families whose kids didn't get kindergarten seatsin their local schools, a block and a half from home. We're also hearing from parents whose children haven't been offered seats in nearby schools -- and, in District 28 in Queens, of students offered kindergarten seats at two elementary schools (which is a byproduct of the new system, since parents are able to apply to any number of schools and each school handles its own admissions offers).

DOE spokesman Andy Jacob says that families should wait until September -- a comment that seems a little cavalier on the surface, as families who've been in the kindergarten search mode for many months will take little comfort in waiting another two seasons. But, Jacob adds, “the bottom line is schools have to accommodate all of their zoned students, unless they work out a capping plan with us, and that happens in September." So far, Gootman reports, 34 schools outside Manhattan have capped their kindergarten enrollment. It's not known how many more will say "enough" -- or if the capping trend will extend to Manhattan, where schools have never, according to Jacob, previously capped their kindergarten registers.

The landscape is additionally complicated by zoning questions -- some areas that once had zoned elementaries no longer do, other neigh borhoods have seen a new school open without rezoning the surrounding blocks. The basic question -- whether the DOE's standardized kindergarten enrollment process makes sense -- remains open. Let's hope that city families won't have to wait until September for that answer, too.