Four weeks into the new kindergarten application process, parents and officials at some of the city's 800 elementary schools report a bumpy start. Parents say they are being turned away from schools that are not in their zone, and some schools aren't following Department of Education guidelines.

The DOE standardized the timeline and admissions rules for the 2009 kindergarten class, granting parents a six-week period to apply to all schools they are interested in, regardless of their school zone. Parents may apply in person to schools by March 2, and schools will extend offers of admissions in mid-March according to a set list of priorities.

"We decided that the best way we could improve the kindergarten process was to set a clear timeline that all schools would use and eliminate some of the stress that came with first-come first-served admissions," said Andy Jacob, a spokesperson for the DOE.

However, the transition to the new system hasn't been entirely smooth. "Everyone has a different story," said one parent from Forest Hills, who, like all other parents Insideschools.org spoke to, did not want to be identified by name. "No one person knows exactly the rules... I have had close to five arguments with different [employees] of the DOE before my little guy is even in the system!"

Getting the word out

The application process officially began on Jan. 12, according to the centralized timetable, but some schools were not ready for applicants. One parent said her zoned school was unaware of the process until she arrived to apply and informed them of the policy change. She waited an hour while they scrambled to come up with a system to deal with applicants.

| PS234 kindergarten letter |

According to the DOE, parents need to bring only two proofs of residence to apply before March 2, but some schools maintain their own requirements. On Manhattan's Upper West Side, staff at P.S. 199 told a parent to come after March 2 and to bring three proofs of residence. Parent Coordinator Carmen Russo said that PS 199 was using the information gathered from the monthly school tours to fulfill the application requirement and signing parents up for meetings with documentation afterward. A sign posted outside P.S. 234 in Tribeca states that the school will accept bank and credit card statements as proof of residence but not leases, which is a departure from the DOE's regulation.

"One person told me that principals have the right to say what they want," said the mother from Forest Hills. "They rule their own schools without any concern to the DOE."

Marty Barr, the executive director of elementary school enrollment, said that principals were sent a detailed memo outlining the change in November and given specific direction through web-casts in December. Parents of pre-kindergarten students were sent postcards, and the process is prominently posted on the DOE's website.

"We expect schools to follow the guidelines that we set," said DOE Spokesperson Jacob. "To the extent that we can monitor it, we will, but if parents or anyone else brings something to our attention of a school not following the guidelines we set, then we will follow up with the school."

Apply to as many schools as you want - but will you get in?

The DOE's memo advises families to apply to "every school they are interested in having their child attend, including their zoned school," but in reality, administrators at popular schools are dissuading families who don't live in the zone from applying. "We are a catchment school and only accept students from our catchment," said the parent coordinator at PS 199, although she added that the school was keeping a record of out-of-zone families who apply.

On the Insideschools.org forum, a mom posted a letter she wrote to Chancellor Joel Klein describing how an elementary school out of her zone initially refused to allow her to apply. When she returned to the school with the DOE's memo, she said the principal responded, "Oh, yeah, I know about that, but I can tell you now, you will not be going to this school." Only after insisting was she allowed to submit her son's information.

The parent of a child with special needs said she thought she had misunderstood the policy after every school she called out of her zone told her that her child had no chance of being accepted.

A Brooklyn mother in District 21 asked the administrative assistant at her zoned school if her child would be accepted. "She told me there is no guarantees," the parent wrote in an e-mail to Insideschools.org. "If I were to play it safe, I should go to another school and apply there, as well." She followed the advice and went to a second school. "The office worker at the second school told me that most likely we will get accepted to our zone school and didn't understand why they were sending people to other schools," she said. "I don't know if I should submit the application to the second school because I don't want to [weigh] them down with paperwork that isn't necessary."

Extra work for the schools?

Parents and administrators question whether asking families to apply this early and encouraging them to apply to multiple schools creates unnecessary work for the schools. A mother who lives on the Upper West Side admits that her family is not sure of their plans, and although they applied at their zoned school, they are waiting for admissions decisions from private schools and scores on the gifted and talented test.

At PS 234, the lines of parents trying to apply have stretched down the block each morning, one father reported to Insideschools.org in an e-mail. Since the school has hired extra staff to help with the process through Feb. 6, the school is encouraging parents to apply by the end of this week.

Christina Fuentes, principal of PS 24 in Brooklyn, reports that her staff has established "a nice, orderly process" for parents. She anticipates having room for 120 kindergarteners, and as of Feb. 2, had accepted applications from 86 families, seven of whom don't live in the school's zone. But she expects a lot of movement before school opens in September.

"We have a lot of mobility in our community," she said, especially as the economy has faltered. "This process feels like it is potentially a lot of paperwork for us and a lot of contact with families that may be a moot point because then they are gone by September."

Parents who are experiencing difficulties in applying for kindergarten can call the central elementary school enrollment office at 212-374-4948.

How do you think the kindergarten process is working? Join the conversation on our forum.