BUSD Kindergarten Information Night Recap

Tonight I attended a Berkeley Public Schools Kindergarten Information night along with about 150 other families. I was really impressed by the candor and quiet humor of Admissions director Francisco Martinez - he handled the questions of the crowd really well.

Some highlights of the evening:

• The rationale regarding the lottery system in BUSD was reviewed along with the current boundaries. The attendance zones are published on the berkeleyschools.net website, but a minor tweak to the boundaries from two years ago is that Malcolm X is considered both a Central and Northwest zoned school, and Berkeley Arts Magnet is considered both a Southeast and Central zoned school due to enrollment needs. 

• I was impressed by the clarity in which the thinking behind the zones was expressed. Basically, the district looked at parental education levels, family income levels, and ethnicity throughout the city and created attendance areas given those demographic factors. Thinking about creating diverse and integrated schools - while giving families choice - as families enroll, they assign each family a "diversity score" which simply reflects where you live. For example, I have a diversity score of 2, because I live in North Berkeley below MLK - it doesn't have anything to do with the actual education, income, or ethnicity of my family. Then, families are assigned to schools based on creating a balance of diversity scores (1 (hills), 2 (middle/central Berkeley), or 3 (flatlands)) at each school. This is all done by a computer in under three minutes!

• Children are assigned within the lottery by these priorities: 
• All children already enrolled are placed first (to maintain their "seat" in their current school)
• Siblings are enrolled next to keep families together at schools as much as possible
• Families who are choosing schools in their attendance zone
• Families who are chosen schools outside their attendance zone (this was not recommended throughout the talk)
• Finally, non-BUSD residents applying for spaces are given an opportunity if spaces still exist

• Mr. Martinez clarified that this is a highly computerized system that doesn't allow for individual biases, preferences, etc. MANY families asked about different ways of increasing their chances at receiving certain school assignments - and the answer to these questions was very clear.  While many families proposed more complicated theories, the district stated these are the only factors that assist with receiving a school of your choice.  

• Apply within the timeline - forms are due February 3rd, 2012 this year. 
• Applying in the attendance zone in which you live gives you a greater chance of being assigned your top three choices (due to the lottery priorities noted above).
• Write in all three choices as asked on the form - or the computer randomizes your choice that you left blank for you. 
• If you are interested in your child attending a two-way immersion program and they are not a Limited English Proficient learner (meaning, English is their native language and they speak it fluently) there are only 30 seats district wide. That isn't many - three to five times as many families as seats apply to this program yearly. If this is of interest to your family, Mr. Martinez recommended highly that you apply to the two-way immersion program  in your attendance area.  He stated that there is almost no way (statistically) to be assigned to a two-way immersion program outside your attendance area.
• However, if you want to try to get into an immersion program, feel free. That lottery is run first, before the "regular" lottery. The children are assigned to those programs and then, if they did not get a seat, are put through the regular lottery system using your other listed preferences on the enrollment form.
• There is a higher likelihood of getting into a school that is larger in your attendance area, than one than is smaller.  There are simply more seats available.

•  Waiting lists were discussed. Once your family as received your assignment, you have two weeks to request being placed on waiting lists for schools of your choice. 
• You can be on as many waiting lists as you would like at any time.
• Each waiting list is different. You could be #1 on one list and #150 on another.
• It isn't first come, first serve. You are placed on a list based on your diversity score and based on the priorities list above. Again, you are most likely to be placed higher on a waiting list in your attendance zone than outside your attendance zone.

•  Mr. Martinez addressed the concerns that BUSD has many children attending who do not live in Berkeley. He noted: 
• The district always asks for proof of residence, but proof can be forged.
• However, the district does allow children to attend BUSD who have a guardian who works for the district. This is allowed via their contract. 
• Intradistrict transfers are also allowed for some special education students on a case-by-case basis. 
• BUSD does also allow some other non-Berkeley families to attend due to "extenuating circumstances", but this is rarely granted and a seat needs to be available and not needed for a Berkeley resident. 

• Mr. Martinez concluded that if families have any questions, they should feel free to contact the admissions office for advice at 510-644-6504. 

Hope our brief summary is helpful. Post comments and questions below!