OUSD waitlist response
Our daughter is waitlisted for Kaiser Elementary for kindergarten this fall. She is #2 on the list and the district says she has a good chance of getting in. We have been waitlisted since March when appeals started and I was wondering if any BPN'ers who were/are also on a waitlist had heard back? The thought of it being July and not knowing is stressful for our family ):. Has anyone else had experience in the past with finding out this late?
Jul 8, 2016
Parent Replies
Hi! I am sorry to hear about the waitlist. As a planner myself having to wait for such a big decision is very frustrating. I went through this with my older child (over 11 years ago! and at Kaiser as well). I can say we did get in. Things tend to shift a lot over the summer and often folks who have decided not to go, don't let anyone know. I recommend contacting the school directly to see if they might have a better handle on the number of incoming kindergarteners. Kaiser is great! My youngest just graduated 5th grade from Kaiser.
We got in off the wait list at our first choice school and gave up our kindergarten spot at Kaiser. We got the call on June 1st, but it wasn't all official until about a week later when we actually got the paperwork in the mail. We had expected to not know for sure until the week before school started in August (or even later). I would suggest going to the Student Assignment Office in person (they have been much more helpful in person than on the phone) to find out your current position on the wait list and confirm/remind them that you really want to be at Kaiser. Most of the school sites (unless they have a summer school program) are closed until August and it is all controlled by the SAC anyway. If you were #2 on the original Kaiser wait list you should be at least #1 on now with our spot freed up, and it is possible that they have just stopped being proactive over the summer about re-assigning off the wait lists. Good luck; we were in the same boat until last month and it was really hard for everyone.
From what I've heard, many schools in wealthier neighborhoods (Kaiser, Hillcrest, Chabot) will put you on a waitlist and many of the neighborhood families first enroll in the public school as a fallback, and also enroll in private schools, without telling the public school that they are not attending. So the waitlist families may have to wait until the first week, but will get their preferred school. Best of luck!