Got the Pre-K Blues

I've been avoiding blogging about this in hopes that I could get the situation changed, but at this point there's not much hope. Also please forgive any irrational outbursts that may occur - I found myself thinking about this situation this morning and getting really angry about it.

Zipper was lucky enough to get a spot in the school district's Pre-K program this fall. (Sadly, Rascal lost out on the Pre-K lottery two years ago, but never mind that now.) I was particularly grateful because there were a particularly large number of applicants this year, due to the 9/11 baby boom (I hope all you elementary schools are ready for what's coming next fall!), and resulting in a waiting list of >60 kids.

I was even happier to hear that the district managed to get the additional funding so that they could have a pre-K class in my son's elementary school (as opposed to having to go to one of the other schools in the district).

So imagine my dismay to find that Zipper was assigned not to his elementary school (which I can see from my front door), and not to the second closest school (still within reasonable walking distance for the little guy, although across two major roads), but to the third closest school.
Which I will have to drive to - it's too far away and across a highway.

OK, now this wouldn't even be a problem except that Zipper is let out at 3:00 PM, and Rascal is let out at 3:05 PM. What the hell am I supposed to do? I have to drive to get Zipper, because the district doesn't provide transportation for pre-K, and it's ridiculous for Rascal to take the bus because the bus stop is farther from home than the school is!

Now, hear me out, I've thought of some of the possibilities of how to work this out:

1) Rascal walks home from school. It's not far, obviously. But I can only trust him to cross the street safely about 90% of the time, and he has to cross two streets with no crossing guard. Traffic is heavy for our neighborhood at that time because of school dismissal. So I have to trust that all those drivers are paying attention all the time for when my son is not. Yeah, right. Paranoid mom estimated chance of Rascal being hit by a car sometime during the school year: 10% (No, there's no scientific basis, leave me alone!)

In addition, of the approximately 60 children that "walk" home from school (about 40 of them get chauffered by mommy or daddy), there are only 5 or 6 kids that walk home by themselves, by my best estimate, with half of them living directly across the street from school, and all but one being 9 or 10 years old (the single younger child walking with his older brother).

I'm not stupid, I'm not crazy - I've observed these trends. And my son is *6*. And do you know what I see? A 6-year-old, walking by himself, mostly along a road where lots of other kids are being picked up by parents, and to an unlocked house without an adult within view makes him the number one and perhaps only reasonable target for someone to pick him up, heaven forbid.

Sure, the chance is small. But I know there are at least 25 registered sex offenders in my town, and my son would be easy pickings. No, this is not an option.

2) I get Zipper from school early, thereby disrupting the pre-K class's end-f-day preparations, and then rush over to Rascal's school to get him. (most likely option) Now, Zipper's school lets out at 3:05 as well, so in order to fight for a parking spot among the throng there (and to get out again!) I'm going to have to be *very* early getting him. And then I'm either going to have to fight for a parking spot at Rascal's school, which is downright silly because I'm going to have to park almost as far away as my house, (or farther! remember, there's gong to be an extra 20 or so pre-K kids that need to get home that weren't there last year!) or I will have to go home, drag Zipper out of the car, and walk to Rascal's school to meet him. Oh, joy. Especially in the winter.

This is just nuts. If Zipper had been assigned to Rascal's school, I'd walk out the door at 2:55 PM, get Zipper, wait outside for a couple minutes for Rascal, and be home by 3:10. But no, I'm going to have to leave the house at 2:25 so I can get Zipper back home by 2:55 and to Rascal's school by 3:05 (Zipper's little legs take longer to get there). Nice, huh?

So the question is, why wasn't Zipper assigned to the pre-K class in his brother's school? Well, pretty simple actually, there's more kids living in that neghborhood looking for a pre-K slot than there are slots available. The district told me that priority was indeed to keep pre-K students with their older siblings if possible. Since there were too many kids asking for spots at both our first and second-choice schools, Zipper was bumped to the third-choice school (oh, which, btw is in one of the worse sections of town [not that bad though really]).

OK, so they have the priortization to match up siblings, but they don't seem to have a second order corresponding to the age or grade level of these siblings. Look, this wouldn't be much of a problem if Rascal was in 4th or 5th grade. By then he should be able to pretty much handle himself.

Heaven help the district here if my assumptions are wrong - I'm *assuming* that the district has placed the pre-K classes based pretty much on where they are needed (and where they have enough space, of course), and that my child is one of the few that gets screwed by the process. As it is I'm angry because one of the other moms in my church had her child at about 25th on the waiting list, and she finally ended up with a slot at either her first or second choice school (I forget which), which, btw, are the two schools that was my first or second choice. Yeah.

I'm inclined to complain to the district, but it's not likely to help my kid. I'd also need to be sure to get all my facts straight before I criticize their process - and maybe there isn't a good solution to the problems generated by this system. As it is, Zipper's on a waiting list to transfer to one of the other schools, but it's extremely unlikely at this point.

So a big congrats to the Ken-Ton school district! Two children, two bad pre-K experiences. A great way to start off a long relationship, if you ask me.