Students who didn't get their first choice schools likely to get more opportunities

Parents of Lee County students who didn’t get their first, second or even third choice for their children’s school next year, don’t despair.

Though the school district’s school choice lotteries are over, the shuffling has just begun.

The process of assigning incoming kindergartners, sixth-graders and ninth-graders, as well as any other student who wants to switch schools, began in January but will continue through the first 20 days of the next school year.

According to the district as many as 4,038 students are in eligibility pools for their preferred schools, many with a good chance of being placed.

In the first round of school choice, which ended in March, students were assigned based on a variety of factors, including ethnicity and geography, through a lottery after their parents ranked their choices for schools in their zone.

Ninety-six percent were placed in one of their top three schools.

Students who don’t get their first choice automatically go into the eligibility pools and may be placed later as the enrollment situation changes.

Parents who waited until the second round, which ended last week, didn’t do as well.

Mike Smith, director of planning, growth and school capacity for the district, said 49 percent of students from that batch are enrolled in their first choice school, compared to 82 percent who got their top pick in the first round.

Eighty percent of second batch applicants got in at their first, second or third choice, he added.

Some popular schools already were filled by the time the second batch started, Smith said. The number of students involved in the lottery also was larger than the district expected, bringing 3,773 students into the mix.

The school district mailed out results of the second round of school choice to parents this week.

Those who don’t like the news might need only to wait.

Enrollment at the schools change daily, as some students withdraw from the district or switch schools, Smith said.

Lee County expects 8,500 applications between now and the first weeks of the 2006-07 school year. The majority will be students new to the district, though many will replace current students who have enrolled elsewhere.

Even students who sign up late have a chance of getting into the school they want through the eligibility pools, Smith said.

According to district records, 562 students were offered places at a first-choice school after the lotteries.

Smith said 160 declined. About 40 offers still are out, he said.

By 20 days into the school year, nearly all students from the first batch will be offered their top pick, Smith said.

“It’s very, very typical that 95 percent at least will have an opportunity to move into their first-choice school,” he said.