Students tossed in school choice pools wait, see

They're entering kindergarten, but more than 80 south Lee County kids already are learning how to wait in line.

Vying for a spot at the region's most popular schools, the students each are in "eligibility pools," wait lists Lee County School District officials use to attempt to get each their top pick before August.

They join students across the district's south zone — including 111 hoping for a spot at Three Oaks Middle School next year — closely watching the mail in the hope their dream school will suddenly have an opening.

The pools are a second chance for kids whose parents might not have entered their paperwork early enough in the district's school choice process to be guaranteed a spot at their favorite school. The annual school choice lottery predominately affects students entering kindergarten, sixth grade and their freshman year of high school. After parents rank their picks for all the schools in their geographical zone, the district uses a formula to assign each child a spot.

The majority of children who are considered in the district's first round of school choice, which concluded in March, get their first choice. Those who enter later in the game often wait in pools and can receive notice even after school already has started that their pick is finally available. In the meantime, they are assigned their second, third or even fifth or sixth choice school.

According to numbers from early this month, several south Lee County schools have waiting lists this summer, from South Fort Myers High, where 69 students were hoping to get in, to Bonita Springs Elementary, where a total of 42 kids were crossing their fingers.

For the small elementary school, that number represented fully 10 percent of the total seats it has available.

Just 72 kids can be enrolled in next year's kindergarten class there. An additional 39 kindergartners were on the wait list last week.

Principal David Short said the school scheduled tours every day for parents hoping to get a look at its programs.

Now, some who fell in love with the school are calling, hoping there is something they can do to still get in.

"I can't help them," he said. "I really wish we could just take all of the kids."

Over the summer he can.

The free voluntary prekindergarten program running out of the school this summer does still have space, he said.

Beyond that, it will be a wait for those parents hoping to see their kids go to school there in the fall.

The 39 wait-listed kids there were part of a total of 83 kindergarten students waiting for spots at popular Bonita Springs, Estero, San Carlos Park and South Fort Myers schools.

Mike Smith, director of planning, growth and school capacity for the district, said some students will get lucky over the summer.

At a school as small as Bonita Springs Elementary, though, he said it is unlikely all those waiting will be enrolled there by fall.

There might be some disappointment at Three Oaks Middle, as well, where of the 111 kids in the eligibility pool, 84 were incoming sixth-graders.

Principal Mike Carson, who has been at the school in varying capacities since 1993, said he thinks its popularity can be attributed to its teachers and its reputation as a community school.

With an open-door policy on problems, parents feel comfortable approaching the administration with their needs, he said.

"A lot of it boils down to word of mouth," he said.

The district knows that's true.

Newer schools, like Rayma C. Page Elementary in San Carlos Park, which opened this year, still have availability. During the school choice process, district employees work with parents to showcase programs available at lesser known schools to pique interest.

South Fort Myers High School, which also opened this year, also has created its own buzz.

Smith said 69 students were in its eligibility pool as of early June, 61 of whom hope to enter as freshmen.

The more established Estero High School has a waiting list too; 29 students were hoping to get in there. None, however, are freshmen.