Thread: Will Little Kiann miss first day of school?

LITTLE KIANN MISS HER FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?
PARENTS' LATE PAPERWORK PLAGUES PLAINFIELD



STEVEN BUYANSKY/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
There is no guarantee Plainfield School District student Kiann House will be able to attend the first few days of school. Kiann's mom, Susan Oppelt, finished up the registration process Monday afternoon at the district offices.

By Catherine Ann Velasco
STAFF WRITER

PLAINFIELD — Missing one document from his former school district in Texas, Javier Rodriguez, 13, left the Plainfield School District registrar's office Monday disappointed because he won't be able be go to class Wednesday, the first day of school.

"I like to be prepared for all my classes and that's when they tell you what extra supplies you need," said Javier, who had straight A's on last year's report card from his middle school in San Antonio, Texas.

To attend school Wednesday, students must have been registered Friday — giving the district two business days to process forms and get students' information to one of its 25 schools.

Students who register today may not be able to start school until Friday.

However, registrars tell parents to call the school in a day and see if the school has processed the information.



Repeated attempts


That information surprised some people in line, but many were repeats like Javier's mom, Amelia Rodriguez, who was making her second trip to the registrar's office Monday, hoping the fax from Texas came.
She has been trying to register her 13-year-old son for two weeks, cutting through a lot of red tape. Plainfield School District requires a form filled out by the prior school district, stating the student left in good standing — meaning the person wasn't expelled or suspended.

However, Amelia Rodriguez was told by the Texas school district that they don't normally send that form and would need a fax from Plainfield School District, which the registrars sent. Now, it's just a waiting game.

"He's upset. He doesn't want to miss his first day of school," she said. "He said that's when you get to know everyone."



Record-breaking numbers


Even though the schools' marquees have been asking people to register as soon as possible, there always seems to be a mad, last-minute rush to register about 100 new students each day.
But this year, parents broke the record, registering about 190 students a day.

On Aug. 15, there were 25,500 students registered and, less than a week later, there were an additional 949 children for a total of 26,449 students enrolled as of 1:20 p.m. Monday.

The district ended the 2005-06 school year with 24,875 students. By June, the district expects to have 27,475 students. The district is expecting 13,000 new students in five years. Currently, Plainfield School District is the fifth largest district in the state, but in 15 to 20 years will be the second largest with about 55,000 students. Chicago Public Schools is the largest.

So registering as soon as possible is the district's motto and last-minute folks make it difficult because some schools may have to split classes and hire new teachers.

"It certainly creates challenges in making sure we are prepared for the start of the year," said Carla Erdey, district's director of community relations. "We can't hire the teacher until we definitely have the students."


- Reporter Catherine Ann Velasco can be reached at (815) 729-6051 or cvelasco@scn1.com.

08/22/06

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/top/4_1_JO22_RUSH_S10822.htm

"He's upset. He doesn't want to miss his first day of school," she said. "He said that's when you get to know everyone."

Now I don't know if he's legal or not......but there's obviously paperwork that's needed for ANY kid to get in school. You can be here illegally but you can't get in trouble in grade school.