[Editor’s Note: We did not attend yesterday’s Penn Alexander rally at Penn. The information for the report below comes from some who did. We decided to reprint the statement from a parent below because we feel it provides an important perspective. That said, we hope that ALL of the neighborhood schools in the area could benefit from committed parents like the ones we have come to know from the situation at Penn Alexander.]

Several parents of prospective Penn Alexander School kindergartners rallied on Penn’s campus yesterday. Carrying signs and chanting “10 more in,” the parents hoped to attract the attention of top Penn administrators who were meeting inside Houston Hall and protest the School District of Philadelphia registration lottery held behind closed doors last week.

The district mailed notifications to parents this week indicating whether their child was admitted to the school. Most parents at the rally knew whether their child was one of the 10 who registered and were not selected in the computer-generated lottery.

The statement below is from Spruce Hill resident Eric Santoro, whose son attends Penn Alexander. His daughter was not selected in the lottery. He read the statement during the rally. The bold and capitals are in the original.

Earlier this morning, I learned that a computerized lottery wait listed my daughter for admission into Penn Alexander, her neighborhood school.  Penn Alexander is the school that her older brother already attends. It is the school where my wife is a room parent. It is the school where I became a founding member of the parent communication committee. It is the school that is the very reason I moved back to University City, after I moved away in 1997 following an epidemic of violence and murder against neighborhood residents. Like many of you here today, my wife and I chose to live in the Penn Alexander Catchment, and have made considerable investments of time and resources to the neighborhood, because we want the best urban education possible for our children

Now we are being asked to accept that a computer generated lottery, which was conducted in secret, and about which we were given no information, has rejected my daughter from the neighborhood school that drove us to live here in the first place. I cannot accept this. On January 18, when the school district capriciously changed Penn Alexander’s registration policies, the school disseminated a letter from Superintendent Hite that said:  “In an effort to make this process . . . less challenging for parents in the catchment area, the School District of Philadelphia has decided to conduct a lottery to determine kindergarten enrollment.”

Unfortunately, the School District got it absolutely backwards:  when you implement a lottery and break up families and neighborhoods, you have created the most, not a less, challenging situation for parents in the catchment area.  When the Penn Alexander School was created, one of the stated goals was “[t]o ensure a close and vital relationship between the Neighborhood School and the community it serves.”  This aspirational goal has been turned on its head.  The imposition of a lottery now threatens to make our neighborhood school, the very thing that divides and diminishes our neighborhood. 

Families, like mine, with multiple children cannot be asked to play the lottery over and over again and risk that their families will be strewn across the district.  Families will inevitably move, new families will inevitably refuse to move in, and our wonderful neighborhood will be torn apart – returning it to the days when Spruce Hill was mere transient stop for Penn employs to live for a couple of years before they move to the suburbs. This is also unacceptable.

We are told that the Penn Alexander lottery is a District “pilot” program. I have a better idea:  how about if instead of piloting a lottery, we pilot doing everything possible to allow all children to attend their neighborhood school? How about if instead of piloting a lottery, we pilot increased student enrollment even if it’s a little beyond our typical “comfort” level? How about if instead of piloting breaking up families, we pilot doing everything we can to keep families together? How about if instead of piloting a secret lottery, we pilot transparent processes where all impacted parents can understand how decisions are made about their children? How about if instead of piloting school district ultimatums and capricious decision making, we pilot increased community involvement and open dialogues about decisions that impact our children? How about if instead of piloting school district decision making based anonymous data and hypothetical conjecture, we pilot decision making that takes into consideration the actual, real life people and families who will be affected?

On January 18, 71 families got in line and planned to sleep outside for four days for a spot at Penn Alexander.  If 71 parents are willing to sleep outside for 4 nights in January so that their children can attend this school, then we are surely also willing to commit our time, resources, and diverse skill sets to help develop a solution to the enrollment issues.  Give us that chance! Give us a chance, and I have no doubt that a reasonable solution to the enrollment crunch will be achieved The School District and University of Pennsylvania need to recognize that the parents are not a problem to be dealt with; but rather, we need to be part of the solution.

Parental involvement in a neighborhood school can only be a good thing. And decisions about the school that impact the lives of families and do not involve the input of the community should be viewed as unacceptable and deemed invalid. We should not have to accept an untimely and entirely arbitrary pilot program.  The lottery was supposed to promote fairness, but singling out our children as a test case for the entire Philadelphia School District is the most unfair result of all.

To the School District and to the University of Pennsylvania, I implore you:  Let us help you FIND A WAY TO ENROLL 10 MORE CHILDREN AT PENN ALEXANDER!

 Thank you

Parents of some of next year’s prospective Penn Alexander School kindergartners will rally outside a University of Pennsylvania meeting on Wednesday to persuade the School District of Philadelphia to open up more spots in the school’s kindergarten and first grade. The rally comes as the District confirmed that the lottery was held and that parents would be notified by mail this week.

A group of parents of “kindergarten eligible students” are organizing the rally as Penn’s University Council meets. A representative of the group, a Penn professor, will speak during the “open forum” portion of the meeting, which allows members of the Penn community to raise issues. The meeting is only open to people affiliated with Penn and top Penn administrators are expected to be present. The rally is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. outside of Houston Hall at 3417 Spruce Street.

A Penn-affiliated parent who lives in the Lea School catchment is scheduled to speak on “partnering with local public schools beyond Penn Alexander.”

Penn Alexander rally organizers are asking that kindergarten class sizes, currently capped at 18, be increased to accommodate all registered students. Penn provides funding to the school to help keep the class sizes smaller than the District maximum of 30 seats per class.

“We request that seats be added to accommodate 22 Kindergarten students per class,” the rally organizers wrote in a statement.

The group also reiterated its opposition to the registration lottery, which was held by computer last week. According to the statement, 88 children registered for kindergarten, which includes some Head Start and special needs students who receive automatic enrollment. The increase to 22 seats would ensure admission for all students who registered.

“Based upon our group’s investigation we believe the existing kindergarten and first grade classrooms are large enough and can support more children,” the statement reads. “We believe that through a natural attrition, the class sizes for first grade will never reach close to 30.”

The group is also pressing the district to release details about how the lottery was conducted. So far district officials have only told parents that they will receive notification of their child’s status in the mail this week.

In an e-mail to prospective kindergarten parents, district spokesman Fernando Gallard wrote:

“The letter will advise if your child is admitted to the 2013-2014 class or if your child is on the waiting list. If an applicant is on the waiting list, a number advising the order on the waiting list will be cited in the letter.  The letter also asks applicants on the waiting list of their opportunity to seek enrollment at Lea School.”

– Mike Lyons

School district officials, including superintendent William Hite, will be at the Alexander Wilson School (1300 S. 46th St., near the southern tip of Clark Park) on Wednesday to hear public input on the school’s proposed closure ahead of a vote scheduled for March 7 that would shutter three dozen schools across the city. The public hearing will be held from 4-5:30 p.m.

The district’s facilities master plan released in December calls for the closure of Wilson, a neighborhood K-6 school, and the relocation some of its students to Lea Elementary School (47th and Locust). Wilson is one of 23 elementary schools that would be closed under the plan.

The District expects the closings and subsequent sales of the schools to save the district some $30 million per year.

But district officials have said those plans could be changed before the School Reform Commission’s vote on March 7. A key factor in the district’s recommendations to the School Reform Commission will be the public backing of a school, so everyone in the neighborhood is encouraged to attend the meeting.

As enrollment at the Penn Alexander School tightens every year, nearby schools are going to continue to feel some enrollment pressures, at least in the lower grades. The closure of Wilson will ratchet up that pressure.

Also, the City Council is holding hearings on school closings on Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. in room 400 of City Hall.  Hite and SRC members are expected to attend and testify. Council members are expected to negotiate a reduction in the number of school closures. For more on those meetings, go to The Notebook story here.

(Editor’s Note: We were not able to attend this meeting between the district and parents at Penn Alexander, but we have received minutes from the meeting that we have corroborated with several people who did attend. Please feel free to write us with additional information at editor – at – westphillylocal.com)

A Philadelphia School District official told a group of parents this morning that a proposed lottery for limited kindergarten spots at the Penn Alexander School will be conducted in late February. That decision follows parent requests that the district find a way to accommodate all the kindergarten students in the school’s catchment.

The announcement follows an inspection of the school by district officials to determine whether more kindergarten space could be added.

“There are no more opportunities for growth in this building,” said Karen Lynch, the district’s chief of student support services. “This building is at capacity. Any further opportunities for growth exist outside this structure.”

Some parents asked for a temporary increase in kindergarten enrollment caps, currently set at 18 per classroom, to accommodate students this year. The district refused. The district will also not offer automatic enrollment to siblings of currently enrolled students, the so-called “sibling preference” that many parents requested.

Lynch announced two important dates for parents:

• The deadline for applications for the computer-run lottery will be at the close of business on Monday, Feb. 11.

• Parents who apply for the lottery can simultaneously apply for a voluntary transfer request to attend another district school (if they are unsuccessful in the lottery) by Feb. 15. Voluntary transfer requests are typically due in November.

Penn Alexander currently has four kindergarten classes with a maximum capacity of 18 students each for a total of 72 spots. Kindergarten spots at Penn Alexander guarantee admission to following grades. Seats in those grades are also capped through an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania, which provides additional funding to the school.

Kindergarten spots are guaranteed for students who have enrolled at PAS through Head Start and students who have special needs documented in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Those students do not have to participate in the lottery.

Lynch told the parents that there are currently 82 students applying for kindergarten spots, including those through Head Start and those with IEPs.

The decision to switch to a lottery was initially made hours after dozens of parents began lining up in front of the school for kindergarten registration, a process which has become sort of a ritual for parents with young children who live in school’s catchment area. This year the line started four days early, prompting Superintendent William Hite to announce that a lottery will determine enrollment in the Fall. The lottery was originally scheduled for April, which left parents little time to make alternative school arrangements.

The Philadelphia School District is hosting a community meeting tonight, from 6-8 p.m. at the University City High School (36th and Filbert). The purpose of the meeting is to provide parents and community members with an opportunity to learn more about the Facilities Master Plan recommendations in the District’s West Planning Area. According to the recommendations, the following schools in the area are slated for closure: University City HS, Robeson, Wilson, Leidy, and McMichael. If the School Reform Commission (SRC) approves the proposed recommendations, these and many other schools in the city will be closed this summer. The SRC will vote on the proposed closure list in March.

Community members are welcome to ask questions, and share their input on the recommendations at tonight’s meeting. Please visit this page for more information on the Facilities Master Plan.

If you are not attending the meeting, you can watch it online here.

Editor’s Note: Reporters were barred from this meeting so that parents could feel free to speak their minds without fear that their names would be used. As a parent, I was able to attend the meeting, but honor that principle. No names – other than Superintendent William Hite – are used in the story. In another note, everyone has had a chance to vent about the line and those who participated in it. I, like many of you, know many people who were in the line and they are good, hard-working people who want their kids to go to the best school possible. So as of now, any comments that are of a personal nature or do not further the search for a solution will be deleted.

Superintendent William Hite speaks to parents at the Penn Alexander School on Tuesday.

Superintendent William Hite told a group of about 125 parents on Tuesday that the School District of Philadelphia would explore several options to address the kindergarten registration crisis at the Penn Alexander School. But he offered no immediate solution and did not take the proposed lottery off the table.

The options, he said, could include a lottery, but that the best long-term solution is to find out whether it’s “possible to serve every student in the catchment area,” a statement that drew applause from many parents present.

Hite seemed willing to rescind the lottery announced Friday if an equitable solution could be found.

He announced in a letter to parents on Friday that Penn Alexander would switch from a first-come, first-served process to a lottery to be held sometime in April. That announcement angered many parents who began standing in line to register Friday morning, four days before registration.

“Quite frankly I saw a process that from my perspective was not equitable,” said Hite, who told parents that he was only alerted to what might happen at the school during a meeting on Thursday evening.

Hite told parents that, while he understood that the line has become a protocol for registering at Penn Alexander, that it is unofficial.

“From my perspective the process begins when registration begins,” he said. “(That) is not the official start of the process to register.”

Several parents from Friday’s line requested that the district honor the list that circulated through the line indicating when each person began to line up.

“We got in that line because the school district steadfastly stood behind the first-come, first-served policy,” said one parent. “The line is the de facto school policy.”

That parent like many others who testified said they felt a mix of embarrassment, shame and chagrin to be forced to stand in the line, but that added that district was being disingenuous to change the policy with such late notice.

“I stood in that line not because I thought it was right, but because I thought it was what I had to do for my child,” one single mom said.

But another single mom testified that she couldn’t get off work to be in the line. Still another parent said that she refused to stand in the line.

One alternative to the lottery that gained traction during the meeting was to roll back kindergarten enrollment caps at the school, which are currently set at 18. One parent suggested raising them to 25 as a way to accommodate most, if not all, the students who want to register.

That solution raises questions about how those children will be accommodated in subsequent grades, where enrollment has also been capped. Caps in other grades is what has made kindergarten admission so coveted. Once a student gets into kindergarten, he or she is guaranteed a spot in the other grades.

One parent of a child who attends Penn Alexander middle school grades asked that those grades not be targeted in the quest for more space. The middle school grades, which have smaller classes than lower grades because students often leave in fifth grade for magnet schools, have been eyed before as a way to create additional classroom space.

“I beg you not to remove the middle school as you consider these plans,” she said.

It became clear during the meeting that more data should be collected and released that details the number of prospective kindergartners who live the catchment.

“We believe that decision are being made with the absence of data,” said one parent.

Here are some more outcomes of the meeting:

• The district asked for members of the community to volunteer to be on an advisory committee that would be part of the decisionmaking process. Several people lined up after the meeting to sign up.

• A meeting between district officials and that advisory committee will likely take place in the next week.

• No decision was made today to rescind the lottery.

• Some parents requested that Alexander Wilson School, which could be an alternative for those who are not admitted to Penn Alexander, not be closed.

• A call for more transparency between parents, the community, school officials and the school district.