The parents of 201 Tribeca 4-year-olds opened letters from P.S.234 Principal Lisa Ripperger last month, and many of them were not happy with the news.

“This year, P.S. 234 had a large number of kindergarten applications which is more than the available seats we have at this time,” the letter began. “So, we have placed your child on a wait list.”

“It’s an awful, miserable letter,” sighed Kathryn St. Andre of 50 Murray St., who learned that her son Alex was number 61 on a wait list of 67 children.
“I’m heartbroken,” said April Uchitel, who recalled getting a lump in her throat when she read that her daughter Luella is number 23 on the list.

But for those who “won” the De-partment of Education’s electronic lottery, there was a sense of relief. “I feel like now I can point across the street and say to Sarina, ‘This is going to be your school,’” said Sunita Shah, who lives a block from P.S. 234 at 275 Greenwich St. “We were kind of shocked when we opened the letter.”

There are only 115 non-special education seats for the 201 families who applied to kindergarten at P.S. 234. Sixty-three of those places are reserved for children with siblings in the school, leaving unfavorable odds for the remaining parents.

Those who were not initially accepted will have to wait until mid-May, following the end of the official registration period, to find out which school the Department of Education has selected for them.

Elizabeth Rose, the DOE official in charge of the process, said the city will accommodate the overflow of students by opening a fourth kindergarten class at P.S. 276 in lower Battery Park City when its new building opens in the fall. P.S. 397 on Spruce Street may also open a fourth class, she said. P.S. 3 in Greenwich Village is considered an option if there is still not enough space in the four Lower Manhattan schools. But Rose said only “a couple” of seats, if any, are expected to open at P.S. 89, the next closest school to most Tribeca families.

Children will be assigned to the nearest available school seats, Rose said.

The uncertainty has some parents anxious, and angry that they can’t express their second choice. Having learned that families in Battery Park City’s Gateway Plaza, zoned for P.S. 89, will be given the option of attending P.S. 276, the school closer to their homes, these Tribeca parents also want a say in picking a school for their children.

“This is clearly not an equitable situation,” said Jim St. Andre. “We need to have the right to choose one of the schools we go to or have some sort of an option.”

Rose defended the decision to give Gateway Plaza parents a choice between two schools.

“It didn’t seem appropriate for us to say, ‘Okay, we’re opening up more capacity at P.S. 276 and you people who live closest to it and who fought [during the recent zoning debates] to be in that zone are not eligible.”

In a resolution passed last month, Community Board 1 supported parents who want to have a say in their second choice. The next night, the Community Education Council voted to support the CB1 resolution, adding that parents throughout the city should have the same option to express a second choice.

“We didn’t build seats and we didn’t get the zoning plans right,” said CEC member Michael Markowitz. “At this point [parents] should get something back, which is a chance to have their voice heard for where they’d rather go.”

Rose responded that the policy for wait lists is citywide and will not be changed this year. “What we’re going to do we’re going to do equally to all zones in all schools in the city,” she said.

“Even if it’s a citywide policy, policies can change,” said Annabell Vered, number 26 on the wait list. Because her apartment in northern Tribeca is between P.S. 3 and P.S. 276,  she said she’s like to choose between the two.

Rose said that giving parents a second choice could only heighten anxiety and disappointment rather than relieve it. “I don’t particularly relish the idea of two months from now coming back after you have expressed a preference…and then not getting the one that you requested.”
Meanwhile, for all her disappointment, April Uchitel said she takes heart from her 4-year-old, Luella, who is blissfully unaware of the tensions and unhappiness surrounding fall enrollment.

“She said to me, ‘I hear kindergarten is the best time of your life,’” Uchitel recalled. “And with that attitude, I feel like she is going to be great no matter where she goes.”