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Q&A
Discussion on Three-K waitlists and application process
2:20:27
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152 sec
Council Member Shahana Hanif inquires about the Three-K waitlists and application process, expressing concern about families potentially losing money on private childcare deposits while waiting for placements. DOE officials explain their efforts to address these issues.
- DOE has moved up application dates to help families plan better
- The timeline for processing waitlists varies depending on program demand
- Officials acknowledge the challenge of families paying deposits to private centers
- The enrollment office has adjusted timelines for various grade levels to mitigate these issues
Shahana Hanif
2:20:27
So I'll ask about the three ks wait lists.
2:20:34
How are we making sure that while families are waiting, they're not depositing thousands of dollars to private childcare centers?
Travonda Kelly
2:20:49
Thank you for your question.
2:20:51
Well, one, we moved up our all of the application dates we have moved up so that families can plan.
Shahana Hanif
2:20:58
How many days was that moved up?
Travonda Kelly
2:21:00
I'm talking about previous years, so we have heard this feedback, so the last couple of years we have adjusted our admission dates to make sure that we can account for families who have to make those decisions.
2:21:12
So as far as now in this particular, and going back to your question about the waitlist, there's constant you know reminders that we're providing to families that and excuse me, reminders to programs more or less so that they can continue to move the waitlist so that families can get offers much quicker because what happens with the waitlist is that if you're on a waitlist and you want a specific program, if the seat becomes available, the program needs to make an offer to the next student and so therefore the quicker we can get through those waitlists, the much quicker families will get an actual offer and response and can register.
Shahana Hanif
2:21:47
What's the timeline of getting through the waitlist?
2:21:49
How quickly?
Travonda Kelly
2:21:51
It varies because every program has their own waitlist and every program has their own demand.
2:21:57
So some waitlists go a lot quicker than others just because as we said in this conversation, just because the fact that they get an offer to a program doesn't always mean that they want that program, they may want another program and so if those become available in specific programs that can mean a quicker churn than other programs.
Shahana Hanif
2:22:16
And have you had families raise this concern that they had to put in thousands of dollars in deposits and how are you responding to them?
Travonda Kelly
2:22:24
I mean we hear from families, know, we take their feedback into consideration.
2:22:29
I'm not saying that I have a whole lot of complaints about that, but, you know, families want what they want, and we wanna make sure that the program that the system works so that they can get what they want in a timely fashion.
Daniel Weisberg
2:22:39
We we do hear that, council member.
2:22:41
It's it's a it's a real issue.
2:22:43
It's one of the reasons why Travonda and the enrollment office moved up the timeline for high school as well, because we hear it at that level as well.
2:22:50
So we do the best we can to address it, even though we don't control the deposit rules and so forth that private schools have.