By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
More than 2,000 children have been waitlisted for kindergarten spots throughout the city, many of them on the Upper East and Upper West sides, several outlets reported Wednesday.
Education officials told the New York Times that 112 public schools, in total, had waitlists this year.
Upper East Side mom Michelle Hankin said she was among the first in line when P.S. 290 began enrolling kindergarteners in February, yet she was informed on Monday that her daughter Sydney is No. 62 on the waitlist, the Times said.
“I am trying to find out what I am supposed to do and what our options are, but I really feel helpless,” Hankin told the paper.
While officials said that a majority of the waitlists will disappear as students accept spots in gifted programs and private schools, they are considering increasing class sizes, collapsing the number of sections in upper grades and taking over tutoring rooms to accommodate student demand, the Daily News reports.
Officials also told the News that they are planning to open new schools in the areas with the greatest overflow, such as on the Upper West Side.
The increase in applicants is due to a number of factors, officials told the Times, including the creation of new apartment buildings, the inability of many parents to pay for private school and a decrease in the number of families moving to the suburbs.
