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More Than 2,300 Children Waitlisted for Kindergarten

By Ben Fractenberg | April 12, 2013 5:27pm

NEW YORK CITY — More than 2,300 New York City children were placed on kindergarten waitlists for the fall, according to Department of Education numbers released Friday.

There are 2,361 kids waiting for a place in their local school, out of 72,289 applications. That is down slightly from 2012, when 2,642 kids were waitlisted for kindergarten.

"The number of families enrolling their children in kindergarten is rising. We’re working as hard and as quickly as possible to keep up with it, both through re-zonings and constructing as many new buildings as we can," wrote DOE spokesman Devon Puglia in an email.

There are 105 schools with a waitlist this year, down from 125 last year, according to the DOE. The number of schools with a waitlist of 50 kids or more is also down, with eight this year compared to 12 last year.

P.S. 307 in Queens leads the pack, with 167 students waiting for a spot, up from 109 last school year, the DOE said.

Other schools with more applicants than seats include P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village, P.S. 19 in Queens, P.S. 375 in Brooklyn and P.S. 8 on Staten Island.

"We know this is an anxious time for families. We will ensure that schools maximize offers to zoned students, accommodate waitlisted families as soon as empty seats become available, and add additional kindergarten sections wherever possible," wrote Puglia.

All children who are on a kindergarten waitlist will receive an offer to another elementary school before the end of the school year.