COBBLE HILL — Parents at Cobble Hill's P.S. 29 are urging the Department of Education to expand class sizes to accommodate prospective pre-K students with siblings at the school so they may have a seat before September comes around.
A group of families with zoned siblings at P.S. 29 are asking the DOE to expand the school's three pre-K classrooms to include two more students per class, according to a letter shared with DNAinfo New York.
"As a group, we strongly favor increasing the number of students in each of the three pre-K classes to 20," parents said in a letter addressed to Maria Interlandi, the DOE's director of early childhood for District 15.
"Although this change would not benefit all of us, it would enable 6 students—almost our entire waitlist—to attend PS29 in the fall."
In at least the past two years, there was enough space for all siblings of zoned students who applied, according to DOE documents. This year, there are seven families with zoned siblings on the waitlist for P.S. 29, according to Cobble Hill mom Talya Salz.
Though her 6-year-old son is a P.S. 29 elementary school student, her 3-year-old daughter has not been offered a pre-K seat at the school.
"It's very disappointing for us," said Salz, whose daughter was waitlisted for seven schools in Round 1. "Nobody told us in advance that this was likely to happen."
For families with children in different schools, coordinating pick-up and drop-off times for both students can be a logistical challenge.
As it stands now, Salz will likely have to head to a pre-K program outside her neighborhood every morning around the same time she needs to get her son to his school in Cobble Hill, creating a situation where one of the kids might be late each morning.
Some parents, she said, were assigned to schools even further out, like P.S. 15 in Red Hook, where there is no direct subway stop.
The parents met with Interlandi last week to discuss the lack of pre-K space in the school, but Interlandi could not give them a definitive answer regarding the increase in class size, Salz said.
The universal pre-K admissions process differs from kindergarten admissions because applicants are not all entitled to a pre-K seat in their zoned schools, according to the DOE.
Roughly 2,900 families applied for a seat in Round 1 of the application process in District 15, which includes Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Park Slope and Sunset Park. There were more than 3,100 seats available in the district, according to the DOE.
And across the district, 71 percent of pre-K students received an offer to one of their top three choices in Round 1, the DOE said.
Nearby in Carroll Gardens, P.S. 58 staved off a possible elimination of its pre-K program after an annex site was found on Union Street about half a mile from the school building.
But despite the move, P.S. 58 also faced a shortage of pre-K seats for zoned siblings, according to local blog Pardon Me For Asking.
"Our pre-K enrollment specialists are continuing to support families in finding a seat that's the best fit for them, and we'll continue collaborating with communities to expand pre-K options and match seats and family demand," a DOE spokesman said in a statement earlier this month.
The DOE confirmed Wednesday evening that families with zoned siblings were currently on the waitlist at P.S. 29 and P.S. 58. Officials are also reviewing parents' petition for expanded class sizes, the city agency said.
"It just happens that our neighborhood is so crowded with young kids. There really isn't space," Salz said.
And as more and more families move into the surrounding neighborhoods, parents are noticing the near impossible conditions for securing a seat in their local schools.
"It shouldn't be like playing the lottery," said local mom Sara Grant, whose 3-year-old son received a pre-K seat at P.S. 29.
"We just happened to be very lucky and feel very fortunate," she said.
