TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — “Parents are realizing Leon County Schools offers just an array of possibilities for their children and we’re excited to have students come back in,” Leon County Schools Public Information Officer Chris Petley said.
But with large enrollment numbers comes more work causing enrollment to take longer than normal.
Parent, Mariah DeCamp, feels due to a lack of staffing and communication the kids are who end up paying the ultimate price in the end.
“He’s supposed to be a freshman in high school today and we can’t get him registered because Leon County Schools are so unresponsive,” says Mariah DeCamp.
She found out the morning of the first day of school that there were enrollment issues with her child.
Enrollment for the 2022-23 school year began last April.
With covid-19 numbers down, families are returning to in-school learning. The process for enrollment includes either a visit to the office of admissions or filling out the necessary paperwork online. However, this year with the rise in student’s enrollment it is taking a bit longer.
To help with the backlog of enrollment LCS has a plan in place and are doing all they can.
“So, we have our staff that works over the weekend and has stayed until 10 o’clock at night. They are working as fast as they can to get everyone enrolled,” says Petley.
Leon County Teachers Association President Scott Mazur shares how this affects teachers also.
“It can be quite disruptive. From a teacher’s standpoint, a lot of the smaller things that parents don’t necessarily see is making sure they have the materials, the desk. The last thing you want to do is not have a space set up for a child to where they don’t feel like they are apart of the class like everybody else,” says Scott Mazur.
School officials say it is normal for there to be dozens of students needing to be enrolled on the first day each year, but they have expressed the issue will be resolved soon.
“We’re confident that everyone will be in school by the end of the week if not, really early next week,” says Petley.
