Registration begins today for some Pinellas students

By Thomas C. Tobin, Times Staff Writer
In print: Wednesday, April 23, 2008

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The latest phase of the new Pinellas student assignment plan begins today with a registration period geared for certain groups of students.

Parents may go to any Pinellas public school, get a user ID and password and use them to register their child in the student reservation system. The registration period lasts until June 3 and applies only to students who:

• will enter kindergarten Aug. 19.

• are new to the system.

• are entering sixth or ninth grade Aug. 19 and recently got a letter assigning them to the same school as a sibling but want to attend their "close-to-home" school instead.

• got assigned to their "extended grandfathering" school and want to attend their close-to-home school instead.

The district has made room at close-to-home schools for all of the students in these categories, so there is no first-come first-served competition. District officials are urging families to take their time if they need to.

Once parents register a child online, they have three days to complete the process at their child's new school by providing that school with the student's address, date of birth and Social Security number. If the three-day period expires, they can restart the process and still get the child registered, providing they do it before June 3.

The district plans an open enrollment period this summer for other students who want to change their school assignment.

Thomas C. Tobin can be reached at tobin@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8923.