Pre-k

So, I went up to the school to register Little E and Josiah for pre-k this morning. I ran around getting a couple things that I needed beforehand and Andy was very helpful as he worked from home this morning so he could watch the kids for me while I went up to register them. Anyway, I ran by the doctor's office to get Josiah's shot record (I could have sworn that I had a copy, but for the life of me I couldn't find it) and I ran up to get Baby T's birth certificate and social security card as her CPS worker thought I shoudl try to get her into some sort of pre-school as well since she'll be 3 soon. I figured I'd try, but I really don't feel that she's ready by any means so I figured that she could always go to MDO like she was doing before and I'd spoil her while the other kids were at school. Well, I get to the school and it was crazy busy. We had to wait in a line for someone to check their birth certificates and my driver's license and then she gave me a free lunch form to fill out. I went and filled that out and then I had to get back into another line. She checked their social security cards and their birth certificates and let me know whether they qualified for free lunch. Little E did just because she's in foster care and when they looked at Josiah's form and saw our income she didn't think he'd qualify. I told her I didn't really care about paying for lunch, but that I had a letter saying that he qualified for free pre-k because of the fact that he had been in foster care. She put down that just based on that he'd qualify for the free lunch program. Then, I go to the next line and they check our proof of residence and she said she couldn't take our phone bill, it had to be water, sewer, or gas. So, I get Andy to run me up a copy of one of those as she tells me if I leave I lose my place in line. I had already been up there for an hour and a half. Anyway, he brings me the water bill and I go back in and she looks at Josiah's birth certificate and says "um, he doesn't qualify for pre-k as he's not 4 yet." I showed her the letter that I had and she said "well, that must be for a district that has a 3-year program." I know other foster parents that have gotten their 3 -year olds in, but I ran into the same problem when I tried to get Little E in pre-k last year so I guess I'll just put Josiah in a different program. I don't have a problem paying for it. It just frustrated me that I had been up there so long and all these other people had checked off my forms and never caught that he was only 3 and wasn't eligible. Anyway, she finally told me to go have copies made of a zillion papers and then I could fill out the application for pre-school. I got that filled out and back in line I stood. Got everything checked off and I requested PM session for her since her visit is in the mornings and I didn't want to have to have her miss that school day since we have to travel so far. She said I could request it but there was no guarantee. Then, they give me some hand-outs...if you don't qualify for the free lunch program, then you don't qualify for pre-k. Oh ok.... I'm making sure to hold on to Josiah's letter from the state so they don't try to pull anything next year when we enroll him. He really struggles with his social skills and with listening so I was hoping that 2 years of pre-k would be good for him. Anyway, they told me at orientation if Little E got put in the am session, to talk to them and they'd see if they couldn't re-arrange it to get her put in the PM session because of her visit time. They said they've had kids miss one day of the week due to visits for a long time, yet they give you an attendance policy to follow and threaten to report you if you miss so many days...that doesn't make sense to me at all. It would make more sense to make sure that you get her into a PM session so not only can we make sure she gets to school, but that she accomodates her visits as well as her visits are court ordered. UGH! Anyway, she's excited about getting to go to school. I hope she does ok!