Families of prospective charter school students who used a common application have received their offers and will have until March 22 to pick their top choice on School App KC.
Sixteen of Kansas City’s 22 charter schools agreed to use a common application for the first time this year. Families submitted 4,300 applications for 2,500 students, said Leslie Kohlmeyer, the director of programs for Show Me KC Schools.
Kohlmeyer said families who applied to more than one charter in previous years would have to keep calling different schools to find out their status.
“Now you’re getting that information in one place,” Kohlmeyer said. “You can log into your family dashboard, you can see that child, and you can see their status at each one of those schools.”
Kohlmeyer said nearly all of the schools that participated in the common application had enough applicants to hold lotteries. Families that don’t get seats in the lottery can use School App KC to check where they are on the waitlist.
“If you applied to three schools, you were accepted at two, and you were waitlisted at ... your favorite one, you could accept a seat in the meantime. If at any point you were offered a seat to your first choice, you can take it,” Kohlmeyer said.
Because families can only choose one school, after March 22, unfilled seats will go to the next student on the waitlist. Kohlmeyer said she expects a lot of families will make their decision after March 15, when Kansas City Public Schools releases school assignments for 2019-20.
Even though the first round of offers has already gone out, Kohlmeyer said it’s not too late to submit an application. She’s received about 120 applications since the March 1 priority deadline, and there are still seats available for those families.
Show Me KC Schools expects more charters to go to the common application for the 2020-21 school year.
Elle Moxley covers education for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.
