In towns across America, families buy homes knowing exactly where their kids will go to school. Like their post office, their parish, and their neighborhood pub, it’s usually the closest one.
There is little drama in the process: The school district sends a letter. The parents send in paperwork. The child shows up in the fall.
But in the Boston public schools, kindergarten registration can be a saga that plays out from the time a child is 3.
Because the quality of schools varies dramatically, the district uses a lottery to give all families, regardless of their neighborhood, a chance of getting into one of the best classrooms.
But that means every student is forced to compete for a spot — and the results depend a good deal on luck. Parents choose their favorite schools, but there’s no guarantee their child will be assigned there. Last year, 244 incoming 5-year-olds — about 7 percent — got none of their choices. Nearly half of them left the city school system.
This so-called controlled choice method of student assignment is designed to give families a choice among schools, but frustrated parents say it gives them very little control.
“It’s like, ‘Come check out all the schools so you can pick one that you love and not get it,’ ’’ said Denise Kitty-Rousell, a mother of two in Roslindale whose daughter did not get assigned to any pre-kindergarten last year. “It’s kind of ridiculous.’’
Boston is not the only district to use a lottery for student assignment — San Francisco, Minneapolis, and even neighboring Cambridge use a similar process.
Here’s how Boston’s version works:
The city is divided into three zones and families are, for the most part, required to apply to schools in their zone. All 5-year-olds are guaranteed a seat at a public school, if not necessarily one they choose. Four-year-olds can apply, too, but they might not win a seat anywhere. Free, full-day pre-kindergarten is available in some schools. But the district has seats for less than 60 percent of the 4-year-olds who want them.
School officials, worried that families fixate on a few popular schools, urge parents to explore all their options on the district website, which features school profiles and test scores, and to attend a showcase of schools during the fall before their children apply. Schools also hold open houses at which parents can tour classrooms and meet principals.
The options are many: A few schools have two-way bilingual programs; most don’t. Other schools have gyms; many don’t. Some extend to eighth grade while others end at fifth, sending families into another lottery to win placement in middle school.