Officials Spread The Word About New School Enrollment System In Camden
By Mike DeNardo
CAMDEN, N.J., (CBS) -- A simplified school enrollment system has debuted in Camden, and local officials knocked on doors today to get the word out.
Schools superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard and Mayor Dana Redd knocked on a few doors in the Baldwin's Run section to hand out flyers announcing that the website camdenenrollment.org is now live. Redd says before now, parents had to navigate 17 different applications for 38 public, charter and renaissance schools.
"Oh, it was very complicated. It was a complicated process. It made their lives very difficult," said Redd.
Now, parents submit their school preferences to the one website, which Rouhanifard says will return placements in April.
"So if a school has 300 seats and 700 students apply, then at that point it does get into a little bit of a lottery process and there is an algorithm involved here. But it's to make the best match possible," said Rouhanifard.
He says there is an appeals process, if parents disagree with their match.