KINDERGARTEN CONFUSION

Was an Upper East Side kindergartener's late placement a delay or an error? Local elected officials and the Department of Education differ on the answer. On Aug. 13, Assembly Member Micah Kellner and Council Member Jessica Lappin held a press conference criticizing the department when several parents received a letter stating their kindergarteners were placed in P.S. 158 Bayard Taylor, on York Avenue near East 78th Street. When the parents called to confirm, Kellner said they were told the spots were not guaranteed because of a computer error. "It was an incorrect letter," Kellner said. "For weeks and weeks, they were told they'd be placed." Andrew Jacob, a department spokesperson, said there was no computer used in lottery system that placed the roughly 10 kindergarteners. The students were eventually all given sports at P.S. 158, he said. "This is simply an issue of high demand and limited number of seats," Jacob said. "There was no error in the process. It was just a delay." Kellner refuted that assertion because the June 2008 letter sent to parents said the child was on school's roster. "The DOE didn't want to admit to a mistake," Kellner said.