HOBOKEN — Seventy Hoboken moms were shocked last month to get letters telling them that their child was waitlisted for the city’s free Early Childhood Program for fall of 2013. However, since then, two additional programs have opened up, which will likely shrink the waiting list from 70 to 43 kids.
Superintendent of Schools Mark Toback said Friday that he expects that eventually, all the kids on the wait list will be able to enter the program as families of enrolled students will move out of town.
Toback downplayed parents’ worries, saying that the waiting list is an annual occurrence and calling it “nothing to panic about.”
Toback said that there were over 800 applicants to the program this year. Aware that at least some additional classrooms, teachers, and supplies would be necessary come September, the district began negotiations with the state in July for an additional classroom, which it has since received.
It took longer to convince the state to provide funding for a second classroom, which was verbally approved on Thursday, said Toback. The district must wait to receive written confirmation of the funding before it can accept 10 more children into the program. These 10 children would bring the waiting list to 43 children. Children will be offered those spots based on a lottery, said Toback.
For much more on this story, including a debate over whether additional classrooms will be needed, see this weekend’s Hoboken Reporter. Look for it on your doorstep or come back here Sunday to see the stories on the lower half of our web page. And feel free to leave comments below.