Kindergarten enrollment restriction angers parents

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Herzliya parents are furious over a decision by the city to change the enrollment system for municipal kindergartens and to remove parents' rights to choose which kindergarten they want for their child, reports www.mynet.co.il. Numerous parents were surprised to receive letters from the city last week stating that parents enrolling their children in municipal kindergartens for the coming school year would not be asked for their choice of kindergarten, as has always been done until now, but would instead be allocated to the kindergarten nearest their home. According to the report, the city says it has had to reorganize the kindergarten enrollment system because both the number of kindergarten-aged children in the city and the number of newly constructed buildings, including kindergartens, have grown significantly in recent years. But a spokesman for the Central Parents' Committee said that while the city was trying to solve its problems by restricting enrollments according to areas, parents saw this idea as "very problematic." The spokesman said parents had many reasons for preferring particular kindergartens that were not necessarily near their homes, and that the city should reconsider its decision. A municipal spokesman said that parents who wanted to change the kindergarten to which their child was allocated should apply to the city for a transfer, as is currently done for schoolchildren wishing to change schools.