Eddie Shieh’s daughter was ready to embark on her educational journey, excited to start transitional kindergarten, or TK, at William Land Elementary School. But their first day of school took an unexpected turn.
“We were welcomed by the principal, who already recognized me as an incoming parent,” said Shieh. “We go into the TK classroom, and as we’re waiting for our daughter to get a name tag — every student is getting one — but there was no name tag for our daughter.”
Confusion soon set in for his daughter, who was eagerly anticipating her first day.
“Our daughter was completely confused because she thought, ‘I was so excited to go to school,’” recalled Shieh. “Then we had to tell her, ‘Wait, actually, you’re not going to school, and you might end up at a completely different school.’”
This is just one of many stories emerging as Sacramento City Unified School District faces an enrollment backlog, with around 300 students waiting to be placed in schools. District spokesperson Brian Heap explained that an overwhelming number of late applications caused the delay.
“We had more than 750 enrollment applications come in an 8-day window,” said Heap. “That is an enormous number for us, at least a 50% increase over what we typically see during that time. So, the system got bogged down, and our staff got backed up.”
For families like the Shiehs, the confusion and delay meant scrambling to make alternative arrangements. Despite researching and choosing William Land Elementary, they were unaware that school enrollment required an additional district-level application.
“We completed the application for the school and did all this stuff, but we didn’t realize we had to do an additional application for the district,” said Shieh. “There was no communication from the district until we got the decline email. We had no help understanding there was another step.”
Shieh’s daughter eventually started TK at a different school, but the delay came at a cost — literally.
“That was just like a total shock,” said Shieh. “We had to miss work, reschedule all our meetings, and completely rearrange our week to accommodate our daughter not being at school, which was an expense we weren’t expecting.”
Shieh voiced concern for families who might find the process even more challenging, especially those with language barriers or limited resources.
Other parents have faced similar frustrations. Alex Cole-Weiss, whose TK-eligible child was rejected due to a “school-site clerical error,” couldn’t get any further explanation from the district.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Arjona, who was confident her daughter would get into the neighborhood TK program after speaking with school administrators, was met with dead ends when following up with the district.
“There’s one person listed for the entire district,” said Arjona. “Of course, no one responded.”
When Arjona called the district for answers, she was repeatedly redirected, which left her feeling anxious.
“Why aren’t you guys talking amongst yourselves?” she asked.
Shieh echoed this sentiment, describing that there should be more communication between the schools, the district, and parents.
“I didn't feel much care coming from them,” said Shieh. “My daughter’s education is the most important thing to me. Honestly, I would have preferred daily text updates from the Enrollment Office saying, ‘Hey, you’re this number in the queue.’”
To address the backlog, the district’s enrollment office has worked weekends and created an emergency “triage” system to process applications. Heap assured parents that students with proof of vaccination can start school while paperwork is finalized.
“There’s a decent chance if your student still hasn’t been enrolled, we’ve been trying to reach you for missing information,” Heap said. “Just be patient with us and know that we want your student in the classroom as badly as you do.”
While the district has managed to place the original 300 students into classrooms, it continues to process daily applications, with over 100 new students waiting as of last week. For parents like Shieh and Arjona, however, the hope is for smoother communication and fewer roadblocks in the future.
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