On the last day of school registration in late April, a lot of people left the long, winding line of people at the Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe not just out of frustration (that was part of it), but because they saw a sign of hope advertising additional registration dates during the summer. The district took heat for its initial experiment in setting up one common site for all students (somewhere between 13,000 and 14,000) to register. Many people complained that they waited two to three hours for this process, though, to be fair, a lot of people also complained about similar waits the previous year when registration was held at individual school sites -- suggesting that the registration process, and not the locale, is the problem.

Part of the challenge, critics argue, is that the district asks returning students/parents to supply the same documents year after year: an original birth certificate, the student's immunization record, two proofs of physical address, and legal guardianship or transfer-request documents.

In mid-May, school board member Glenn Wikle suggested a policy change in the registration process, one that would possibly "streamline the process," he said. This idea would minimize or eliminate the need for most parents/guardians to actually go to a registration site after the first time they have registered a student.

Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez, among other district personnel, maintains that these annual prerequisites help the district gather correct up-to-date data on students, including information that can impact zoning, funding and parental notification efforts.

According to data furnished by Gutierrez at a recent board meeting, the district registered about 6,900 returning students and
330 new students in April. In terms of data, the district did discover incorrect names
(5 percent), incorrect birth dates (2 percent), incorrect addresses (20 percent), incorrect "next-school" information
(4 percent, which could impact teacher placements), among other discrepancies.

Last Thursday, Santa Fe Public Schools confirmed that it will hold additional registration for the 2012-13 school year for new and returning students from Thursday,
May 31, through Tuesday, June 5, (that includes Saturday, June 2 -- but not Sunday, June 3) at the activity center in Santa Fe High School, 2100 Yucca Road, and from Tuesday, July 10, through Saturday, July 14, at Ortiz Middle School, 4164 S. Meadows Road.

The weekday times are split between two shifts: 9 a.m. to noon and 4 to 7 p.m. On Saturdays, you can register from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visit www.sfps.info and click on "What's Hot" if you want to preregister your student. Although this preregistration will not preclude parents from having to show up anyway, the district will have an "express process" line for those who preregister.

Kudos to staff, students

Santa Fe Public Schools recognized the contribution of the district's music coordinator, Leanne DeVane, at its most recent meeting as the New Mexico School Boards Association gave DeVane its Leadership Award this year. Superintendent Gutierrez honored DeVane by praising her ability to rebuild student enrollment in choir, band and string orchestras as well as her success in drawing attention to the music program via a summer music camp and an autumn music festival. DeVane has been on the job since 2008.

At that same meeting, the five members of the Board of Education acknowledged the input of the district's three student board advisers: Emily Durham of Santa Fe High, Elisha Apodaca of Capital High and Austin Tyra of the Academy at Larragoite.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.