Jefferson County Public Schools is trying to reach any remaining students who have not yet registered with the district by taking their application process on the road.
Over the next month, JCPS will drive a vehicle stocked with computers and employees to certain neighborhoods and help families register.“These are for the most part strategic locations, areas in the district where in years past we’ve had some higher numbers than others of student who were not registered for the first day of school. So they’re indeed strategic but we also wanted to make sure it was available across the district,” says JCPS spokesman Ben Jackey.Jackey says there is a lot of information that is coming in during the days leading up to the first day like bus information, dress code information and student supply list. Unless you’re registered you don’t get that.“At the beginning of every school year we have students who are brought into school or who just show up at school and have not registered and as you can imagine that creates difficulty for family on the first day,” he says.JCPS estimates there may still be a few hundred families that have not yet registered, but because many of them are likely kindergarten students and brand new to the district it’s hard to measure an actual count, Jackey says.The program is costing the district between $8,000-$9,000.The information released by the district to media has information in English, Spanish, Nepali, Somali, and Arabic. The ESL department recommended those languages based on the frequency they encounter those languages.
