PSUSD says Kindergarten enrollment is down 50% for upcoming school year, here’s how families can still enroll

Palm Springs Unified School District says enrollment numbers for kindergarten are significantly down this year due to COVID-10. 

And for PSUSD families, the school year is just around the corner, officially beginning next week on August 5th. 

“We’re down about 50% in our kindergarten enrollment. And in our transitional kindergarten we were down about 60%,” said Anne Kalisek, executive director of student support services, PSUSD. 

The district says these decreased numbers are cause for concern. 

“How important is it that parents enroll their kindergarteners on time?” asked News Channel 3’s Madison Weil. 

“It’s very important. Because the sooner they get started learning the better. They might be at home not really getting what they need,” explained Kalisek. 

Kalisek says the drop in enrollment is most likely due to a combination of coronavirus fear and also confusion about the upcoming school year. 

“I think it’s all of it. It’s definitely confusion...we were a little bit later getting information out to parents because July was a bit of an unknown,” she said. 

The district says both kindergarten and transitional kindergarten classes will be starting completely online with distance learning from home. 

But even if they get clearance to eventually return students to the classroom, they say parents can choose to keep their kids at home for the rest of the school year. 

“I’m sure parents are scared to send their child...but again...they don’t have to,” said Kalisek. 

To enroll, parents can call the Palm Springs Unified School District office at (760) 883-2703 ext. 4805101 or simply enroll online through the district’s website here. 

All you have to do is a click, you upload your child’s documents...it’s very easy,” added Kalisek.