3 Weeks Into School Year, District Tells Mom Her Son Has To Move Due To Overcrowding

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento woman is questioning the policy of a local school district after learning her son will now be moved to another school, three weeks into the new school year.

Sacramento City Unified School District officials tell Ta'Loni McCauley it is an issue of overcrowding, but she wonders why it took so long for the district to figure that out, and why students are now having to pay the price.

"I'm beyond upset," she said.

She enrolled her 4th-grade son and 1st-grade daughter in Nicholas Elementary School last June, as new students in the upcoming year.

"My son walks his little sister to class; they have a routine," she said.

But that routine will be changing after a recent phone call from the district.

"You want him to start a new school as of tomorrow, and I was just informed of this on Thursday of last week?"

McCauley says she was told the district over-enrolled, and now has to move as many as eight students in her son's 4th-grade class to other schools.

"Now they're uprooted to a whole new school; it's the third week which means they've missed three weeks of assignments, they're behind already, now they have to get comfortable at a new school, new teacher," she said.

A spokesperson for the district says over-enrollment happens at schools throughout the country and usually gets resolved within a few weeks.

In a statement to CBS13, the district went on to say, "We have placed and arranged transportation for Ms. McCauley's student to attend one of our schools. The district ensures every student has a school to go to, even in cases where there is over-enrollment at a school."

"I've heard of waiting lists, which make sense to me, but when you give a child a slot, that's their slot," says McCauley.

She has since learned of a letter that is included in the enrollment paperwork informing parents there is no guarantee a child will be housed in a particular school. She says she still thinks the policy is a bad idea.

"Why should students have to suffer because the school district failed? That's what I'm upset about."

McCauley says she was told the district believes in keeping siblings together, but starting tomorrow, her children will be attending different schools.