School looks at admissions draw or lottery
Queuing at Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School in Tralee ended yesterday when about 100 registration forms were handed out to parents, about 60 of whom had been queuing in the school’s gymnasium since Friday.
But they will not know if their efforts have been successful until the end of the year, as the closing date for applications by first-year students seeking places in September 2010 is November 7 next.
In the meantime, the school’s management board is to review its first-come, first-served admissions policy and has pledged to eliminate the need for queuing for next year.
“The review will be completed in time for next year,” said school principal John O’Roarke.
The management board, meanwhile, will be looking at a “variety of approaches” in its review.
Parents living close to the 1,170-pupil school have called for priority over those living several kilometres away and these calls are also expected to be considered by the board.
In its admissions policy, Mercy Mounthawk gives priority to children from Mercy primary schools in Tralee, and to siblings of pupils currently in Mounthawk.
The limited remaining places, usually between 40 and 50, are then filled on a first-come, first-served basis, which leads to queuing as demand exceeds supply.
Parents have queued overnight in the past three years, but the school authorities were taken by surprise when some parents — prepared to brave sub-zero temperatures during five nights in the open — began to arrive on Friday last.
In previous years, they queued for just one night.
This year, school management opened the gym to accommodate the queuing parents, and security guards were also provided.
Well wrapped-up parents brought in camp beds, mattresses and folding chairs and maintained their positions in an orderly line.
Many families worked a rota system, with father, mother and children all taking their turns to hold places in the queue.
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