Only 198 Cincinnati Public School students who want to leave their low-achieving schools can receive federally mandated transportation this fall to more successful schools in the district.

        That's less than 2 percent of about 10,000 students eligible to be transported from 21 elementary schools that failed to meet student achievement goals set by the state.

DEADLINE IS TODAY

Today is the last day Cincinnati Public School parents can request to have their children transferred out of schools the state has labeled underachieving.     Parents can either mail the request to Cincinnati Public Schools Education Center, 2651 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati 45219, or drop it off at the education center by 5 p.m.

        Other Greater Cincinnati school districts are drafting letters to notify parents if their schools haven't met state goals.

        A new federal education law requires school districts to offer students transportation out of persistently low-performing schools, but Cincinnati district officials say they can offer the option only to the most needy children.

        There's not enough space in the district's higher-achieving schools to transport more.

        “We made every effort to meet the spirit and the letter of the law,” said Janet Walsh, district spokeswoman.

        According to a letter mailed to 1,000 parents Aug. 12, just 10 of the district's 42 achieving schools have available space. Only one of the 10 can accommodate third-graders whose parents want them to move.

        Ms. Walsh said the letter was mailed to parents whose children are among the lowest-achieving and poorest in the district.

        State officials say the district is meeting the requirements of the federal law by serving those students first, even though many children in low-achieving schools may be not be allowed to transfer.

        Part of the space crunch is because the district tries to keep its schools fully enrolled.

        Also, the district has several specialty elementary schools, such as Montessori schools or foreign language schools, which limits available space for transfer. Older students would not be suited to move to those schools midway through their programs, district officials say. Furthermore, they don't want to displace students from those schools to make room for those seeking to move.

        “We have been encouraging choice in Cincinnati Public Schools for decades,” Ms. Walsh said. “A lot of parents have already exercised choice. The law does not ask us to ask them to leave.”

        Cincinnati school officials could not say how many students have sought transfer, but other districts have had few requests.

        In North College Hill City Schools, about 280 parents of Becker Elementary students were sent letters notifying them of the option to transfer their children out of the school. Only two families have asked to have their children moved, Superintendent Gary Gellert said.

        Mr. Gellert's letter to parents pointed out the school dramatically improved the percentage of students passing the fourth-grade reading test last year. He cautioned parents to consider that before requesting a transfer.

        “If Becker meets the federal guidelines during the 2002-03 school year, which we believe it will, it could be removed at the end of this school year,” he said in the letter.

        The schools that are required to offer transportation — and in some cases tutoring or other services — had less than a 2.5 percentage point increase in students passing fourth- or sixth-grade reading or math proficiency tests for at least two years in a row. The schools also had fewer than 42 percent of their students demonstrate proficiency in reading or math for two or more years.

        David Horine, superintendent of Mount Healthy Schools, said he will send a letter this week to parents notifying them their children have the option of transferring out of Rex Ralph Elementary. Frost Elementary had been identified by the state as a school that hadn't met its goals, but the school showed enough improvement to be granted a waiver this year from the federal transportation requirements, he said.

        In Butler County, Hamilton City Schools is working with the state to determine a final list of schools that haven't met state goals.

        Meanwhile, Lockland, Norwood and Northwest school districts said the state last month wrongly labeled a school as underachieving in each of their districts. Those districts have no schools that must offer transportation to higher-achieving schools, school officials said.

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