I take it that the scores were still not good enough and the placement letter was sent in error. They can’t alter the test scores, or make an exception just because she got sent a letter in error.
Yes, at the very least Nzinga making a stink will make similar mistakes less likely in the future.
Nzinga, sorry you and your daughter are going through all of this BS.
I’m a little too late to offer any real advice, but you sound like you’re going about this the right way. Keep pushing for answers.
You might need to accept the fact that she didn’t get in and that you can’t change that, but you are ABSOLUTELY owed a full and complete explanation of what actually happened, how and why the acceptance letter was sent in error, an apology, a foot massage and a large Pina Colada.
Is this a high school or an elementary school?
Call back and play the “I’m really confused card”. The card goes:
(1) You’ve all been very nice and helpful. This has been a roller coaster, stressful, blah blah blah, and I just want to understand what is going on.
(2) Quickly rehash the timeline to date with the various letters/calls.
(3) Go through the “any school” offer and say you don’t understand why she can get into every school except the one she really wants to.
(4) Explain that you are still confused if daughter was accepted to SOTA and what happened there.
Basically, you want to highlight the fact that they are being fucking morons without calling them morons. Thus, you couch the language in the fact that it doesn’t make sense to you. In this way, the problem is you, but they will be forced to explain their stupidity and should recognize that they are being idiots.
Certainly keep pushing for an explanation. I agree with that.
But they are willing to make an exception for every other school. It doesn’t make sense for them to waive the admission process for all these other schools and then say “No can’t haz SOTA!”.
And yet they can place her in any other school of her choosing, completely sight unseen? If her scores were too low to make her worth SOTA, by what mechanism do they suddenly become irrelevant when it comes to other schools in the district? That’s the part that makes no sense to me.
Exactly! I’m smelling shenanigans.
For the record…SOTA is the only school in our district with an audtion process. ‘Test scores’ mean audition scores.
Nobody has confirmed that the test scores were low or that the letter was in error. The only thing the SP said was that they feel bad about the situation. That could mean any number of things. And given how often she was told that it’s all up to the SP office, I don’t see why the SP office can’t put her in SOTA after all.
It’s an interesting offer though, placement in school of her (second) choice. If there’s a school that has a reputation for college prep or advance placement classes, that might be worth pursuing for its own sake.
Nzinga, Seated - I’ve always liked your name, too. (I looked it up one time, because I was curious, seated where?) 
Nzinga, for your research into the other schools in the district, I’d start here with the RCSD’s own report about which high schools had the best graduation rates - then see which programs most appeal to your daughter’s interests. (Here’s the most recent State report, with individual schools listed by county.)
I am afraid I really don’t know much about either of the College Prep schools there, but any of the other three in the top slots would be better than, say, Monroe HS.
Again, my best wishes for you and your daughter through this.
Missed the edit window:
You really have to understand just how jacked up the RCSD really is to understand why I can believe that getting into SOTA is really that competitive. When the difference in four year graduation rates between the #1 and #2 schools in the district goes from 93% to 79%, there’s going to be a lot of pressure for concerned parents to try to get into SOTA, even if their child may not normally be a good fit for the arts emphasis there. I do not know just how many applicants that SOTA might have compared to available seats, but I would not be surprised to hear that it has several applicants for each potential seat.
As such they may well have perfectly legitimate concerns about the hazards of establishing precedents that will encourage parents to make scorched earth campaigns to get their child into the program. Combine that with the fact that, as Nzinga mentioned, SOTA is the only school in the district with an audition process, and the exception starts to look a bit more rational.
Nzinga, are you saying the superintendent emailed you to say your daughter IS on the list, then a secretary and a VP said she’s not on the list? The superintendent outranks both of them. Go back to the superintendent and explain everything that has happened, and hope he shows mercy.
I can believe that it is that competitive. Which means sending out letters of acceptance by mistake (as claimed) is that much more unacceptable and eyebrow-raising.
But the consolation option makes more sense to me now considering that SOTA is the only district school that requires an audition.
The answer is murder. The answer is always murder.
Let us know how this pans out! I’m really rooting for you and your kid 
BTW if she’s being awkward and quiet, ask her whether she really wants to go to the artsy school or not. She may actually prefer to stay in the school in your district because her friends will be there… you never know.
[ol][li]Be polite. []Never get angry. []Make it quite clear that nothing will get rid of you except putting your daughter into the school she wants.[]Your goal is not to help them correct their process; you just want your daughter put in the right school.[]Their goal is not to work with you to correct their process; they are just saying that to get rid of you.[]See number 3.[]Student Placement places students. SP placed her in the SotA. Therefore []The mistake to be corrected is that she is not in the SotA where SP put her. []The fact that the VP got all defensive when your version of the conversation differed from his means that he knows he is in the wrong.If your daughter can get into any school except the SotA, then she can get into the SotA. Just put her back on the list. Problem solved.[/ol]You don’t have to be nasty, but the best way to deal with most large bureaucracies is to make it clear that the trouble of not giving you what you want is greater than giving you what you want. [/li]
If her scores were good enough to get her in at one point, they are good enough to get her in now.
Call - not e-mail, call - at least every other day, and don’t allow yourself to be brushed off. Be patient, be polite, be utterly relentless.
[ul][li]“The problem here is that she isn’t in the school when she was placed there. How can we fix this problem?”[/li][li]“There’s nothing I can do.”[/li][li]“What is your supervisor’s name, please? Could you please transfer me?”[/ul][/li]
Regards,
Shodan
Boy do I have an update for you guys!
They let her in. The chief of placement called me and told me she would investigate this for me. That was on Friday. Today, she called me and said my kid is in. I asked her to please email this information, of course. She emailed me as we spoke on the phone. She literally read out the email as she wrote it, as we spoke. She is awesome. Below is the email with the names changed to protect the innocent. Ha.
"Ms. Nzinga, your daughter Lil Zing is enrolled in School of The Arts and will attend school at the School of The Arts on Sepetember 2, 2011. If you need further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.
I apologize for the length of time it took to figure out the situation. I hope your daughter enjoys her new school.
Thank you,
XXXXX"
I didn’t even ask her what the problem was. I was emotional and trying not to cry. She assured me that the kid is enrolled and ready to go. Orientation is TONIGHT!
I never did get a response from the VP when I left a voice mail requesting audition scores. I have not had any further contact with him at all, in fact.
I cannot tell you guys how much I appreciate the support in this. You dopers make me lose my cool, sometimes. I get all mushy about yall. A special shout out to OtakuLoki. I really vented fully to him on PM.
I am so relieved and happy that things turned out this way. And I am so glad you didn’t accept defeat. What a great example you’ve set for your daughter.