The Department of Education says Hurricane Sandy has delayed acceptance notices for public high schools until March 15.

That date is two days after the deposit deadline for private schools, which could force parents to decide whether to pay a deposit before knowing whether their kids have been accepted to a public school.

"We'll get the notifications out, but, I mean, the hurricane impacted us in a number of ways, and we want to make sure that we're very comprehensive in what we're doing so parents will get their proper notification," said Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.

The Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York sets the private school deposit deadlines, which for years landed prior to the public schools' notification dates, forcing a similar choice.

They had previously declined to push the deadline back, but now say they will reconsider.

Last year, the DOE set new notification dates, giving parents time to decide whether to commit to a deposit at a private school.

Without a change in this year's deposit deadline, parents may face the same problem as before.