Unstuck

I'm kind of stuck. I’m doing an enterprise piece about how a child here has to be 5 by September 15 or they can't start schoo. I have string on a guy with a kid who missed the deadline by two days. How should I approach the story? Are there specific questions readers would want to know?

          Response:

What is the core of the story?

            Questions for you to answer: What does it mean that there's a law about the age of a kid starting kindergarten? Who cares? Who's in favor of it? Who’s against it? Why is it even an issue: What does the guy GET who wants to sneak his kid under the two-day deadline? What does a parent NOT GET if their kid doesn’t meet the deadline?

            In other words, because of these rules, who wins, who loses and who cares?

Is there a GATEWAY element to the story --  i.e., if my kid can't start kindergarten this year at age 5, then he faces a lifetime of being left behind (in the parent view)? Is that a valid concern? Who says? Why did the legislature make the rule in the first place?

            My suggestion would be to answer the above questions, simply, concretely. What three or so points emerge from that exercise? Then to look thru notes and see if you have people, quotes, anecdotes, to support/ flesh out the points. Then write a nut graf, and a couple of possible ledes. And then send for more discussion. My two cents. It's all about finding focus.