Education Council Postpones Meeting to Discuss Upper West Side School Rezoning

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Community Education Council District 3 (CEC) has made its stance on rezoning elementary schools on the Upper West Side clear, but apparently the Department of Education (DOE) still needs some time to follow suit.

The CEC has postponed a public meeting to discuss rezoning which was scheduled for Saturday Oct. 29 because the DOE has not sent a new rezoning proposal since the CEC publicly declared its rezoning preferences.

"Due to a delay in receipt of a new DOE Draft Zoning Scenario, CEC3 is postponing the Sat., Oct. 29th Public Hearing," reads a message on the CEC website.

Earlier this month the CEC sent a letter to NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña detailing a rezoning plan that ignored pleas of some of the most vocal parent groups in the neighborhood. In an effort to desegregate the school district the CEC advocated to re-site PS 452 to the building currently occupied by PS 191, 16 blocks south of its current location.

The CEC also proposed rezoning three of the eight buildings in the Lincoln Towers community from high-performing PS 199 to PS 191, which was once on the "persistently dangerous schools" list and pulls most of its students from the Amsterdam Houses — a public housing development.

When the CEC released its letter a DOE spokeswoman told patch that the department valued its partnership with the council.

“We value the CEC’s leadership and partnership, and will continue to solicit feedback, host meetings and engage in robust conversations as we work to submit a final proposal that best serves all of the students and families in District 3,"DOE spokeswoman Toya Holness told Patch in a statement.

While the CEC has made its rezoning preferences clear, the DOE ultimately will submit the final proposal and the CEC will vote on whether to accept it or not. Whether or not the DOE's final plan will adopt the recommendations of the CEC remains to be seen, but the two bodies will have to work together in order to pass a plan.

Photo: Patch