Upper West Side Residents Divided on Elementary School Rezoning Proposals

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — If the New York City Department of Education was betting on Upper West Side parents to give them a straight answer, it bet wrong.

Department representatives presented two draft rezoning proposals Wednesday night for elementary schools on the Upper West Side at the July calendar meeting of the Community Education Council District 3. District 3 spans the entire Upper West Side and parts of Harlem.

In return, the parents gave them split feedback.

Several parents spoke after the presentation representing three distinct opinions. Two groups debated the merits of each zoning proposal, while a third group argued that redrawing zoning lines won't fix the major problems Upper West Side schools face.

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The goal of the rezoning project is to reduce school overcrowding and to increase diversity at public elementary schools on the Upper West Side, Kimberly Watkins, zoning committee chair of Community Education Council District 3 told Patch.

"The goal is to best utilize the space we have in our public school buildings to prevent overcrowding and to eloquently configure our zones to allow our schools to prosper," Watkins told Patch. "And to equalize the schools to bring a greater level of diversity to the schools that are affected."

The department of education presented two distinct rezoning plans that would both accomplish the goals but in different ways, said Sarah Turchin, a Department of Education representative. The two plans contain different proposals on what to do with the building vacated by P.S. 191 when it moves to a new building in 2017, Turchin said.

Here's how the plans differ:

Draft Scenario A

• Would create a new elementary school to occupy the building vacated by P.S. 191
• Would redraw zones for six existing elementary schools: P.S. 191, P.S. 199, P.S. 452, P.S.87, P.S. 9 and P.S.166
• Would span from West 60th Street to West 90th Street

Draft Scenario B

• Would move P.S. 452 into the building vacated by P.S. 191 in order to give 452 its own building and promote growth within the school
• Would redraw zones for 11 existing elementary schools: P.S. 191, P.S. 199, P.S. 452, P.S.87, P.S. 9, P.S.166, P.S. 84, P.S.75, P.S.163, P.S.145 and P.S.165
• Would span West 60th Street to West 116th Street

Concerned parents voiced their opinions during a public comment section where 28 people signed up to give remarks. And seemingly every possible opinion was voiced, with parents unable to form any real consensus on which plan best suits the neighborhood.

Most parent comments boiled down to the same theme — rezoning could end up sending their kids somewhere other than where they had carefully planned.

But some parents argued that rezoning wasn't going to do enough to solve systemic problems within the district.

"Listening to the plan and slideshow I do see that the two different plans promote diversity to some extent," said P.S. 75 parent Chris Parkman. "But they don't create real racial and economic equity across the whole district and that is a big problem. Shifting around zones here and there is not going to do the trick."

Parkman said that he was part of a group of parents working on a set of principals calling the CEC and Department of Education to create a district-wide comprehensive plan to ensure equality in schools.

Several other parents called for alternative methods other than zoning to foster equality among the district including "controlled choice," a system where parents can rank school preferences regardless of zone.

Mark Diller, a member of Community Board 7, said his time on the board has taught him that rezoning is not a permanent fix.

"Whack-a-mole with zone lines is not a way to create sustainable diversity in the district," Diller said. Diller emphasized that he was not speaking on behalf of CB7 during the meeting.

Both scenarios are currently in draft form, and official proposals are not expected to be made until the fall, Kimberly Watkins, zoning committee chair for CEC District 3 told Patch. In November, the district council will vote on whether or not to pass an eventual proposed rezoning plan.