The Community District 10 Education Council unanimously approved a Department of Education proposal that would rezone seven local schools, an effort the agency hopes will help alleviate overcrowding problems in the district.
On Monday, Jan. 26, at a special meeting, Education Council members voted 6-0 in favor of the proposal.
The vote occurred just months after the DOE released its Five-Year Capital Plan for the years 2010 to 2014 in November 2008. Despite widespread overcrowding issues, the plan only called for the creation of two new schools in District 10.
To further address overcrowding in the district, the DOE hopes to reduce the number of students at PS 8, PS 56, PS 86, and PS 246 by redefining the areas where the schools currently admit students. At the same time, the DOE plans to use previously unzoned schools, PS/IS 20, PS 54 and PS 340 to enroll additional students.
PS 8 in Bedford Park was designed for 800 students, but 1,147 students are currently crammed into the school. PS 56 in Norwood is similarly cramped, housing 593 students in facilities intended for a maximum of 475 students.
“Some of these schools are really overcrowded,” said Marvin Shelton, president of the Education Council in District 10. “Something needed to be done,” Shelton said, adding that the Education Council worked with the DOE to create a plan that would be the least disruptive to students and parents. In many cases, the zoning changes will enable students to attend schools closer to where they live, he said.
The DOE first organized a public hearing on Jan. 7 at PS 54 in North Fordham to unveil the proposal and accept questions and comments from the community. Five parents and two community members attended, though none had children attending the schools that would be affected.
The DOE says it has worked closely with District 10 to ensure that parents and families will not have to make unreasonable sacrifices as a result of the changes.
“By rezoning certain schools in District 10, [the DOE] will be more equitably distributing students,” said William Havemann, spokesperson for the DOE. “We know that [overcrowding] was a concern and [the DOE] has been in a long process with parents and elected officials to resolve that.”
The zone changes will only affect incoming students for fall 2009, mostly new kindergartners, and will not affect students currently enrolled in school, Havemann said.
Ed. note: The Norwood News will provide the boundaries for each new school zone in an upcoming issue.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.