City Will Hear From More Parents Before Rezoning Two Brooklyn Schools

During town hall meetings on a proposal to rezone P.S. 8 Robert Fulton in Brooklyn Heights and P.S. 307 Daniel Hale Williams, families could at least agree on one thing: the city was moving too quickly and there were too many unanswered questions.

In response, the Department of Education said on Tuesday that it would allow for two more months of discussion before submitting its official proposal to the parent council that must vote on the plan, and deputy chancellors would be involved in the engagement process.

This month, education officials will hold two small-group meetings with parents and other community members. One will center on parents from Dumbo and Vinegar Hill, who are currently zoned to P.S. 8 but would be shifted to P.S. 307; the other meeting would focus on listening to concerns from P.S. 307 parents, some of whom have worried that they would lose a sense of ownership in their school with the change. 

Education officials would then bring the two groups together for a broader discussion. Senior Deputy Chancellor Dorita Gibson will oversee the meetings and Elizabeth Rose, a deputy chancellor overseeing school facilities, will also participate.

A vote on an official rezoning proposal could come in December or January, a time frame officials said still would allow changes to take effect for the 2016-17 school year. 

Devora Kaye, a spokeswoman for the department, said the city wanted to make sure that the rezoning process was more inclusive.

‎"Based on the feedback received to date, the D.O.E is proposing to extend the deadline to vote on the District 13 rezoning proposal to allow for more meaningful dialogue with impacted communities, and we'll ensure that families are supported throughout the enrollment process," Kaye said.

Members of the Community Education Council, the group that approves or rejects the rezoning, learned of the city's plans just before the group's working session on Tuesday night. They said the redrawn zones would likely not change after this engagement process, but they hoped city officials would better understand and address issues with implementation.

"Obviously more engagement is necessary," said Horace Allison, a CEC member, adding he worried the process would seem disingenuous if the city was not open to tweaking its proposal.

Once the city officially submits a proposal, a vote would take place this winter.