One of the city’s lowest-performing school districts has voted to give parents choice in applying to elementary schools — becoming only the second of 32 geographic districts to do so.
Members of the District 7 Community Education Council in the South Bronx said the move, which eliminates neighborhood zones that require parents to send their kids to the school nearest their home, could be a game-changer.
“We feel that it can’t get any worse, because we’re failing. So we have to do something that’s going to change the whole spectrum of our district,” said the council’s president, Nedya Franco. “Now [principals] have to prove what you have in the building and you have to bring students in. We feel there’s more accountability.”
Monday’s approval will split the district into a northern zone with eight traditional public schools and a southern zone with nine schools.
One zone has only two schools rated with a B grade or higher by the city, while the other has five.
The district’s charter schools will still be accessible by lottery.
Starting with next year’s kindergarten class, parents in each zone will be able to choose several school options rather than be forced to send their kids to a poorly rated school that happens to be nearby.
“It was something that parents were waiting for,” said the council’s second VP, Tracy Woodall. “They were struggling to get their kids out of schools in their area that were failing, and there was nothing they could do.”
District 6 in Upper Manhattan recently considered — but tabled — a similar proposal, and District 1 in lower Manhattan has been unzoned since 1991.