Proposed plans for zoning changes in School District 8 were discussed at a town hall meeting on Monday, November 20 at the Bronx Delta School/P.S. 392.
The District 8 Community Education Council and the NYC Department of Education presented a Throggs Neck Rezoning Proposal, necessitated by the completion of the P.S. 14 Annex, to concerned parents and residents.
The proposal would fill a need to change current zones for P.S. 14, P.S. 71 and P.S./M.S. 72, as well as create zones for P.S. 304 and Bronx Delta to alleviate overcrowding in some parts of the district.
The rezoning, if approved, would initially impact only incoming pre-k and kindergarten students, or students that are new to the area schools in 2018-19, according to the proposal.
The DOE is proposing the changes to the current school zones to alleviate overcrowding at P.S./M.S. 71; allow for removal of portable classrooms at P.S./M.S. 71; minimize the number of students who currently require busing; and eliminate travel hardship for students currently living in the area of Throggs Neck that is zoned to P.S. 182 for elementary school and to M.S. 375/M.S. 448 for middle school.
Under the proposed changes all future Country Club and Spencer Estate students, that once fed into P.S./M.S. 71, a pre-K to grade 8 school, will now be zoned to attend a pre-k to 5th grade school.
The proposed zone changes will take effect for admissions to the 2018-19 school year, if approved by the CEC.
Changes that SD 8 families can expect as a result of the rezoning include:
• Some students in the southern, eastern and western portions of the current P.S./M.S. 71 zone will be zoned to P.S. 14, while residents in the northern portion of P.S./M.S. 71’s current zone will remain zoned to P.S./M.S. 71.
• Students residing in the portion of the current P.S. 14 zone that is adjacent to the P.S. 72 zone east of the Throgs Neck Expressway will now be zoned to Bronx Delta.
• Some students residing in the eastern portion of the current P.S. 182 zone will no longer need to travel to the other side of the district (across the Westchester Creek) to reach their zoned school.
The 2018 kindergarten application will open November 28, 2017, and close January 12, 2018.
All applications submitted by the deadline are considered equally. There is no “first come, first served basis.”
The CEC plans to vote on the Throgs Neck rezoning proposal on December 20.
Anyone affected by the rezoning is asked to check their applications between December 22 and January 12, 2018, to make sure it reflects their preferences.
The proposed rezoning is expected to change student enrollment and space allocations at each school.
P.S./M.S. 71’s total enrollment is expected to decrease from about 1,649 students in 2017-18 to about 1,356 students.
P.S. 14’s total enrollment would increase from 547 students in 2017-18 to about 902.
P.S. 72’s student enrollment is expected to decrease from 828 students in 2017-18 to about 667 students.
And P.S. 304’s total enrollment is expected to increase from 507 students in 2017-18 to about 565 students.
