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March 6-12, 2020
NEW YORK CITY WORKING TO CONTAIN CORONAVIRUS: See coverage on Page 3
Carranza responds to District 24 parents’
safety concerns at Elmhurst town hall
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Schools Chancellor Richard
Carranza’s District 24 town
hall on March 2 proved to be
much calmer and organized
than District 26’s contentious
education event earlier in the
year — but it still had its moments.
More than 1,000 parents, students
and educators attended
the Department of Education’s
town hall at I.S. 5 in Elmhurst,
taking up the auditorium
where Carranza sat with the
Community Education Council
(CEC) 24 members, the gym
and the cafeteria, where it had
to be live streamed.
The growing size of the town
halls prompted CEC 24’s President
Phil Wong to joke that the
next town hall would “have to
go to Shea Stadium or Yankee
Stadium.”
Carranza began with opening
remarks in which he addressed
the coronavirus by
encouraging people to wash
their hands, and told parents
to keep children at home if
they’re sick. He then answered
several pre-written questions,
with topics that ranged from
school integration to safety, for
one hour.
The first question of the
night was on Carranza’s mission
to integrate schools. A
CEC member asked why they
DOE is attempting to create
a “one size fits all citywide
approach” when D24 has 39
schools that are “working so
well.” They noted that their
schools are committed to retaining
locally zoned schools.
Carranza said he agreed
CEC 24 members and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza at March 2 town hall.
with many of the things they
said about the district.
“What I’m going to, in a very
friendly way, push back on is
the notion that I have a plan to
integrate District 24 — there is
no such plan,” Carranza said.
“What I have talked about is
that in schools and school communities
that diversity isn’t as
apparent as what is being stated
in the question, we should
have a conversation about what
it would look like to have more
diverse schools. Unfortunately,
not all schools everywhere are
as diverse as what has been
stated here today.”
When asked about specialized
testing, or SHSAT, Carranza
invited supporters of the
practice to show him research
proving it’s the best way to
identify intellectually gifted
children. He also called for
the state and city legislature
to “get out of the school board
business” and repeal the Hecht-
Calandra Act.
There were also many questions
about school safety.
Carranza pushed back on
the notion that the DOE has a
“lax discipline policy” when
asked about how they plan to
deal with violence in schools,
using the various incidents at
M.S. 158 (Marie Curie) as an
example.
“There is a zero tolerance
for any physical abuse, zero
tolerance for anything that we
could consider to be breaking
the law, and, believe me, we
work with NYPD in those situations,”
Carranza said. “But
we also know that we’re an
educational institution. And as
an educational institution, forgive
me, but we think it’s part
of our job to help students learn
what it’s like to be a law abiding
Photo: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
citizen, a caring individual
with those around them, to understand
how they function in
this society.”
Carranza said that when the
DOE was informed of the various
incidents in M.S. 158, central
and field staff monitored
the school on a daily basis,
provided additional training
for staff members, sent letters
to the community, had several
meetings with parents and met
with elected officials.
Lucy Accardo, a former CEC
24 president, asked what the
DOE is planning to do for D24
schools with “more than 2,000
students, but only one security
guard.” Accardo mentioned
that parents tend to disagree
with having an armed security
agent or a retired police officer,
but want more security overall.
Carranza said he’s “not
a supporter of making our
schools look like jails.” And
while he thinks the school’s security
agents are doing a “phenomenal
job,” he said they’re
open to listening to specific
cases where they need more assistance.
Success Academy made its
own statement with a large
group of parents and children
wearing orange shirts and
holding signs that read “Kids
Over Politics” at the town hall.
CEC 24’s President Phil Wong
asked Carranza if he had any
updates for them, to which the
chancellor responded by saying
that they’re working with
SA on two temporary co-location
proposals.
“We had a school site that
we thought was perfect, they
wouldn’t even have to co-locate
but there turned out to be a
number of issues,” Carranza
said. “We expect to post proposals
later this week. I just want
to assure Success Academy
parents, staff and students,
that we hear you and we’re engaging
with you.”
Although the town hall
was fairly organized, there
was a brief moment toward
the beginning of the meeting
in which Dao Yin, a candidate
for Queens Borough President,
stood up and addressed Carranza
before walking out of the
auditorium.
Yin told QNS that he left
because he felt Carranza was
“showing off.”
“The chancellor needs to
listen to different voices and
not show off,” Yin said. “It’s a
serious community education
meeting, not anybody’s showtime.”
Vol. 8, No. 10 44 total pages
/QNS.COM
