SOCIAL STUDIES City presents plans to desegregate elementary schools in Brownstone Brooklyn
Zoning for PS 58 in Carroll Gardens, which is one of the most sought-after schools in the area, would shrink considerably under a new Department
of Education proposal. Google Maps
Man cuffed for allegeldy sucker punching PLG woman
COURIER LIFE, OCT. 4-10, 2019 3
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
City education offi cials
unveiled two ambitious
schemes to desegregate elementary
schools in Brownstone
Brooklyn by reshaping
the area’s admissions
process, according to a local
civic guru.
“We fi nd ourselves at a
turning point...This is a moment
where we can really
step forward,” said Camille
Casaretti, head of the Community
Education Council
at School District 15. “Both
of the proposals that are on
the table offer a level of equity
that doesn’t exist in
many schools throughout
the city.”
The two proposals would
alter the enrollment criteria
for seven elementary schools
in Carroll Gardens, Cobble
Hill, Boerum Hill, Gowanus,
and Red Hook — located
within District 15, which
Mayor Bill de Blasio has singled
as a testing ground for
new desegregation policies .
The fi rst plan would dramatically
change the zoning
map for the schools — shrinking
zoning for sought-after
schools, and expanding the
designated area for schools
with low-attendance.
PS 15 in Red Hook and PS
32 in Gowanus would see the
largest increases in coverage
area — mostly engulfi ng
students from Carroll Gardens,
where zoning for PS 58
would be shrunk more than
any other school.
The second proposal
would throw out the zoning
map altogether, and enroll
students to the seven schools
using a randomized lottery
system.
The raffl e-based plan mirrors
a similar scheme that the
Department of Education has
already implemented across
all middle schools in District
15 — which also encompasses
Park Slope, Windsor Terrace,
Borough Park, and Sunset
Park — where students list
their school preferences before
being enrolled through a
lottery system.
“In District 15, we’ve already
launched a middle
school diversity plan,” said
department rep Max Familian.
“Seventy-eight percent
of students receive an offer
to one of their top three
schools.”
If the zoning maps are
eliminated, the Department
of Education would requisition
additional buses to accommwodate
students who
fi nd themselves enrolled in
far-fl ung schools, according
to Familian.
Under both schemes, 25
to 35 percent of seats in each
school would be reserved
for homeless students, nonnative
speakers, or children
eligible for free or reduced
lunch.
Currently, the challenge
of serving underprivileged
or non-native students is unequally
shared between the
seven schools, only 11 percent
of students meeting that
criteria at PS 29 in Cobble
Hill, while nearly 100 percent
of students do at PS 676
in Red Hook, according to Familian.
“In this area, there’s a
disparity across the seven
schools across the district,”
he said. “We’re looking to
use rezoning and admissions
changes to address
these disparities between the
schools.”
Students who are currently
enrolled in a school
would not be forced to transfer
if their zoning changes,
according to Familian, who
also noted that children
could be admitted to the
same schools as their older
siblings — regardless of possible
future zoning changes
— in an effort to keep families
together.
Department of Education
reps had previously hoped to
fi nalize the rezoning plan for
the 2020 school year, but multiple
sources suggested that
timeline could be pushed
back.
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Police on Tuesday arrested
a man they suspect of
sucker punching an elderly
woman in Prospect Lefferts
Gardens on Sept. 19.
The 27-year-old East Flatbush
resident cold cocked
the 71-year-old victim on
New York Avenue between
Lincoln Road and Lefferts
Avenue at 5:25 pm, catching
the old lady in the face and
knocking her to the ground,
before nonchalantly strolling
away, surveillance footage
shows.
Paramedics rushed the
woman to Kings County
Hospital where she was
treated for a broken jaw and
a busted lip that required
stitches, according to the authorities.
The woman told Pix11
News that she had surgery
on Sept. 27 and would be unable
to eat solid food for two
weeks.
Police with the 71st Precinct
caught up with the suspect
and arrested him at the
station house at Empire Boulevard
and New York Avenue,
where they slapped him
with felony assault charges,
according to a spokesman
for the Department.
The suspect was arraigned
at Kings County Supreme
Court on Wednesday,
Oct. 2.
Police on Tuesday cuffed an
East Flatbush man they suspect
of punching a Prospect Lefferts
Gardens woman in the face on
Sept. 19. Photo by Paul Martinka