8 The Queens Courier • JUNE 20, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com TIME TO LEARN Pilot to extend school day for sixth grade BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com The last bell will ring two and a half hours later for 2,000 of the city’s sixth graders starting this fall. A pilot program will provide additional literacy training at 20 middle schools with high-needs students, including five in Queens, according to the Department of Education (DOE). The schools are also part of a 40-school expansion of the Middle School Quality Initiative (MSQI), which provides extensive literary instruction in grades six through eight. “We are committed to ensuring that all students are prepared for college and 21st century careers, and the Middle School Quality Initiative has been central to this mission,” said Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott. The Queens schools participating in the pilot are P.S./I.S. 116 William C. Hughley in Jamaica, Waterside School for Leadership in Rockaway, P.S. 043 in Far Rockaway, Queens United Middle School in Springfield Gardens and Village Academy in Far Rockaway. The $6.2 million for the MSQI expansion comes from the City Council and DOE along with contributions from the Robin Hood Foundation, a nonprofit that helps fight poverty, and other groups. “We are confident that a daily dose of extra tutoring for students struggling with English language arts will significantly increase students’ ability to comprehend at their grade level across all subjects,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. However, Patricia Simmons, a school aid at P.S./I.S. 116, believes money can be allocated in better ways. “If they’d just give the schools the supplies they need, then they wouldn’t need to extend the time,” she said. “So many classes don’t have enough textbooks or workbooks.” P.S./I.S. 116 William C. Hughley in Jamaica and four other middle schools in Queens will be part of a sixth grade pilot program that extends the school day. Another faculty member was concerned about the age of the students in the program. “For the little kids, it’ll be too much, but the older ones will be able to handle it,” said a teacher who wanted to remain anonymous. Tedric Simpson, a former student, also agreed the pilot might be taxing on the sixth graders. Photo by Johann Hamilton “It’s too much school for one day. They could maybe do it from Monday to Wednesday, but not every day,” she said. For parents, the benefit went beyond learning. “Some parents can’t afford babysitters, so the extra hours could be good for them,” said Jean Elie. With additional reporting by Johann Hamilton Audit finds high school placement flawed BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com The city’s high school placement system denied a handful of youngsters a chance at being admitted to a competitive Queens school, a comptroller’s audit found. Four middle school students were not ranked last year for possible enrollment at Townsend Harris High School’s Intensive Academic Humanities even though they were eligible, according to City Comptroller John Liu. “Our audit confirmed what many frustrated parents and students have long suspected — the city’s high school placement process is often unfair and deeply flawed,” Liu said. Students who apply to Townsend Harris — a screened school which accepts students based on past performance over where they live — must have stellar attendance, at least an overall 90 average and a standardized seventh grade reading and math score in the 90th percentile before they are considered, its website said. The four students in the audit had met those requirements, Liu’s office said, although their names and scores could not be disclosed. Students can apply to up to 12 high schools and order their choices by preference before the city’s Department of Education (DOE) enters their picks into an enrollment program. If applicants meet the high school’s criteria, they are ranked on a list for possible enrollment. The screened Townsend Harris High School was one of five city schools to have its placement process audited by the comptroller. institutions then offer seats to top scoring students in the system. But the DOE’s “arbitrary and unfair” placement process, Liu said, did not rank nearly 2,000 eligible students who applied to five screened city schools last year. It ranked about 300 ineligible applicants instead. “Applying to high school is an important and stressful enough experience for students and parents,” Liu said, “and it must not be left to a sloppy and random system like the one our audit found.” DOE spokesperson Devon Puglia said high school admissions transparency has never been greater. More than 75 percent of the 70,000 annual high school applicants land in one of their top three school choices, he added. “This report goes out of its way to ignore the enormous strides we have made to provide information to families and implement a clear, fair high THE COURIER/Photo by Rosa Kim school choice process,” Puglia said. “As always, we have more work to do and appreciate the recommendations for how to improve high school admissions.” Townsend Harris officials did not return calls for comment. Nearly 5,300 students applied for 270 seats at the school’s competitive humanities program last year. The DOE did not say whether the four students in the audit were notified of the glitch.
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