TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015 • 12 Add A Grade At Wagner School DOE To Expand LIC Academy by Robert Pozarycki Parents will have the chance next month to speak out on the Department of Education’s (DOE) plan to add a grade at a Long Island City secondary school this September. The Robert F. Wagner Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology, located at 47-07 30th Pl. (Building Q891) in Long Island City, presently serves children from grades seven through 12. The DOE proposes adding a sixth-grade class of between 50 to 60 students at the campus beginning in the 2015-16 school year. According to the DOE, the change—first suggested by the Wagner Jr. Secondary School principal, Stefania Vu—would align the school’s middle school entry grade with other intermediate schools across the city. Most middle schools include grades six through eight. The DOE claims the grade expansion would create “a more stable environment” by allowing Wagner students to stay at the same campus for the full length of their middle and high school terms. Wagner admits middle school students using a school-based admission method, with priority given to students living in School Districts 24, 25, 26 and 30. If the grade expansion is adopted, the admissions method would be applied to incoming sixthgraders, and incoming seventh-graders would no longer be admitted through the schoolbased method. In its public notice, the DOE noted the additional sixth-grade class would put the Wagner School—which currently has 662 pupils enrolled—well above the 100 percent utilization rate. But the agency indicated utilization rate doesn’t take into account that Wagner does not completely use the entire building. Building Q891 also houses the DOE’s Alternative Learning -SEE GRADE ON PG. 28- Cell Phone Ban To Be Lifted At City Schools Each Institution To Set Own Rules by Anthony Giudice The controversial ban of cell phones in New York public schools is set to be lifted, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced last Wednesday, Jan. 7, at the High School of Telecommunications Arts and Technology. “This is an announcement I am truly excited to make,” de Blasio said of the decision to lift the school cell phone ban. “This city, in terms of the policy of the previous adminstration, was simply out of touch with the reality of modern parenting,” he added. “It is very tough to be a parent in this city. It’s very tough to be a parent in the modern day.” The lifting of this ban will now allow each school to create and adhere to its own set of rules regarding the use of cell phones in their schools. “I want to be clear that this decision, in terms of lifting bans, will be handled differently in every public school in the city,” Fariña said. The decision on how to handle the usage of cell phones will be made by each School Leadership Team (SLT). The SLT consists of the principal, teachers and parents. Although they get to make the final decision, they must follow the guidelines set forth by the Chancellor’s Regulation A-413. This regulation has several stipulations that include: students are allowed to bring cell phones, laptops, tablets, iPads and other similar computing devices and portable music and entertainment systems to school; these items may not be turned on during any school quiz, test, or exam, unless authorized by the school; they cannot be used during a fire drill or any other safety exercise; and they are not to be used in locker rooms or bathrooms. The school-based policies must be adopted for the 2014-15 school year by Mar. 2. Until then schools must implement one of the interim policies set up by Regulation A-413 which state: students may bring cell phones, -SEE PHONE ON PG. 28-
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