FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 14, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Queens school district’s Diversity Plan gets
a timetable, but loses a superintendent
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e Department of Education
recently revealed the organization in
charge of creating District 28’s new
diversity plan.
Th e southeastern district, which
stretches from Rego Park and Forest
Hills down to Jamaica and South
Ozone Park, is one of the fi rst recipients
of funding to kickstart a program
that would help engage the
community in creating a diversity
plan.
To facilitate the task, DOE chose
WXY Studios, a multidisciplinary
design fi rm that has been involved
in projects from designing loading
zones for electric trucks to the
Rockaway Boardwalk aft er destruction
of Hurricane Sandy.
Th e process did hit an unexpected
bump in the road around the same time,
the WXY set up a new informational website
on the project though. Mabel Muñiz-
Sarduy, who originally applied for the
diversity plan funding, took on a role as
Queens North Executive Superintendent
at the beginning of this week, leaving
uncertainty about who will be guiding
the project.
Th e fi rm was also in charge of the city’s
fi rst diversity plan in District 15. Th e website
it created for the project contains a
timetable for the project and details about
its process.
Th e fi rst step is to form a working
group of residents to ensure that the
plan is incorporating community feedback
into their fi ndings and conclusions.
Photo courtesy of the DOE and WXY Studios
WXY working group will be selected
based on geography, experience on integration
issues, time spent in the district,
race and ethnicity.
Th e members of the group will include
the district superintendent, DOE Central
Staff , members of the Community
Education Council, two principals, two
teachers, two students, two local advocacy
groups, three parents/community leaders
and two community-based organizations.
In Muñiz-Sarduy’s absence, D28
Deputy Superintendent Seiw Kong
has taken on the role of acting superintendent
while the DOE searches for
a permanent replacement. But asked
about who will take Muñiz-Sarduy’s
place in the working group, engineers
at WXY did not have an answer. Th ey
reached out to the DOE, but the
agency did not respond in time for
the publication of this article.
Th e fi rst “framing” round of the
plan will last from December 2019
to January 2020. Th e following three
phases will last from February to June.
Th e proposed outcomes range
from admissions policy to culturally
responsive curricula and accountability
to make sure that the plan
works.
In District 15, which functioned as
guinea pig for diversity plans like District
28’s, this meant prioritizing students who
are low-income, English language learners
or those who live in temporary housing
for 52 percent of all seats in the district’s
middle schools, among other structural
changes.
To learn more about the plan, visit
http://d28diversityplan.com/.
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