Queens district to boost integration
Will participate in Dept. of Education program to increase diversity in all of its classrooms
BY MAX PARROTT
As the City Council
splinters over its reaction
to Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza’s efforts to
diversify the New York City
school system, District 28 in
Southeastern Queens took a
major step last week toward
integration policies.
The district is one of the
first recipients of funding to
kickstart a program that would
help engage the community in
creating a diversity strategy.
Department of Education
officials announced on June 10
that five districts–9, 13, 16, 28
and 31–would receive $200,000
each in grant funding to begin
the process of developing
hyper-local integration plans.
“If you look at District 28
overall, the racial makeup
is diverse. The enrollment
data, however, reveals that
our student population is
segregated, with the majority
of black students attending
schools in the southern end of
the district and the majority
of white students attending
schools in the northern
end,” wrote District 28
Superintendent Mabel Sarduy
in an explanation for the
district’s application.
The city announced the
district-based grant in fall
2018, with the middle school
diversity plan in District 15
that completely eliminates
selective admissions criteria
Map courtesy of Department of Education
as a model.
The rents and property
values in the district’s
southern half, which includes
parts of Jamaica, Richmond
Hill, Briarwood, Kew Gardens
and South Ozone Park, are
significantly lower than the
northern part, which snakes
up around the southwestern
tip of Flushing
Meadows park
and carves into
Rego Park and
Forest Hills.
T h i s
disparity drives
socioeconomic
and racial
segregation in
the district,
according to
Sarduy. On top of
that, the difficulty
of commuting
from one end to
the other adds
another obstacle
to integration.
This is not
the first step that
the district has
taken toward
addressing these
issues. Last year it received a
state grant aimed at outlining
the impacts of racial and
socioeconomic segregation.
The district has also been
working with the Office of
Student Enrollment towards a
new Diversity in Admissions
priority to be implemented as
early as fall 2020 admissions.
“We have already discussed
changes to enrollment policies,
but we wish to connect with
our community in order to
consider what next steps our
district could take. This grant
could give us the resources
necessary to have a meaningful
conversation with our entire
community, hearing the voices
of families across the district,”
wrote Sarduy.
De Blasio and Carranza
announced the funding
with the news that they are
approving the vast majority
of recommendations made by
the School Diversity Advisory
Group, (SDAG) a coalition of
students, educators, parents,
advocates and researchers
appointed in 2017 to advise
the Mayor and Chancellor
on policies to advance school
diversity and integration.
As part of those
recommendations, the SDAG
strongly urged the nine
districts with sufficient
demographic diversity of
population to develop diversity
and integration plans, which
included Queens districts 27
in addition to 28.
Robbers steal $20K in LeFrak City apt. caper
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Cops are looking for two
crooks who stole thousands
of dollars during a robbery at
a Corona apartment.
According to police, at 7
a.m. on June 17, a 29-yearold
man was sleeping in
his LeFrak City apartment
when he was awoken by
the two unknown men who
kicked open his bedroom
door. One of the men was
holding the victim’s 68-yearold
grandmother by her neck
and simulating that he had a
firearm under his shirt with
his other hand.
The second suspect
began to search the victim’s
drawers, finding and taking
$20,000 from an envelope.
The suspects then dragged
the grandmother to the front
door, where they released her
and ultimately fled the scene.
There were no reported
injuries as a result of
the incident.
Police released photos
and video of the suspects on
June 25. One is described
as a Hispanic man with a
medium build, standing 6
feet, 3 inches tall and was last
seen wearing a grey hooded
sweatshirt with a white
T-shirt. A formal description
of the second suspect was
not available, however the
suspect was last seen wearing
all black clothing.
Anyone with information
in regard to this incident
is asked to call the NYPD’s
Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-
577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish,
888-57-PISTA (74782). All calls
are kept confidential.
Reach reporter Emily
Davenport by email at
edavenport@qns.com or
by phone at (718) 224-5863
ext. 236. Photos courtesy of the NYPD
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