Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Process of designating new school seats by district and sub-district
6:04:52
ยท
169 sec
Council Member Rita Joseph inquires about the process of designating new school seats by district and sub-district in the recent plan. SCA and DOE representatives explain the factors considered and the need for flexibility in seat allocation.
- SCA analyzed latest enrollment projections, housing development data, and class size data
- 12 sub-districts for PSIS level seats and Brooklyn and Queens for high school level seats were identified
- Some seats remain designated as citywide to maintain flexibility for addressing specific school needs
- Room conversion projects in high-need areas contribute to addressing equity concerns
Rita Joseph
6:04:52
Thank you.
6:04:59
So I appreciate the new measure identifying designated seats by district and sub districts before the project has been cited in the plan.
6:05:07
The more than 7,000 new seats that are newly designated by district and sub district in the plan allow more transparency into planning however there's still more than 15,000 seats designated citywide as of this plan.
6:05:23
Can you walk us through how 7,000 plus seats were designated in this plan?
Cora Liu
6:05:33
So we certainly have heard the comments and the feedback from the public about we I think prior to this February amendment, our seats were all citywide.
6:05:44
We took a look at the latest enrollment projection as well as housing development data.
6:05:49
We also look at the class size data.
6:05:52
So on one hand, if the district and subdistrict, the total projected enrollment is over the projected seats, we definitely see a scene in there.
6:06:01
So that's one way of identifying some of the subdistricts in need of seats.
6:06:05
We also look at class size data.
6:06:07
If the subdistrict as a whole is in need of classroom space, they must rely on capital strategy in order to achieve compliance.
6:06:18
That's another kind of a perspective.
6:06:21
So based on those two perspectives, we have identified 12 subdistrict for PSIS level seats and Brooklyn and Queens for high school level seats.
Emma Vadehra
6:06:30
And I'd say, Joseph, as you sort of asked earlier, like how do we keep some flexibility to address needs?
6:06:36
And as Nina and I shared earlier, the new law means we need to plan a little differently.
6:06:42
We need even more flexibility than we had because maybe we will find a site for PS8 or maybe we will not.
6:06:49
And so by keeping some of that money at the citywide level for now it allows us to find those like, not us, I don't do any this, thank you SCA.
6:06:58
It allows them to really see where they can actually find sites that address specific school needs even if they don't fit in one of these sub districts.
6:07:05
I would say in these sub districts we know we're going to have need and we're going to need to find space, but there's many other schools as well.
6:07:11
And they maintain some flexibility so if they do find a site by PS8, they have funding to go put towards that or it may be somewhere else.
Rita Joseph
6:07:19
Even our
Nina Kubota
6:07:20
room oh, sorry.
Rita Joseph
6:07:21
No, go ahead.
Nina Kubota
6:07:22
Even our room conversion projects that we mentioned before, you mentioned equity.
6:07:26
So I think for Rockaway and Elmhurst Educational Campus are in the third and fourth E and I quartile.
6:07:33
So having that almost 16,000 to allow for room conversions at certain schools does give us a lot of flexibility.