By Julie Shapiro
As Tribeca parents jockey to be zoned for P.S. 234, the city warned this week that trying to fit everyone could result in something no one wants: waitlists.
“The more buildings we include in the P.S. 234 zone, the more likely there will ultimately be a lottery at P.S. 234,” said Elizabeth Rose, director of portfolio planning at the Dept. of Education. “That is not something we want. I don’t think it is something the community wants.”
Rose spoke Monday night at the District 2 Community Education Council’s hearing on the rezoning of Lower Manhattan’s schools. About 100 parents turned out to weigh in on the city’s two temporary zoning options for next fall, which would guarantee every Downtown child a seat in one of the four local schools. The C.E.C. is working on a revised proposal incorporating the parents’ feedback, which they may vote on later this month, and Rose said she would consider the community’s concerns as well, though there are limits to how much the proposals can change. Kindergarten registration is scheduled to begin Feb. 1.
Most of the parents who spoke Monday night lived in sections of Tribeca that are not included in P.S. 234’s zone under one or both of the zoning options.
“We feel kicked out of the community we helped to build,” said Dru Gearhart, who lives at 80 Chambers St., also known as 270 Broadway.
Both of the city’s proposed options zone 80 Chambers for the Spruce Street School, not P.S. 234. Fifty-nine of the building’s 85 apartments have signed a petition asking that the city reconsider and zone 80 Chambers for P.S. 234, another building resident said.
Gearhart, whose son will start kindergarten in 2010, said she is worried about the long walk to the Spruce Street School, which includes crossing Broadway and Park Row. Other parents in her building said they stayed Downtown to rebuild Tribeca after 9/11 and have attended fundraisers at P.S. 234 for years, thinking they were supporting their child’s future school.
Parents at 80 Chambers and other south Tribeca buildings said families as far south as Murray St. and as far east as Broadway should be included in P.S. 234’s zone.
Rose replied that there are not enough seats in P.S. 234 to encompass such a broad area. The city put forward two options for who will attend P.S. 234: a “horizontal option” that includes all of Tribeca from West St. to Lafayette St. but only goes as far south as Warren and Chambers Sts.; and a “vertical option” that goes all the way from Canal St. down to Liberty St. but only as far east as Church St.
Rose acknowledged that both options would leave sections of Tribeca out of P.S. 234.
“P.S. 234 is the logical choice for more families than 234 can logically serve,” Rose said. “That is the dilemma we are dealing with. There is no way around that dilemma. We’re trying to make the best choices we can.”
In response to parents complaining that their building was purposely left out — particularly parents who live in rentals at 89 Murray St., whose building was split in half, with the adjacent condos at 101 Warren St. allowed into P.S. 234 but the 89 Murray rentals zoned for Spruce — Rose replied that the decisions were made on a larger scale.
“No building was singled out,” she said. “We did not at any point say we want to put this building in and exclude that building.”
Although most of the Tribeca parents who spoke said they had nothing against the Spruce Street School, many sounded wary of the location, which is between William and Nassau Sts. near the Seaport.
“I’m not entirely sure where Spruce St. is,” said John Keeler, who lives at 24 Warren St. and has a son entering kindergarten next fall. “It’s a completely different neighborhood. It’s probably a perfectly fine and nice neighborhood, but it’s not our neighborhood.”
Several Spruce Street parents took the mic to defend their fledgling school, which has attracted interest from families across Manhattan and in Brooklyn. Learan Kahanov, whose son is in kindergarten at Spruce, said that traveling from Tribeca to Spruce is not an insurmountable hardship.
“The East Side has been crossing Broadway for 20 years to get to 234,” said Kahanov, who lives in the Seaport. “It’s fine.”
While the Tribeca parents fight for their children to attend an existing school rather than a new one, a group of Battery Park City parents are fighting for just the opposite. A handful of Gateway Plaza residents said Monday that they would rather be zoned for P.S./I.S. 276, the new green school opening in southern B.P.C., but the city wants to keep them zoned for P.S. 89 instead.
“Gateway Plaza residents deserve access to the new school that we waited a really long time for,” said Ed Long, who has lived in B.P.C. for 26 years and has a 4-year-old son. “Show us a little more respect.”
Long and several other Gateway Plaza residents said their children have made friends in southern B.P.C. and the Financial District, and P.S. 89 on the other side of North Cover feels like a different neighborhood.
Both of the city’s zoning proposals use Albany St. as the divider between P.S. 89 and P.S. 276, but several residents said Vesey St. or Liberty St. would make more sense.
One advantage of P.S. 276 and the Spruce Street School that few parents mentioned is that they will both be K-8s, giving graduating fifth graders a guaranteed middle school seat. Students at P.S. 89 and P.S. 234 will not have that same opportunity.
Toward the end of Monday night’s meeting, Denise Cordivano, director of the Battery Park City Day Nursery, had some advice for the many riled parents.
“Take a deep breath,” Cordivano said. “Yes, fight for what you believe in. But when the dust settles, remember that your children are resilient.”
The C.E.C. will hold its second (and likely final) hearing on Lower Manhattan rezoning Wed., Dec. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Assembly hearing room at 250 Broadway, 19th floor. Parents can also e-mail feedback to the C.E.C. at D2zoning@gmail.com.
Julie@DowntownExpress.com
