The CEC-15 meeting scheduled for November 7th is NOT a public meeting/forum on the rezoning proposal. Rather, it is a "business meeting" which will go over, among other things, future public meetings - including the scheduling of a special meeting to hear public comment on the rezoning plan BEFORE our scheduled vote on the matter on the 29th. Thus, while members of the public have every right to observe, there will be no input allowed from non-members at the business meeting on the 7th.

Mr. Devor raises some excellent points about Park Slope and Sunset Park area schools that need to be factored in the rezoning discussion. Just to recap the situation:

PS321/107 – Severely overcrowded and in danger of facing caps

PS133 – New school for District 15 and 13 that currently needs to recruit students for seats

Sunset Park Schools – Extreme overcrowding that should be an embarrassment to the city

PS39 – Strong enrollment of primarily in zone students

The author of the commentary, Nina Wildorf, is a PS39 parent like me. We were both shock to learn our zone was changing with the proposed rezoning.

My aunt, who attended PS39 in the 1950s, loved the saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That is what a very close knit PS39 community is asking in light of the proposed rezoning. Can the new school on 4th Avenue and 7th Street become an annex for 321? Can PS133 help alleviate the overcrowding in Sunset Park and become an attractive option for students in the PS321 zone to alleviate overcrowding there as well?

The principal of PS39 was not at the table during the rezoning discussions like her colleague at PS321, even though the PS39 zone was disproportionately changed with the proposed plan when compared to the PS321 zone. That probably why the PS39 community felt it was in whiplash when learning that the final rezoning plan called for certain blocks in PS39's zone to be “swapped” for others in the PS321 zone. We are a small zone that works. We are a tight community. Now we just want to pressure test the proposal that the best answer to PS321 overcrowding involves ripping apart and reassembling the only school zone in District 15 that seems to be working.

Thank you, Mr. Devor, for your commentary here and willingness to listen and respond to many, many views at the Public Education Town Hall last week. Anyone with an interest in this discussion knows that there will be people unhappy with the solution to PS321/107 overcrowding. What PS39 pleads now is to help get a small school out of the crossfire.

-- Jo Goldfarb on behalf of the PS39 Community Action Group
(longtime Park Slope resident, who is not being rezoned from PS39 with the proposal, with two daughters currently attending PS39)

As President of the Community Education Council for District 15, I appreciate Ms. Willdorf's thoughtful statement. Two corrections/comments to the posting, however, are needed.

First, in response to the misleading "Editor's Note", the CEC-15 meeting scheduled for November 7th is NOT a public meeting/forum on the rezoning proposal. Rather, it is a "business meeting" which will go over, among other things, future public meetings - including the scheduling of a special meeting to hear public comment on the rezoning plan BEFORE our scheduled vote on the matter on the 29th. Thus, while members of the public have every right to observe, there will be no input allowed from non-members at the business meeting on the 7th.

Meanwhile, District 15 families are invited to attend and participate in our annual "share fair" which will be held during the morning and early afternoon at PS 24 in Sunset Park. That convocation will again not center on rezoning but instead, will focus on building up parent associations and the overall strengthening of parent empowerment in District 15 schools.

Second, the "blue book" capacity estimate for the Thomas Aquinas building cited by Ms. Willdorf is seriously flawed. In the not too distant past, the school (with a footprint FAR larger than that of PS 39) had over five hundred parochial school students. Even after the EXTREMELY poorly "planned" renovation of the building under the auspices of the School Construction Authority, the building has comfortably held approximately 300 children as the temporary home of PS 133.

Curiously, the piece (in particular and the media generally) omits reference to the PS 133 situation. Thus, our Council's demand that a significant priority be given to District 15 English Language Learners for the approximately 565 new D15 seats that will be coming on board this coming September when the school returns to its original site. Indeed, we have repeatedly declared that there will be NO D15 rezoning until that demand is accepted by the DOE.

On a side note, despite their avowed interest in diversity, I am quite stuck by the utter disinterest in PS 133 - despite its existing track record and integration plus not one but two working dual language programs (and the real possibility of its adding Mandarin instruction as well) - of Park Slope parents affected by the proposed rezoning.

To be clear, the present and future overcrowding of PS 107 and PS 321 will be truly terrible if nothing is done. At the same time, as the President of Council responsible for that determination, the DOE plan is certainly NOT a "done deal" - especially in its current form.

Park slope parents are free to voice their opinions. Indeed, who could stop them. Even so, many may (or may not) be unhappy with the ultimate outcome of a VERY difficult process. I do applaud, though, Ms. Willdorf's contribution to that conversation.

Thank you for your comment, and for your correction regarding the next CEC-15 meeting. I have updated the editor's note at the top of the post.

Just informing you that the 4 blocks there on 4th Ave between 5th and 7th street, 2 new large condos are going up in place of no resident currently, when finished in that location will be at least 150 units.

I live down the street from those condos and walk past them every day. One is going to consist only of studios and 1 bedroom rentals, with low likelihood of any kids at all. The other has a handful of 2 bedrooms but most units are not family dwellings. So I doubt they would be a big strain on PS 39. Also, since no one is living there currently, it should be quite easy for those new residences to be zoned to the new school at Thomas Aquinas. In my humble opinion there is no need to disrupt PS 39, which is working so perfectly, for this hypothetical situation.

Just informing you that the 4 blocks there on 4th Ave between 5th and 7th street, 2 new large condos are going up in place of no resident currently, when finished in that location will be at least 150 units.

I have been encouraged by the author of a change.org petition prepared specific to the concerns of parents of PS39 by Jo Goldfarb to re-post my comments from that petition here. The following is an expansion of those thoughts.

My two children are currently enrolled in PS39, one in K and one in 2nd Grade. While I recognize and appreciate the overcrowding problems at our neighboring schools, PS321 and PS107, I fear the destruction of the school community we have worked very hard to build at our little school, the existence and success of which fades almost to oblivion in the face of the loud complaining of our neighbors in the other zones, especially 321.

I have lived in Park Slope for 11 years and have had children in the neighborhood for over 7. We were certainly made well aware of which school zones we should pay attention to when working with various real estate agents at the time we relocated here from another part of the city. Kids were so far off in the future we didn't give it much thought then. When my son was finally of the age for school, we applied for Pre-K and were lucky enough to find a spot a PS39. Soon after school began, those old thoughts planted by those real estate agents about the wonders of PS321 and the reasons for the tens of thousands of dollars price difference faded quickly away. My son is now in second grade, and my daughter is in her second year at PS39, enjoying her Kindergarten experience immensely.

PS39 is what a neighborhood school SHOULD be. A small, diverse population, with an optimum student-teacher ratio, active and engaged PTA and within walking distance of one's home. We have successfully fought through and fought off the schools former reputation as, at best, an afterthought in District 15. Our principal (who was fairly well blind-sided by this rezoning, as far as I know) has managed our funding and class sizes in the most optimal way and has had more than her share of unanticipated challenges in her time there.

Yes, Mr. Devor, we would love to have Mandarin or ELL instruction (or even an auditorium or gym! Wow!) at PS39 as well. We'll still be in-zone no matter what happens, so there will be no chance for us for the wonderful programs anticipated at the old parochial school on 4th Ave and 8th St. But our school is what it is, and the size it is, and we have made something of it despite its relative obscurity.

The re-zoning will tear all of this apart.

It's bad enough we will have to live for years draped in SCA scaffolding to fix our 19th century cornices and drainage system (we are equally proud of the architectural richness of our building). The proposal being considered is the wrong way to solve D15's overcrowding problems.

Furthermore, I believe the reasons for rejection of proposals to split PS321's zoned population between the new school on Butler and its existing building was too swift. You could house the lower grades in one building and the upper grades in the other and not have to change zone lines at all. That way, all those homeowners concerned with their property values in the 321 zone would be relieved (I get it – I own a home too). The old parochial school, easily accessible by buses and subways could become a magnet school for English Language Learners and other such worthy programs.

In closing, I will mention that I grew up in a small school district, in a suburb, in Pennsylvania. When all of the school districts in the state began to consolidate in the 1950's, resulting in massive education factories with huge graduating classes, ours decided to remain independent. I graduated with 99 other students from my town's local high school. Growing up there, you might imagine that my impression of large, city school systems was...unfavorable. Imagine my surprise and pleasure when discovering a school like PS39, which happened to be the school in MY culturally diverse neighborhood, where I purchased my home, at a reasonable price. I still can't wrap my head around my kids' having to APPLY for Middle School, with the likelihood of the one they will attend NOT being anywhere near my home.

I don't think it’s unreasonable for me to want to preserve the PS39 experience for my children.

I have been encouraged by the author of a change.org petition prepared specific to the concerns of parents of PS39 by Jo Goldfarb to re-post my comments from that petition here. The following is an expansion of those thoughts.

My two children are currently enrolled in PS39, one in K and one in 2nd Grade. While I recognize and appreciate the overcrowding problems at our neighboring schools, PS321 and PS107, I fear the destruction of the school community we have worked very hard to build at our little school, the existence and success of which fades almost to oblivion in the face of the loud complaining of our neighbors in the other zones, especially 321.

I have lived in Park Slope for 11 years and have had children in the neighborhood for over 7. We were certainly made well aware of which school zones we should pay attention to when working with various real estate agents at the time we relocated here from another part of the city. Kids were so far off in the future we didn't give it much thought then. When my son was finally of the age for school, we applied for Pre-K and were lucky enough to find a spot a PS39. Soon after school began, those old thoughts planted by those real estate agents about the wonders of PS321 and the reasons for the tens of thousands of dollars price difference faded quickly away. My son is now in second grade, and my daughter is in her second year at PS39, enjoying her Kindergarten experience immensely.

PS39 is what a neighborhood school SHOULD be. A small, diverse population, with an optimum student-teacher ratio, active and engaged PTA and within walking distance of one's home. We have successfully fought through and fought off the schools former reputation as, at best, an afterthought in District 15. Our principal (who was fairly well blind-sided by this rezoning, as far as I know) has managed our funding and class sizes in the most optimal way and has had more than her share of unanticipated challenges in her time there.

Yes, Mr. Devor, we would love to have Mandarin or ELL instruction (or even an auditorium or gym! Wow!) at PS39 as well. We'll still be in-zone no matter what happens, so there will be no chance for us for the wonderful programs anticipated at the old parochial school on 4th Ave and 8th St. But our school is what it is, and the size it is, and we have made something of it despite its relative obscurity.

The re-zoning will tear all of this apart.

It's bad enough we will have to live for years draped in SCA scaffolding to fix our 19th century cornices and drainage system (we are equally proud of the architectural richness of our building). The proposal being considered is the wrong way to solve D15's overcrowding problems.

Furthermore, I believe the reasons for rejection of proposals to split PS321's zoned population between the new school on Butler and its existing building was too swift. You could house the lower grades in one building and the upper grades in the other and not have to change zone lines at all. That way, all those homeowners concerned with their property values in the 321 zone would be relieved (I get it – I own a home too). The old parochial school, easily accessible by buses and subways could become a magnet school for English Language Learners and other such worthy programs.

In closing, I will mention that I grew up in a small school district, in a suburb, in Pennsylvania. When all of the school districts in the state began to consolidate in the 1950's, resulting in massive education factories with huge graduating classes, ours decided to remain independent. I graduated with 99 other students from my town's local high school. Growing up there, you might imagine that my impression of large, city school systems was...unfavorable. Imagine my surprise and pleasure when discovering a school like PS39, which happened to be the school in MY culturally diverse neighborhood, where I purchased my home, at a reasonable price. I still can't wrap my head around my kids' having to APPLY for Middle School, with the likelihood of the one they will attend NOT being anywhere near my home.

I don't think it’s unreasonable for me to want to preserve the PS39 experience for my children.