Survey Asks Parents To Weigh In On Brooklyn Elementary Rezoning

BROOKLYN, NY — A new survey is asking parents to weigh in on the plan to redraw zones for seven Brooklyn elementary schools, which is slated to happen next year.

The survey, put out this week, aims to give the District 15 team leading the rezoning conversation ideas about what family members are looking to get out of the remap, which has been in the works for nearly two years.

The rezoning was most recently postponed from the 2020-2021 school year to the 2021-2022 year as officials work to address feedback from certain schools.

"This survey is a tool that will allow us to hear from a broad range of community members," the organizers wrote. "We consider it the beginning of a conversation."

The rezoning would affect seven schools — P.S. 676, P.S. 15, P.S. 32, P.S. 58, P.S. 29, P.S. 38 and PS 261 — whose zones stretch across Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens. It is meant to help with overcrowding and increase diversity in the "subdistrict."

The Office of District Planning had originally proposed two options, one of which would eliminate the zones altogether and let parents choose their child's school.

But instead of choosing between one of the plans in November, officials decided to hold off and gather more feedback.

The survey will ask families a series of questions based on equity and their goals for choosing a school, including:

• What does equity mean and what does it look like for different members of different school communities?
• What do families value when it comes to their children’s elementary education?
• What schools and schooling experiences do families desire?
• What are current perceptions and desires with regard to the different existing elementary school options?
• What supports do families desire within schools once their children are enrolled?

It is part of a process that will center on families impacted by the rezoning and particularly families from underrepresented communities, organizers said.

The delay of the remapping came after outcry from Red Hook and Gowanus families and staff who said their schools had been left out of the discussion.