FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PLACE NYC Congratulates Students and Families on High School Offers; Advocates for Class Size Amendments and Manhattan Zoned Option Parity
New York, NY — PLACE NYC (Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education) congratulates the current 8th grade students and their families who took part in the high school application process and applauds their hard work, dedication, and effort. Results were announced and offers were extended to students and their families on Thursday, March 7th.
As we look forward to the next admissions cycle, PLACE is deeply concerned about the potential reduction in high school seats as implementation of the class size law will begin affecting admissions starting with the 2024-2025 cycle. At our March 19th Parent-to-Parent Conversation about high school admissions, parents expressed concern about the loss of seats at both zoned and popular choice programs and schools, as well as a reduction of accelerated classes, arts and other electives, and a shortage of special education and specialty teachers. Offers at popular high schools may be cut by 20-30% to comply. PLACE implores state legislators to amend the law this session.
Yi Fang Chen, PLACE NYC advisory council member and founder of Higher with Our Parent Engagement (HOPE) says, “Class size is important when resources and budget allow. Busing students out of their zone and reducing school seats to meet mandates can deprive them of quality education and extracurricular activities, which matter more than class size.”
Additionally, PLACE supports Manhattan families advocating for zoned option parity. Currently, Manhattan is the only borough in NYC without geographic priority for its high schools, forcing students to endure long and complicated commutes as early as age 13. PLACE calls on the DOE to re-implement Manhattan borough priority for high schools.
“Every HS student should have access to a high quality zoned school within their borough and close to home. Since the last administration [DeBlasio], the DOE has been playing musical chairs under a scarcity model where thousands of students compete for only a few hundred desirable school seats. It’s time that Mayor Adams and Schools Chancellor Banks address the root cause of this issue by expanding rigorous curriculum and building up successful schools/programs in each borough and within each zone, to attract NYC students and stem continuing enrollment losses,” says Lisa Marks, parent of three public school students.
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