Dear Friend,
Any time schools close down or share space in the same building, it can be traumatic. Spurred on by Public Advocate de Blasio, the Department of Education has announced new reforms that will make these transitions much more transparent, and give the people with the most at stake--students, parents and school staff--more say in what happens.
The changes include:
· Mandating new neighborhood engagement before schools are closed or required to share space;
· Increasing outreach efforts to obtain valuable feedback from parents;
· Providing structured sit-downs between schools that are sharing space to iron out any problems;
· Basing decisions about sharing school space on more than square footage.
These new policies were recommended by the Public Advocate and the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) this July following a comprehensive report , which included a survey of over eight hundred parents grappling with schools closing or moving into already occupied buildings. We owe a big thanks to all the advocates who helped make these changes reality.
If you have any concerns or suggestions about how to further improve the policies around school closures and relocations, please contact our office hotline at (212) 669-7250 or email gethelp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov .
Thank you,
Matt Wing
Communications Director
Office of the Public Advocate