A Department of Education spokeswoman attended meetings at District 6 Community Education Council headquarters and at P.S. 8 Luis Belliard to speak to parents about what would happen if children in Washington Heights and Inwood were no longer zoned to neighborhood schools.
The spokeswoman, Yael Kalban, insisted that there was no firm proposal for dezoning the district on the table and that she was merely in attendance to clarify the meaning of unzoning. The Department of Education has claimed that non-zoned school districts level the playing field when it comes to race and socio-economics status while providing other benefits.
According to DNAInfo:
Smaller class sizes could also result, as schools would no longer have to guarantee a seat to students based on their zone, Kalban said. In addition, families would have only have to fill out one application, as opposed to the current system where families must file multiple.
