It's been a week since the the City Council Education Committee questioned Department of Education enrollment officials on admissions policies ranging from high school acceptances, to school transfers, to admissions timetables, and overcrowding in neighborhood schools. The hearing, which was held on short notice, came just as the school year was winding down.  Since few parents knew about it ahead of time, and even fewer stuck around to testify after City Council members finished grilling DOE officials, we thought a recap was in order.

For most parents in-the-know there wasn't a lot of news (with the exception of the surprising announcement by a deputy chancellor that the DOE might be shopping for a new G&T admissions test.). Yet there were some interesting exchanges between DOE officials and City Council members.

Testifying for the DOE were Liz Sciabarra, chief executive of enrollment; Marc Sternberg, deputy chancellor for portfolio planning; Anna Committee, director of gifted and talented programs; and Sandy Ferguson, the executive in charge of middle school admissions.

See a rundown of some of the topics discussed after the jump.<!--more-->

Transfers

Parents of students who are unhappy in their current schools have long been frustrated by how difficult it is to change schools. Most transfers, especially in middle and high school, are granted only for travel distance, safety issues (which must be documented by a police report, among other proofs), or medical conditions. In the past there were so-called guidance transfers available to students who find their school a poor fit. Those don't officially exist anymore.

Under questioning by Council members, Sciabarra suggested that, in cases of "educational incompatibility," families should work with the school and its network leader to try to  resolve the problems. When "interventions have failed," she said, transfers are decided on a "case by case basis" by enrollment officials.

"The notion is we've gone through robust admissions policies," she said, "and large scale transfers destabilize schools and families."

Asked how many students transferred in any given year, she said she didn't have the numbers at hand "but they are not small." Jackson said he would follow up to get those numbers. (We'll pass them along if we get them.)

High school admissions

City Council member Margaret Chin of Manhattan questioned why so many seemingly qualified 8th-graders (8% of those who applied) did not get accepted at any high school.

The answer: A "huge number of qualified students apply to the same schools," according to Sciabarra.

Unmatched students  go through thesupplementary round where all are assigned to a high school. Those still unhappy with the choice may appeal.  Sciabarra described the appeals process as "robust" and said the office does its best to "increase the happiness quotient." She did not yet have the number of 8th graders who appealed this year and who may expectresults in July, after school let out.

Council member Jackson asked what is being done to stem the "steady decline" of black and Hispanic enrollment at specialized high schools. Enrollment officials, while acknowledging that they "had a ways to go" in improving those numbers, said they have been doing additional outreach in under-represented neighborhoods and enlisting alumni of the schools to aid in the effort.  The Specialized High School Institute, an intensive prep program for qualified students beginning in 6th grade, is now held in 10 sites around the city rather than just at one site, which was the case in the past.

Admissions timetables

Persistent questions came about the admissions timetable, which leaves many families still uncertain of their child's placement late in the school year. Insideschools reported last week on the disjointed timing of G&T admissions where incoming elementary school families learn about acceptance to a G&T program only after they register for other kindergarten programs.  The current G&T test can’t be administered until all eligible students turn 4, which means holding off until January, according to Sciabarra, who added that there was "a need for better alignment."

Middle school acceptances are distributed in late May; those who appealed their matches this year still haven't heard  the results. The executive in charge of middle school admissions, Sandy Ferguson,  said the current timetable was driven by differing admissions policies around the city and the desire for families to explore their options, and "connect to the schools"  by visiting, testing, or auditioning. In the past, individual districts set their own admissions calendar, and the process was completed earlier.

Special education & special needs students

Surprisingly, there were no questions about how admissions policies may be affected next year with the introduction of special education reform in 250-plus schools. There were plenty of questions about past policies,  in particular when new small high schools were exempt from accepting special education students and those learning English during their first years of operation.

Sciabarra said this has not been the case for several years now.

Leo Casey, a vice president of academic high schools at the Teachers Union, commented about the "concentration of special needs students in certain schools."  "Small schools aren't taking the numbers of high needs students [that large schools are]," he said.

He said that many "over the counter" students are assigned to large under-performing schools,  such as Christopher Columbus, even after the DOE  announced it planned to close it down.

He argued for more "transparency" in admissions procedure and allowing the processes to be accessible to parents and families. He urged the DOE to "re-establish the role of human judgment and allow schools and guidance counselors to have some say" in who is admitted.

Overcrowding

Staten Island council member Deborah Rose asked why some of the large schools in her district, such as Curtis High School, are over-crowded and yet they continue to accept students.  Sternberg said that most of the large high schools are zoned schools, and as such must accept students who live in the zone.

Apparently this isn't the case with elementary schools, many of which still have waiting lists for kindergarten, as parent activist Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters pointed out.

"The DOE talks about choice but parents should be able to send their child to their  neighborhood school," she said. "It is inconceivable to people [outside New York City] that there is a waitlist for kindergartners at their zoned schools," she said.

We'd like to know what questions you have for the enrollment officers at the DOE? What issues concern you most? What would you like to see changed? And, how would you change it?