Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio and the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) released a joint report today evaluating how the Department of Education handles school co-locations. Its conclusion: The DOE does not adequately plan for school co-locations, does not sufficiently involve  parents in the decision-making process and falls short on assessing the impact that co-locations have on the education of all students in the building.

The report comes on the heels of the DOE's announcement last week that nine new schools opening in September will squeeze into school buildings they had been promised, even though the host schools, part of the 19 schools originally slated to close, will remain open in all grades — at least for one more year.

It challenges the adequacy of Education Impact Statements (EIS) that the DOE is required to issue before placing new schools in existing school buildings.  The Public Advocate's office and AQE claim that the statements, as issued by the DOE, do not account for safety, the impact on students learning English, students with disabilities, and the maintenance of physical education and arts programs. The report also recommends additional time and opportunities for the statements to be made public and for parents to study and comment on them.<!--more-->

The report, Breaking Down Barriers: An Evaluation of Parent Engagement in School Closures and Co-locations, is based on an analysis of 39 Educational Impact Statements - including those for the 19 schools that were slated for closure this year, and 25 of the 66 schools that the Panel for Educational Policy approved for co-location in the 2010-2011 school year. It also includes a survey of 874 parents from 34 affected schools.

In response, the DOE issued this statement:

We are always looking to improve our community engagement efforts. With a better public process in place, more parents will understand the urgent need to replace schools that fail children year after year with new schools that have been shown to perform far better. We wish the Public Advocate showed the same amount of concern for our children stuck in failing schools as he does for DOE processes.

Among the report's recommendations is placing a moratorium on co-locations until more detailed statements are created and adequate opportunity for public comment is provided for.

Read the full report here.

Does your child attend a co-located school? Please comment below.