Thirty Bronx parents gathered in a small Riverdale office suite on Monday evening to discuss the gifted and talented admissions process, following the Department of Education announcement that 45 percent more students qualified for kindergarten “gifted” programs this year. The chatter quickly highlighted the logistical and moral challenges of where to place gifted programs in a socio-economically disparate district.

District 10 is home to Riverdale, a quiet, secluded neighborhood that borders the Hudson River and Westchester County. Residents live in comfortable apartments and large estates hidden by a canopy of tree-covered, lush green lawns. District 10 also includes neighborhoods such as Fordham, Kingsbridge, and Tremont, where there are few trees, public housing, and noisy, congested streets.

This year, District 10 parents can choose among three district-wide gifted programs: PS 24 in Riverdale, PS 7 in Kingsbridge, and PS 54 in Fordham. Some parents say PS 24 is the only logical choice, others disagree.<!--more-->“I clearly would not go to [PS] 7, and definitely not [PS] 54,” said one mom, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s dangerous. It’s a bad neighborhood…a lot of kids don’t speak English there [at PS 7],” said another PS 24 parent, who did not want to be identified.

The meeting, sponsored by a few active PS 24 and PS 81 parents, was advertised as a G&T informational session, but as one parent pointed out: “It sounds like a lobbying effort against the G&T effort because it’s not at the schools we want…and I find this troubling. Are we ultimately saying we’re not happy unless it’s in our school?”The answer for many parents is yes. “There’s more than 25 percent of the student body [at PS 24] that comes from outside the zone,” said Annmarie Dodd Hunter, a PS 24 parent who helped organize the meeting. “We are trying to establish a local G&T program. Our children live here, and they should go to the school where we live.”

As for where high-achieving District 10 kids, who don’t live in Riverdale should go to school, Riverdale parents lacked a clear answer. “What do we do with bright kids in Fordham? Here’s the problem,” said one parent.“They can be bused over here. Their parents want them to come over here,” interjected another parent.

“But I don’t want them to take seats away from kids zoned for 24,” the parent responded.

All incoming kindergarteners who score at or above the 97th percentile are eligible for citywide gifted programs located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Those who score at or above the 90th percentile on the tests are guaranteed a space in a district-wide gifted program. Placement is based on a student’s score and how families rank programs – not where a student lives. Details about the application process are spelled out in the DOE’s G&T handbook.

Parents complain that because there is no citywide G&T program in the Bronx, many Bronx students who score at or above the 97th percentile opt for district programs instead. “PS 24 could be all children who get 99s and that’s not really equitable,” said Hunter. Parents also mentioned their concern about schlepping a five-year-old across the district to far-away schools, and the dilemma a parent faces when one child qualifies for a gifted program at an out-of-zone school and a sibling doesn’t.

Others at the meeting said parents should try to improve all district schools, not just their zoned schools. “I know there are concerns about [PS] 7,” said Tony Cassino, a community activist who has been principal-for-a-day at PS 24 and PS 81. “But, I have no doubt this parent group could form a phenomenal G&T program wherever you put it.”

Ultimately, it is parents who decide whether a G&T program survives. Last year when not enough parents selected PS 54’s gifted program, it did not take in a new gifted class. Some parents at the meeting said they preferred to send their children to a general education program at a high performing school such as PS 24, rather than to a gifted program at a lower-performing school, such as PS 54. In 2008, 44 percent of students at PS 54 passed the state English exams, compared to the 83 percent pass rate at PS 24. This year PS 54 is back on the list of gifted programs offered next fall.“They are offering [PS] 54 as an option again and that’s insulting,” said Damian McShane, whose child qualified for NEST +M, a citywide gifted program, last year. He opted to keep his son in Riverdale because of the three-hour daily commute from the Bronx to the Lower East Side where NEST is located. The DOE does not provide busing for out-of-borough students who attend a citywide program.

The ultimate goal for the group of active PS 24 and PS 81 Riverdale parents, who sponsored the forum, is two-fold: they want a citywide gifted program in the Bronx and more gifted programs for the Riverdale community. According to the DOE, a citywide Bronx program is slated to open in 2010.