Maspeth Parents Lash Out At Rumored Rezoning
Concerned that the Department of Education (DOE) may be working on a rezoning plan for Maspeth’s I.S. 73, parents and students held a rally in the neighborhood on Sunday, Apr. 28, calling on the agency to scrap ideas to reassign children to a school in another community.
Scores turned out for the rally outside St. Stanislaus School to voice their opposition to a rumored plan that would, if enacted, send middleschool children who live in Maspeth to Ridgewood’s I.S. 93 in time for the 2014-15 school year.
Though word of the proposal was obtained through I.S. 73’s School Leadership Team, the DOE has yet to publicize an official zoning plan, according to Charlie Vavruska, a Maspeth parent and one of the organizers of the rally.
Vavruska told the Times Newsweekly the purpose of the proposal to send Maspeth children to I.S. 93 is allegedly to make room for children from Corona and Elmhurst- communities which are battling school overcrowding-to attend I.S. 73.
“They’ve been building new schools, why should Maspeth move?” he told this paper. “In the last six or seven years, the DOE built new schools and additions in Middle Village, Corona and Elmhurst. Maspeth has gotten nothing in the last 10 years. Why should we lose something? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Those questions were raised at Sunday’s rally, during which some protesters carried signs reading “Maspeth Schools for Maspeth Children” and “I went to I.S. 73, so should my child.” Concerns about the proposal were also raised at last Tuesday’s (Apr. 23) meeting of the Community Education Council of District 24 at P.S./I.S. 87 in Middle Village.
Nick Comaianni, CEC 24 president, declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the Times Newsweekly on Monday, Apr. 29, as the council has yet to receive any official rezoning plans from the DOE’s Office of Portfolio Development.
Even though no official plans have been made available, Vavruska stated the parents of Maspeth sought to act proactively in order to convince DOE officials to scrap such an idea before making it public.
“We want to make sure that we are on top of this,” he said. “We don’t want something to happen before we act.”
The Times Newsweekly contacted the DOE for comment on the matter; as of press time, none was provided.
