By Kelsey Durham
The city Department of Education has agreed to satisfy a request from parents in District 26 that will prevent students from losing their spots in the Gifted and Talented programs.
An unofficial agreement was announced Tuesday by the DOE to call off the city’s plan to force students in the coveted G&T programs to reapply for their spots upon entering middle school.
Instead, G&T students moving from elementary school into junior high will be grandfathered into the program, a decision that parents see as a victory for their children.
“We’re really happy,” said Jeanneatte Segal, president of the Community Education Council for District 26. “This agreement will really seal the deal once it’s made as a public announcement.”
Before the potential change was announced in late 2013, students who had already entered the programs as early as kindergarten were allowed to continue in them until they reached high school without having to reapply for a seat each year.
Segal said the change was intended to make the system more uniform with the rest of the city and make it more competitive for students to enter the program in higher grades.
“I can understand their point of view, but it wasn’t fair for the parents,” she said. “People moved here and bought homes here to be closer to these programs, and to all of a sudden change it and have it not be what we were promised was a slap in the face.”
Officials from the DOE could not immediately be reached to explain how they came to the decision.
District 26, which is the highest performing in the city, covers Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Oakland Gardens and part of Fresh Meadows.
Segal said the plans to change the system last year were met with “tremendous outcry” from parents of the more than 100 students who hold the current spots in District 26. The CEC partnered with parents and other community groups to hold meetings, which Segal said the DOE was invited to, and gather several hundred signatures in opposition to the proposal.
As part of the new agreement, the DOE also said it would look at adding more spots in middle schools to allow new students to test into the program, Segal said. To parents, the announcement means that students who have come up through elementary school together in G&T programs will be allowed to stay in those classes with each other.
With 21 elementary schools feeding into just seven middle schools within the confines of District 26, Segal said she and other parents are happy to hear that more spots could possibly be available for students who wish to enter G&T programs.
“In this district, it’s important to parents for [students] to be in them,” she said. “Our schools are great and parents here really focus on their children’s education.”
City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens), who represents a portion of the school district, was one of several of the area’s elected officials to celebrate the announcement from the DOE.
“I am pleased that the Department of Education will allow Gifted and Talented students to attend their local middle schools as families expected,” he said. “With the opening of additional classes for incoming students who qualify for the program, the agreement is good news for parents across the district.”
Reach reporter Kelsey Durham at 718-260-4573 or by e-mail at kdurham@cnglocal.com.
