Feb 1991: CSB One removes zones or catchments, institutes a policy of controlled choice for diversity, using gender and race/ethnicity based on lotteries in oversubscribed schools.
April 1994: Central Board/Chancellor approve CSB One resolution from Dec. 1993 instituting lotteries in oversubscribed schools pegged to District demographics to strive for fairness, diversity and equitable access.
Jan 2002: CSB One revises policy to create gender, economic, racial and ethnic balance and academic and linguistic diversity
Jan 2004: Community School Boards dissolved, DoE Regions created, status of district enrollment policy becomes unclear (ie: two tiered system of zoned vs. choice schools instituted).
Nov 2006: CEC meets w/ Marty Barr of OSEPO who indicates that DoE will soon centralize K-12 admissions. CEC offers to work with DoE on methods to improve integration in District One schools, based on geography or socio-economics, along with robust outreach to parents. No response from DoE on tailoring the centralized policy to D1 values and history.
March 2007: Centralized citywide admission policy imposed by OSEPO. All lotteries in oversubscribed schools are blind. All Pre-K students must reapply to K, resulting in ‘double lotteries’ for some students at some schools.
April 2007: Meeting at Tweed with Chris Cerf, Deputy Chancellor; Marty Barr, OSEPO; Michael Best, Head of DoE Legal; Lisa Donlan, CEC President; Michelle Haring, District One Principal; Art Eisenberg, NYCLU; Delores Schaefer, former CSB One President to discuss District One admissions history/values. DoE non-committal and concerned about legality of D1 ask.
June 2007: Joint Presidents Council /CEC District One town hall meeting w/ Mike Best (DoE General Counsel), Marty Barr, Liz Sciabarra (head of OSEPO). Hundreds of parents speak out on our community policy/values. DoE offers the possibility that District One be granted its own policy to maintain those values. DoE awaiting Supreme Court decision on race/admissions to proceed.
July 2007: Meredith Court decision ruling on PICS, split between two opposing camps, allows for diversity as a compelling educational goal, as long as it can be defined and achieved with markers other than race alone, and does not categorize or treat individuals. (See Berkley/LA schools where use of race among other admission criteria recently upheld).
CEC forms Community Parent Workgroups: Outreach; Diversity; Pre-K and Sibling priority.
Community Board 3 unanimously passes resolution supporting the CEC/community policy requests on admissions.
Aug 2007: Diversity workgroup submits fifty page proposal for geography based model to OSEPO. No response from DoE.
September 2007: Executive Director of elementary enrollment of OSEPO promises to deliver a policy accommodating district needs including diversity mechanism prior to the start of the new school year.
Oct 2007: Under pressure from local elected political representatives, parents, parent leaders and the news media, Mr. Barr attends CEC One calendar meeting to announce that a new Gifted and Talented policy proposal was imminent and that the early childhood/elementary policy would follow several weeks later- in late November. No policy follows.
Jan 2008: Mr. Barr promises to collaborate with the workgroups studying demographic markers of diversity- geography; socioeconomic status; and ELL status, to model a process for the lotteries to admit K students the next year.
Feb 2008: Mr. Barr does not respond to email recap of these decisions, but does agrees on telephone to work with the CEC on a diversity–based lottery for the next year.
Nov 2008: DoE releases guidelines for K admissions- making District One a citywide exception by centralizing admissions. Mr. Barr decides not to work on the diversity-based lottery or Pre-K issue with the CEC.
Dec 2008: Meeting among parents/electeds/OSEPO to again request OSEPO’s collaboration on the two issues of Pre-K to K continuity and diversity-based lottery.
March 2009: Letters of support to Chancellor Klein from CEC1, D1Presidents Council, NYS Assembly Speaker Silver, MBP Stringer, NYS Senator Squadron, NYS Assembly Member Kavanagh, Assembly Member Glick, City Council Member Mendez, City Council Member Gerson, and Public Advocate Gotbaum, asking DoE to work with community stakeholders on diversity and equity based admissions plan as well as Pre-k to K continuity.
Dec 2009: DoE proposes D1 admission policy giving preference to returning Pre-K students that select their current school first, and grants preference to out-of-district siblings, for Kindergarten. Implemented in Fall 2010.
Spring/Fall 2010: CEC1 advocates for district schools on a myriad of Pre-K articulation issues arising from new policy implementation.
Oct 2010: Deputy Chancellor John King supports equitable and diversity-based admissions plans as a viable mechanism for improving school achievement and offers to act as a thought partner with CEC1.
Feb 2011: D1 CEC helps organize Community Controlled Summit with CIF and Michael Alves for D1 and D3 school communities.
May 2011: At D1 Town Hall, Chancellor Walcott is asked, in writing and orally, about the district’s long standing request to return to diversity based admissions policies. His response is that “equity is provided by current policy tied to parent and student choice” rather than to “categorical factors in a student’s background (such as race or socioeconomic status)” and that 90% of students were placed in their first choice schools, making District One a “wonderful example of parent choice in action”. The CEC is invited to provide “ideas on ways to improve communication on the options available”.
Nov 2011: CEC1 presents at “Creating Equity-Based Student Assignment Mechanisms” Forum at NYU with Michael Alves and John Brittain.
Jan 2012: DNA Info publishes article with interactive graphic showing increased segregation in District One schools.
June 2012: CEC 1 participates in a Community Forum on the Challenges Facing D3 schools to share community experience with successful controlled choice changed by DoE (without community consultation) to pure choice and ensuing increased segregation.
Aug 2012: OCR complaint lodged claiming discriminatory admissions practices against 3 gentrifying schools in D1.
Dec 2012: PEP approves policy giving priority to continuing Pre-K students applying to Kindergarten citywide in Fall 2013.
Jan 2013: At D1 Town Hall with Chancellor Walcott, parents ask several questions about improving equity of access and diversity in our schools. Chancellor engages at length on the issue and promises to follow up, including specifically on a request to adopt the PS133 (Brooklyn) set-aside model. No follow up of any kind on any issue to date from the DoE
May 2013: Neighborhood SLT drafts letter requesting set asides based on PS 133 model
June 2013: Neighborhood SLT and school community meet with Office of Portfolio Management, Office of Portfolio Planning and Office of School Enrollment to request set asides. Doe response delayed due to Office for Civil Rights complaint.
Oct 2013: CEC 1 commissions a data study to assess the impacts on school equity and diversity under the choice admissions policy in district one. From this research it is clear that there is significant “clustering” occurring at particular schools in the district.
Jan 2014: CEC President Lisa Donlan meets with DOE General Council and Special Assistant to the Chancellor to discuss Neighborhood School request and other diversity based admissions plans. DOE General Council submits request to City Corporate Council. Response promised immediately.
March 2014: After follow up DOE General Council tables request until end of school year.
March 2014: March 29th 2014 CEC 1 brings in Michael Alves, an expert in controlled choice student assignment plan, to participate in a school diversity workshop. The workshop served as a prototype for future parent and stakeholder engagement about diverse schools and integration. Workshop goals include: providing a conceptual framework for controlled choice using key school diversity factors, creating an environment of collaboration that encourages dialogue about diversity, and to build consensus around diversity factor priorities to create a community driven controlled choice student assignment policy plan.
September 2014: CEC 1 hosts Town Hall with Chancellor Carmen Farina to roll out year long School Diversity Workshop Series. Data is revealed mapping the inequities across the district as result of open choice student assignment policy.
October 2014 – May 2015: CEC 1 hosts seven School Diversity Workshops designed to build consensus around school diversity priorities among the community.