New School’s Zoning Is Still in Question

by Ronald Drenger

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein responded last month to a Community Board 1 ultimatum that demanded that Downtown children get preference for seats in the new Millennium High School. But his reply did little to clear up critical questions about the admissions policy, even as eighth-graders were finalizing their high school choices.

The Community Board had said that it would withdraw its support—including fundraising commitments—for the school if Klein did not agree to its demand by Dec. 17.

In his Dec. 13 letter to CB1 chair Madelyn Wils, Klein sidestepped that demand and ignored the board’s fundraising role and instead placed the admissions issue largely in the hands of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. He noted that the LMDC, the city-state agency overseeing rebuilding Downtown, is reviewing a proposal submitted by School District 2 for the agency to provide construction funds for the Millennium High School. If the LMDC makes preferences for Downtown children a condition for funding, Klein wrote, “we would be prepared to accommodate their requirement.”

The board decided to delay action and to continue pushing for a commitment, but could still vote to withdraw its support this month.

“The chancellor’s response is positive enough for us to wait another 30 days,” Paul Hovitz, chair of CB1’s Youth and Education Committee, said last month. “He didn’t say that he couldn’t do this kind of zoning because it’s against policy.”

“I don’t see why he can’t do it because the community board asks, why he can do it only if the LMDC asks,” Hovitz added. “But I don’t care how it gets done, as long a it gets done.”

“It needs a lot more clarification,” said Wils. “We’re working on it.”

If the LMDC makes the preference a condition for funding, it would give the Department of Education and District 2 political cover to give the Downtown community a zoned high school, something that they have denied other neighborhoods and that critics have attacked as elitist. A geographic preference would also go against the district’s policy of opening its high schools to students from the entire district.

But it is unclear when the LMDC will decide on the school proposal. An LMDC spokeswoman said the agency was reviewing many funding applications and hoped to make decisions on several “in the next few months.”

The Department of Education and District 2 have also not agreed to the academic admissions requirements demanded by CB1, though the gap between their positions is small. The board wants a minimum of 75 percent of the seats assigned to students who scored at Levels 3 and 4 (meeting or exceeding state standards) on their eighth-grade standardized tests, while the district says the student body will reflect children’s performance district-wide, or about 65 percent at Levels 3 and 4.

The school is now at the High School of Art and Design at 57th Street and Second Avenue, but its future home remains unknown. A preliminary agreement was reached with the owners of 75 Broad St., but no lease has been signed.