Schenectady school board OKs ‘imperfect’ redistricting

Next year, Schenectady schools will be far more diverse under a sweeping change in attendance zones.

Schools will have a better mix of ethnicities and income levels. But the plan, which was developed this fall and will go into effect July 1, 2016, is not perfect — especially for some students in the Bellevue neighborhood who will be bused to Hamilton Elementary School, miles from their homes.

“They’re separated [from the school] by a huge ravine, railroad tracks and a stream,” school board member Cheryl Nechamen said. “They have nothing in common with that neighborhood.”

Nechamen and fellow board member Dharam Hitlall voted against the plan, citing the Bellevue issue. Other board members also hesitated to vote for the plan, but after some debate, they said it could never be perfect, and the plan passed 5-2.

“It’s not going to be a perfect solution for everybody,” said Tanya Hull, who voted for it.

Nechamen said it could have been better. She argued the committee spent most of its time on the attendance boundaries for Keane and Lincoln schools. It could have found better solutions for other schools if it had spent more time on them, she said.

The loudest public comments focused on the Lincoln attendance zone, but resident Bill McColl predicted other neighborhoods would be just as loud — next year. He said other residents would “wake up to it” when they learned of their children’s new schools next summer.

School board member Andrew Chestnut said he, too, wished the plan could be better — but said there was no perfect way to split up neighborhoods.

“They [the committee] could come back with something that wouldn’t step on these toes so much, but they would step on some other toes,” he said.

Chestnut noted the plan reduces school-to-school disparities in poverty and race, making all schools more diverse. He was also pleased that more students will be able to walk to school.

“This sorts out pretty well on the things we said were important,” he said, adding that the committee went into an “agonizing level of detail … going through block by block and practically street by street.”

Currently, some school populations are made up almost entirely of poor children, as defined by those who are eligible for a free or reduced-cost lunch. At several schools, 90 percent or more of the students qualify. And then there’s the schools like Paige, where only 58 percent of the students are poor.

It created somewhat of a haves and have-nots district, and it was one of the issues district Superintendent Laurence Spring wanted to address in a redistricting.

In the new plan, the gap between haves and have-nots will decrease significantly: Zoller would have the fewest poor children, at 60 percent, while Pleasant Valley would have the highest percentage, at 81 percent.

But some sacrifices had to be made. Overall, more children will be able to walk to school — but at Howe and Paige, most children will take the bus. That’s a blow to parents who loved the idea of their children living so close to their school that they could walk to it.

On average, schools will bus only 30 percent of their students; at Paige, they’ll bus 72 percent.

The magnet schools will also close, turning King and Yates into neighborhood schools. That means children who attended those schools from other parts of the city will have to return to their nearest school.

The change means children in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood will mostly attend King, which is in their neighborhood. A smaller part of the neighborhood will be sent to Pleasant Valley, which is also close by, but on the other side of Interstate 890. Students already walk there by crossing a bridge over the highway.

The new plan will allow the district to save money by reducing buses. This school year, the district is using 47 buses. In September 2016, the district will need only 32 buses.

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