Following two town hall meetings earlier this month and thousands of online comments, education officials on Wednesday night presented a slightly more detailed version of its vision to redraw the zoning lines around two elementary schools near the Brooklyn waterfront.
The proposal would shift families living in Dumbo and Vinegar Hill out of the zone for P.S. 8 Robert Fulton in Brooklyn Heights and into the zone for P.S. 307 Daniel Hale Williams, near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Criticism to the city's draft plan was that the proposal appeared to focus on addressing overcrowding issues at P.S. 8 and the concerns of Dumbo parents who were being cut out of the zone, without engaging P.S. 307 as the receiving school.
But Wednesday's presentation played up the ways in which the rezoning could benefit P.S. 307.
"If we want to really commit to growing this school and continuing to push this school to be the great school that it is, we want to make sure that it has a sustainable zone size," said Tim Castanza, from the education department's Office of District Planning. "And, as we keep saying, we do want to grow the enrollment at this school."
The school zone for P.S. 307 is tiny, and only includes the public housing apartments across the street. It enrolls mostly black and Latino students; most students qualify for free lunch.
Meanwhile, the zone for P.S. 8 is sprawling, stretching from Brooklyn Heights along the waterfront to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
By moving families from Dumbo and Vinegar Hill into P.S. 307, the racial make-up of the school could shift from having just 5 percent white students to up to 45 percent over time.
To help blend two communities thoughtfully, Castanza said the city would also try something new if the proposal is approved: create an implementation task force.
"I think that there's a general fear that as a department, we are going to come in, rezone and walk away," he said.
The task force would include community members from both schools, the district superintendent and members of the Community Education Council for District 13.
"The new zone proposal makes a lot of sense -- I think it's a lot better than what they have now," said Matt Cowley, a Dumbo parent who would be rezoned to P.S. 307.
But he said the city was rolling out the proposal too quickly for families to truly be a part of the process.
"Somehow the DOE is doing the right thing, and completely doing it wrong," he said.
The Department of Education was expected to formally submit its rezoning proposal to the Community Education Council by Wednesday's meeting, but it had yet to do so. Once the superintendent submits the proposal, the council has 45 days to review the plan and vote whether or not to approve it.