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School Co-locations

Throughout New York City, students from Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade are learning firsthand about co-location, the practice of two or more distinct schools existing in the same building and sharing spaces. The growth of co-location has driven the rapid increase in new schools in the City. The New York City Department of Education (DOE) increased the number of new schools significantly during the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. In the six year period between 1996 and 2002 the latter being the year Mayor Bloomberg first took office the DOE opened 314 new schools.( 1 ) During the Mayors first two terms from 2003 and 2009, the DOE opened 452 new schools. While the Mayor can credit his administration to all these new schools, these schools do not have their own buildings but located in existing schools that are either being phased out or not utilizing every classroom all periods every day. All too often, co-location in New York City has led to the denial of parity and equity for all of the Citys public schools students. The city has created hundreds of new schools stating that they are providing NYC families choice for their children. There are many new schools with many themes. In buildings where there used to be one school, there can be up to four new schools. These are called campuses, a larger example of co-locations. These schools are provided with much support, new technology, new labs and often stipulate class size restrictions. Let's look at the downside of these co-locations. In many buildings the DOE pays for one to three extra administrations to run multiple schools, increasing the costs to taxpayers. The inequity lies in the existing school giving up classrooms, student enrollment, and not receiving the extra support and amenities offered to the new school. Common spaces, such as the auditorium, gymnasium and cafeteria have to be shared between the schools. Other school spaces that may be affected by co-locations include cluster rooms, libraries, labs, and specialized spaces for special education. If the co-location makes the school space more constricted within the facility, libraries, labs and cluster rooms may be converted into classroom space. In addition, classroom space may be sacrificed to accommodate the incoming school, which could result in increased class sizes in the existing school in some cases. (2) Proposal: A moratorium on new co-locations until the following has occurred: 1. The City must perform a comprehensive review of the processes and protocols currently in place in order to make the system of co-location workable in New York. 2. The New York City DOE needs to review and revise its procedures for measuring space within schools.

3. A review of the existing school so no new school that co-locates would put the first school at a
disadvantage to the students that attend there.

4. Any other necessary best practices can be evaluated and implemented.

Once the above is addressed, decisions should then be based on a CEC vote and before a vote can be taken, the CEC shall solicit advice from the affected School Leadership Team(s), District Leadership Team, the district Presidents Council, and other community organizations in that community. In the case of high Approved by CPAC

schools, the district CEC shall also consider the advice of the Citywide Council on High Schools, in addition to the organizations listed above. Since school co-locations can radically affect enrollment, it is only logical that CECs should have the authority to approve or disapprove co-locations. CECs should also have the authority to monitor the shared space agreements to ensure they are properly followed.

If the DOE insists on further expanding co-location, then it must at least do so in a way that provides the greatest chance that the co-location will be successful and equitable for all students, and not merely for those in the other school coming in. Many schools that experience co-location have a new school that acts as a destabilizing force, causing or the existing school, overcrowding and oversized classes, and sending them into a spiral of academic decline. We also need to ask ourselves if new schools will achieve more with dedicated space, updated equipment and smaller class sizes then doesn't the existing school and students deserve the same?

1 Breaking Down Barriers: An Evaluation of Parent Engagement in School Closures and Co-Locations, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and the Alliance for Quality Education, July 22, 2010. 2. Breaking Down Barriers: An Evaluation of Parent Engagement in School Closures and Co-Locations, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and the Alliance for Quality Education, July 22, 2010

CHARTER SCHOOLS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS, Best Practices for Co-Location Executive Summary, New York Communities Organizing Fund, Inc,
nycofi.nationbuilder.com/nycofi_report_calls_for_moratorium

Approved by CPAC