PS 24 survey responses

A summary of survey results and comments left by respondents are below.

For additional details and an analysis of survey results, read the article "Readers weigh in on troubled school"

Comments by respondents who chose 'other' in the answer choices above:

I know numerous people who have scammed the system--for example by listing a grandparent as the place of residence.

The school is too crowded and out of zone children should not attend. There is no space for them, it is not racial. Also, Dinowitz should not block expansion of the school. They both should be fired!

Is Dinowitz trying to block access to minority kids outside the district? Is Manny's lawsuit justified? Who knows. I'm on the side of the kids, who are the one's suffering here. We need new blood not Manny or some DOE puppet.

There may have been a registration impropriety. However I blame Manny Verdi for holding the school hostage with his opportunistic and wildly inappropriate lawsuit.

I don't support either of them as I believe both parties are ultimately harming the education of the children. Dinowitz was out of line to send someone to screen applications - politicians don't just involve themselves like that to screen applications to avoid overcrowding, it is clear that he wants 24 to maintain itself with the majority of students to be of the Caucasian background and those from upper class income families. Other members of the school community were involved in the screening too, which is appalling. None of these individuals were screened, had a background check nor were fingerprinted issued by the DOE. What would have happened if these individuals turned out to be psycho killers? or storing sensitive data and information from these children for their own personal usage? The C30 process was put on hold partially due to Manny's lawsuit against Dinowitz. What he does not understand is that he is hurting the education of these children. A non-functioning SLT was actually the true reason as to why the C30 process was put on hold and parents were ill advised by the PA that it was all due to Manny's lawsuit. Rumors on racial discrimination and inequality has been going on for decades and they all link to one main person and that is Dinowitz. I think the school needs an entire clean-up and we need to put a stop on the racial discrimination and inequality that has been going on for many years now.

Not sure who to side here with. Neither actually. Manny is hurting the students educational curriculum with his ongoing lawsuit against Dinowitz. Dinowitz shouldn't have been involved at all in any type of screening, as this is unlawful and unethical. To send Randi Martos to screen applications is against the law and to have one of the PA copresidents (not naming who) to partake is absolutely absurd and questions her true role as a member of the PA.

I don't know who to believe.

Unclear about what the real facts of overcrowding are.... causes. ability to control or affect it. etc...

I don't think we should be taking sides or giving any more focus to this Verdi's personal fight with Doniwitz. I side with the PS 24 students! Verdi filed a law suit and is trying to disrupt the selection of a new Principal by throwing every other person under the bus - Dinowitz is just the most publically known one - in his mission to thwart the process that ultimately will lead to a new school administration and inquiry into he and his former principal's bad practices. It's a last ditch effort, "playing the race card", by someone who wants to take everyone down in flames on his way out. I wouldn't call Dinowitz a victim, but he's definitely in the hot seat because of Verdi's attempt at misdirecting the blame and I don't think an elected official is doing anything wrong by trying to enforce school regulations in order to represent and protect his community (e.g. Yonkers children sneaking into a school they don't pay taxes to.)

I have to better verse myself on what their standing is.

I don't know

I sympathize with the parents

I think it is wrong to say a side should be chosen. While I don't agree with Verdi's approach, the lawsuit he has filed puts a spotlight on the narrow interests held by Dinowitz in this situation. PS 24 is overcrowded and it has been for years, even before Ms. Connelly and Mr. Verdi began working there. The DOE allocated roughly $40 million for building additional seat capacity 7-8 years ago, but Dinowitz says there is no need for this because the increased capacity comes from out-of-zone students. Every school district in NYC deals with out-of-zone issues and the recent NY Times publication (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/nyregion/bronx-public-school-racial-bias.html?mwrsm=Facebook&_r=0) shows that only a very small percentage of students, amounting to 30 out of over 1000 students, are from out-of-zone. Dinowitz would like to say overcrowding is due to out-of-zone enrollment and blames it on the school's administration, but it is really due to a surge in young families moving to this neighborhood for the very good schools, among other reasons. He is trying to protect the interests of his constituents who line his coffers, and that group of people do not like to see the changing demographics of Riverdale as a whole. It is also interesting to note that Dinowitz had no problem enrolling his children in PS 24 as out-of-zone students.

I side with the teachers who are caring for my children and trying to give them a positive educational experience.

need more information.

It's about the size of the building and how many students can learn adequately in that environment. As I read the article it occurred to me that when I was a student there in 5th grade our class for PS 24 where held in the Whitehall building annex across the street. That was back a long long time ago. The solution would be to expand the school. But where can you expand it without taking away some of the playgrounds adjoining it? A solution may be to "raise the roof" i.e. expand upward one more floor. Construction can be done with school in session and also with the summer recess a good amount of work can be accomplished. But the key will be funding and will this money even be available? In the meantime the school was set up as neighborhood school and thus the students of Riverdale should be the priority before other areas of the Bronx are allowed to send their children to PS 24.

Manny Verdi is wrong he handles situations in the school horribly I don't dinowitz even knows 1/4 of the things that go on in that school

Laura Moukas (PA president) is in a personal dispute with Manny Verdi. She holds a personal vendetta against him. As a homeowner in Riverdale she had pulled Dinowitz into the dispute. He doesn't want to admit there is overcrowding to satisfy homeowners and keep others out. 

dont have enough of the facts

Our Problems started with Bloombergs Princible Academy putting in unqualified people for the job. These people only answered to the DOE and did nothing to protect our children. According to our new acting princible not only are we over crowded but we are also in a financial whole.

This school it's a nightmare. Mr. Verdi told me there was no place for my special needs kindergartener. When I called the d.o.e. about it.they quickly sent me back to the school.the school had no information to offer me but eventually told me there were 3 other kids in the special ed class and they were all sever my son is not sever.the other kindergarten classes there are 9 with approximately 32 kids inn each that's ridiculous. I was forced to not put my son there between the over crowding and complete maylee going on I was terrified. The d.o.e. made no other option for me.I am now forced to fight the city. This school is a horror for children.all children

I'm waiting for the judge to decide but I think manny will lose

Dinowitz's racism was evident when he pressed to re-zone 141 to exclude Marble Hill & some Kingsbridge residents and when he helped turn down the state's offer to build a pier at Riverdale station because he feared Dominicans would come and fish. Verdi is protecting his career, but his accusations about Dinowitz ring true.

I support Manny. Dinowitz is a self-serving liar. But I also think that this is an inappropriate question, since it is now in the courts.

The families who were subjected to the added scrutiny

I'm not a fan of Dinowitz in general BUT Manny Verdi and Donna Connelly were warned at least 6 years ago by parent leadership that they had many many out of zone students in the school and if they continued to be less then diligent it was going to become a crisis. They could be black, white purple or orange. It didn't matter. All that mattered is that they didn;t live in the zone. Manny and Donna weren't interested in due diligence and that has resulted in the overcrowding you now see. Sadly Andrea Feldman, a dedicated hard working advocate for the kids, has been collateral damage. I also cannot fathom how Manny Verdi, with all his legal issues, is still allowed to be inside the school. For shame! 

I don't support either of them, I think they both have personal agendas they are trying to achieve and neither of them have the children's safety and education in mind.

Do not know enough about either side.

The New principal

I sympathize with the children and their parents. I feel that Manny Verdi and his attorney Ezra Glaser are more concerned with their vendetta against Dinowitz than the well-being of students at the school. It must not be forgotten that it was Verdi and his former boss who dropped the ball and lost the Annex last year, which is what set off this whole thing to begin with. At the same time, I'm not surprised at the allegations of racism that are being directed at Dinowitz. He has been too quick to blame the overcrowding situation on out-of-zone students, who are generally assumed to be Latinos or other minorities. Dinowitz's own children attended the school as out-of-zone students, so he should be more sympathetic and less divisive about solutions. Dinowitz reminds me of a certain presidential candidate promising a great wall that will keep out the outsiders. Dinowitz says he warned the former P.S. 24 principal about the expiring Annex lease, but he should have been warning his constituents as well. One wonders why he didn’t do so…

I do think that Mr. Verdi has very valid points about the exclusionary attitudes that Assembly Member Dinowitz has shown, not just in his intrusion into the process of selecting students to attend PS 24, but in other instances, when he showed his disdain for children who live outside the catchment area. Assembly Member Dinowitz has been disingenuous in his statements about what has been happening at PS 24, refusing to admit that he had any knowledge of the debacle over the annex, which had been disproved. In the earlier petition campaign to enlarge IS 141 and to include the high school grades, he, like others who stoked the already existing bias of Riverdalians against having their children attend Kennedy High School with students from outside the area, used this argument with me. These two episodes, alone, should disqualify Mr. Dinowitz from being part of the conversation regarding the future of the public schools in this district.

Manny Verdi is not qualified to educate children. The most notable events in his career seem to involve some type of fraud. Not that I am a fan, but I believe that the fall of the last perm. principal was engineered by Dinowitz. The direct use of his staff in the ID check was a mistake. Agree with his objective, tactics. 

Comments by respondents who chose 'other' in the answer choices above:

require a copy of the tax return of the parent to prove residence. Minimal proof is needed to avoid scammers.

THE DOE SHOULD HAVE MADE SURE TO RE-SIGN LEASE FOR THE ANNEX!!!! This neglectful action is the reason overcrowding remains an issue at PS 24

Find more space immediately for overcrowding situation. My feeling is accommodate zoned kids first and if more space exists bring in other kids.

I think the out-of-zone children issue is a bogeyman that distracts from the fact we need more seats in this district. I know most of the kids in my daughter's overcrowded classroom and I know where they live: in our zone! We need more spaces and more choices. Even if I wanted to move my child to another school in the district, there's no where else to go.

 Go through re-zoning process build additional school in south Riverdale

 Every school in NYC deals with overcrowding concerns. Our community needs additional seats to accommodate our growing younger population and we have the money from the DOE to do it. So what is stopping us?

 Build bigger space but also restrict enrollment to the kid's who are zoned for 24. I don't think the overcrowding is from that many people but zoned. Riverdale population is increasing.

 Get a NICE trailer for Kindergarten classes who have not had classes in the school yet.

 create super zones with lotteries

 Dinowitz should let the city build an addition and stop blocking it

 Didn't Ms Connolly and Mr Verdi miss the deadline to extend the lease at the Whitehall Annex??

 Follow school zoning rules, but Riverdale is growing - single family homes are being replaced with multi-family dwellings increasing the population of children who need a bigger school.We need to build an addition to the school. Not kick kids out.

 Follow zoning laws but make exceptions for kids who have a specific reason to attend: sibling in the school, G&T, ICT, or started there but moved outside zone. Lease or build more space should be in every option above.

 We need more schools

 Follow zoning rules and other DOE policies such as students that come in with transfer letter from enrollment office due to attending a failing school

 Get rid of Manny Verdi

 The "zone" needs to be reconfigured. There are not enough schools in the area to accommodate all of the families who live here. The DOE and City need to find space/create more schools immeduiately. This situation is detrimental to our children's education and is a safety hazard. Where are the building inspectors and NYFD?

 While there are some studenta that live out of the zone, I do not believe that they account for the overage of 500 students that are being squeezed into 24. We need a new floor where we can make a safe and thriving learning environtment for the 1000 children that live in Riverdale. People forget that Riverdale is a sought after neighborhood and that there are many, many new families moving into the neighborhood. Our children deserve a better learning environment!

 Build an additional space for the growing population of children zoned for 24.

 Generally follow zoning rules, and STILL BUILD MORE SPACE. Your choices only show your own opinion. One does not exclude the other.

 If we are a zoned school then we should follow those rules. And knowing how overcrowded it is they should remove extra programs such as G&T and now it also has special education classrooms, to a school without overcrowded population. It can't contain the children in regular program

 This is a city-wide problem. Too many residential buildings are going up without a school that can service them.

 Since the annex closed, they need more space which will not be solved unless more space is built or leased. Your choices are too limiting. Kids from the zone should be enrolled as well as kids with variances or waivers and the other schools in the district should be paid more attention to so that they get better.

 Generally follow the rules, but make some exceptions only if there is space (which there isn't at this time). If more forms of identification are required, that should be mandated by the city. Not the school. Also, the school should still accept out-of-zone and in-district students who qualify for the G&T program.

B and D seem like the same answer phrased slightly differently. I'd advocate for a form of C, although I'd also consider situations such as a single parent working in the 24 zone whose child is zoned for a distant school. I can understand in that case where an exception may make sense.

 Space had been leased -- and lost -- because of the ineptitude of the Department of Education. We have to question whether this issue would have become so prominent if the situation had not been handled in such a manner as to lose several classrooms in the nearby annex.

 Enroll students eligible for PS 24, keep G&T and Special Ed, build or lease more space.

 This is a poorly written question - build another school after a feasibility study on enrollment projections for the area

 They should follow zoning rules for PS 24 but they need to build a new K-8 school that should serve as a new zone between PS 24 and PS 81 to relieve overcrowding at both schools. If it is a big enough school they can also bring in other students.

Comments by respondents who chose 'other' in the answer choices above:

I agree with bullet number two and wanted to state that even with the school's overcrowding issue (happening all over NYC) teachers and staff need to make an extra effort to go above and beyond in their teaching skills to actually fully educate our kids. A lot of parents have complained this past school year that their children have learned nothing! Just as New Yorkers are able to adapt quickly to fortunate and unfortunate circumstances, teachers should be able to do so as well and put this overcrowding and lack of permanent principle behind them and focus on teaching our kids. A lot of staff members at PS 24 have lost their focus and something has to be done to regain that focus.

Charter schools should not be allowed to collocate within public school space without paying rent that would provide alternate space for displaced students.

PS 24 is a fantastic school despite the overcrowding and adminstrative gaffs. The teachers are outstanding!!!!

Need to build more charter schools in the district 10 area

segregated school

In this case the city dropped the ball. We had been leasing space that would've accommodated students, but the city neglected to renew the lease or pay what was being asked. We need to build more schools.

To much going on they need extra help fast

Build a bigger school

Build more schools -- NOT charter schools. Governor Cuomo needs to send more money our way.

If overcrowding can not be resolved then the correct move would be to staff the school with adequate and skilled staff to work win the children.

Overcrowding is a pressing issue, of course. However, we must question what the political and educational leadership on the city, state and federal levels, are doing to address the severe problems of education in our country, let alone our city, of which overcrowding in the public schools is only one.

It is a mix of overenrolling students, having district-wide G&T program in an already overcrowded school that not only brings kids who live outside the zone, but also their siblings. Closing the G&T program, restricting enrollment only to zoned students and return to tracking students in a holistic way that PS24 used to do is the only reasonable solution, in my opinion.

Comments by respondents who chose 'other' in the answer choices above:

not sure

 Not if this circus keeps up.

 My family moved out of New York City in June due to the problems at PS 24. I know 5+ other families who also moved.

 As an outsider you aren't aware of how great the teachers are. They are amazing and have been putting up with a bunch of nonsense. If this was known as an outsider I would still send my child to PS24

 I send my children to parochial school, so quality issues at PS24 would not be relevant to my decision

 I'm not sure. I used to, but now am reconsidering because of the issues-overcrowding and allowing non-zoned students to attend the school when the school was already overcrowded to begin with

 I do not have a young child.

 It would be an option but not my first choice.

 The fact that my neighborhood was zoned out of PS 24 is still galling.

 more so when Dr Connelly was Principal and her brand of progressive education

 I would not send my child until Manny Verdi is removed

  Unfortunately there are no other decent options in the zone. I would consider ps81 but we are not in the zone.

 I would consider a school with a stable administration. As an educator myself, great teachers will eventually leave due to the instability of the administration.

 If I had a choice I would IMMEDIATELY remove my child.

 PS 24 is probably no worse than the other schools in the area. So, I would choose to send my child there.

 We just left 24 in favor of private school. Very dissatisfied with the mismanagement, overcrowding, decline in quality

 I know children who attend a variety of local public schools. To say that PS 24 is the best public option does not mean much to me. From a number of conversations, parents eager to send their kids their do so from fear and not from an informed position on the quality of 24 beyond its reputation.

I would struggle with the choice. The teachers there carry the weight, but the number of students it has grown to and without direct leadership, is troubling