City panel approves controversial move of P.S. 452, part of Upper West Side rezoning

The Panel for Educational Policy voted Wednesday to approve the move of P.S. 452, an Upper West Side school whose planned relocation helped fuel a debate over school segregation.

The move is just one part of a larger plan, already approved by the local Community Education Council, to rezone a number of schools in Manhattan’s District 3. CEC members and the city Department of Education say the changes are needed to relieve overcrowding and improve student diversity.

Along with the move, the attendance zone around P.S. 452 was changed to include more students who are low-income, black and Latino. Currently, P.S 452 is made up largely of white and wealthier students.

Parents of students at P.S. 452 have been split over the move, which would put the school about 16 blocks south of its current location and across the street from public housing. Some opponents say the distance will be burdensome and that they have been wrongly branded as not wanting a more diverse school. Supporters of the move say the new location will give P.S. 452 — which currently shares its campus — much-needed space, along with a more racially and economically integrated student body.