ASTORIA — Kids enrolled in the three district Gifted and Talented programs in Queens District 30 will continue to automatically get a spot at one of two local gifted middle schools, at least through the end of the year, city officials said.
In a letter sent to elected officials Friday, District 30 Superintendent Philip Composto said the Department of Education will keep its existing admission policy for current students and incoming kindergartners in G&T programs at P.S. 122, P.S. 150 and P.S. 166 — but will reassess the policy in December for those entering the schools in 2018.
Currently, G&T students at P.S. 166 are guaranteed seats in the gifted program at I.S. 126, while those at P.S. 150 and P.S. 122 are given spots in the gifted middle school The Academy at 122.
The DOE planned last year to end this automatic matriculation policy starting in 2020, meaning current G&T first graders would have needed to reapply for a seat in a G&T middle school in fifth grade, with admission based on their fourth grade report cards, test scores and other factors.
The move was intended to ensure all students have "equal access to middle school G&T seats," Composto wrote in a letter to parents in December.
But the city delayed the change after outcry from parents, who argued that they chose to send their children to a gifted elementary school program with the expectation they would automatically get to continue in a G&T program through middle school, as had been the case for years.
In a statement Tuesday, the DOE confirmed that it would keep the current admissions policy in place for all students currently enrolled in the three G&T programs, as well as those starting kindergarten this fall.
The DOE expects to come up with a long-term admissions policy in December, which would mark the start of the 2018 kindergarten application process, according to spokesman Will Mantell.
Anthony Liberatoscioli, whose first grader is in G&T at P.S. 166, said he and other parents were relieved by the decision to stave off the policy change for the time being.
"It's definitely good news — for now," he said, adding that many parents still hope the district's automatic matriculation policy will be made permanent.
"The door is still open for that," he said. "But for now, it's what a lot of people wanted."
