Open Thread Wednesday

FYI, When Dock Street opened and Satellite West was relocated there-to the best of my knowledge, the school was not classified as a “new” school. Therefore, they did NOT receive the approximate $250K that a true new school would receive to establish itself. Nor did their kids fair student funding get bumped to 100%. I HIGHLY doubt that Dock Street is full of 2016 laptops. And I’ve seen plenty of other schools ask for discretionary funding for laptop carts.

The school WAS classified as a new school (with a new number) and did receive those funds. They paid for new desk, new chairs, new office equipment, jeez .. every book in the library is new. They have a kiln in the art room, recording studio, a grow lab, a fume hood in the science labs, and yes, plenty of laptops.

In fact you can see several on a table in one of the pictures in inside school (the one with the kids in blue shirts).

I’ve been in that school twice in just the last year. I promise you, they have plenty of 2016 laptops.

I have no idea about 100% funding. Didn’t realize any school in NYC was at full funding these days.

I have seen other schools ask for laptop carts. But $300k worth of laptops in a school with 137 kids and a brand new facility?

This can’t be our priority.

Nope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcXd6IQpDsQ

Try a shoemaker. They might have what you are looking for. Have you checked out Bridge Street Cleaners on Livingston behind Macy’s?

I’m not taking a position on whether the laptop cart ask is the absolute most deserving one on the list (go Westinghouse High School bathrooms! including one gender neutral one!), but SongBird is absolutely right that Dock Street was not a new school — it’s still 13K313 (the number for Satellite West), and all of Satellite West’s (not many) students and teachers moved with it to the brand new and well-equipped (in terms of facilities) location. It also only gets 90% of the Fair Student Funding it is supposed to get (up from 87% — the lowest you can get — last year). See for yourself here: http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/13/K313/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm. Many schools do get more than that.

My kids don’t attend Dock Street, so I have no personal interest in supporting its ask, but I have toured the school, and despite new facilities, I’m actually not sure it does have (new) computers. I didn’t see a tech lab when I was there (maybe I missed it?), and because they weren’t a new school, they almost certainly did not get the “new school” grant that’s specifically about funding for computers. EDIT: I just read your whole post above — so maybe I did miss them?

I also don’t see the problem with the Title 1 email: they’re not saying to lie, they’re suggesting that parents might not know for sure and that going through the hassle of filling out the form matters. As a parent who’s filled out that form, it is a pain to do it right and put your income in, and I can absolutely see people not bothering w/it now that lunch is free for all students, even if they are pretty sure they qualify. I’m sympathetic to all public schools’ needs for $, but that moment when you’re on the Title 1 cusp is brutal: you’re wealthy enough to be kicked out of Title 1 but not really wealthy enough to raise money from your families to replace the loss of that $. Dock Street just started its growth work at its new site less than 2 years ago; losing Title 1 support this soon would be really hard. I think their PTA is doing great work for the school.

I never heard about zip+tract. The applications I’ve filled out require me to put in info about income, and then the powers-that-be come back and say yay or nay. I never saw an option to say nothing and yet still be found to qualify. But I don’t understand the workings of Title 1 determinations (PS133 — a very cool school, as far as I know — is still getting a lot (!) of Title 1 money, even though the state level statistics I’ve seen suggest it is way under the cut-off.)

I am an MS8 booster, and I know the school got absolutely nothing in start-up costs (unlike Dock Street — through Two Trees funding, I think you’re right, that’s where it comes from), and gets even less fair student funding, but it has asked for and won two (much needed!) participatory ballot budget grants — one for technology in its first year ($200K for 3 laptop carts and SMART Boards for all rooms, if memory serves), and one for lockers (which Dock Street already has) this past year.

I totally understand. SHE is the only reason I keep up with DE. seriously. she grew up in the heights so she has good insight!

So now everyone is going to become obsessed with and stare at their electric meters all day…

I prefer the Pink Martini version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVbrycPKXZQ

In other “memorials and shrines” news, I really liked this one: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/88c0f07bd3b501ee1f4e131a1a619fcf776207ab27eb39b884d4411de5a0832b.jpg

NOTICE: All Con Ed customers have the option of OPT OUT from any plan to replace individual STD meters with “Smart” meters. Just call the Con Ed Legal Dept for details. (The opt out is guaranteed under Both Fedreral any State Law)

Considering the amount of personal info Smart Meters collect and the quickly mounting evidence of possible EM exposure levels you can be exposed to…you had better think carefully about your legal options in this. You can prevent this now, if you wait until installations are complete guess the difficulties then…..

I postulate that lakes are in fact “rain puddles”, some are quite deep.

Con Ed has informed me that it will not get to Community District 2 until the end of the year.

Joralemon and Livingston don’t intersect. What cross street? Just curious.

Yeah, I’ve been checking that out as well.

I don’t know if your picture had the latest response, claiming the owner is handicapped and has a valid handicap permit. It looks like they also may have changed the so called laminated permit that is tucked beneath the windshield from what they had previously, and even the current one seems to be dated 2016.

That said, the only valid NY state handicap permit is the blue plastic one that hangs from the rear view mirror. So I think the owner may be up to some shenanigans, maybe trying to use the permit on multiple cars, or maybe it expired and they are hoping to get away with a laminate of an older one.

The annoying thing is the parking police seem to be very lenient on this. That block always has a couple of MD plates (who can only park illegally within a certain small zone near a surgical practice when they are in surgery!) and the even more bogus “Police Surgeon” or “Police Chaplain” stickers. Or, perhaps they are happy to get a steady stream of regular violations from the tourists who see a bunch of illegally parked cars, and assume it must be legal parking.

That said, putting multiple full page stickers right on the windshield is also pretty obnoxious.