Under New Policy, Selective Manhattan High Schools Offer More Seats To Students Outside District arrow Eleanor Roosevelt High School Google Maps The elimination of geographic preferences at one Manhattan school district has led to a skyrocketing number of outerborough students offered seats at the district’s most selective high schools, the city Department of Education said while announcing the results of high school admissions Friday. “The COVID-19 global pandemic interrupted many of our normal school-year practices last year, including a lack of State testing, and revised approaches to grading and attendance policies,” DOE spokesperson Katie O’Hanlon said in a statement Friday. “In the wake of the health crisis, the City announced common-sense changes to the high school admissions process that were grounded in equity and directly addressed the unprecedented circumstances that families and our school system were and continue to grapple with.”