With an additional seven schools named Tuesday for possible phasing out, the Department of Education brought its total to 26 for the school year. The group includes two schools the D.O. E. would like to “truncate,” by closing only the middle school grades, and two it would like to close this summer.
But even more notable than the schools on the phase-out list were the high-profile schools spared: Flushing High School, Boys and Girls High School, Dewitt Clinton High School as well as the Juan Morel Campos Secondary School which SchoolBook recently visited.
As Kelvin Diamond, the Brooklyn representative for the Panel for Educational Policy, said: “The D.O.E. has made these difficult decisions and they were clearly not easy to make. We are thrilled, however, that many of our Brooklyn schools, having gone through the early engagement process, are now being given another chance and additional resources to become great schools.”
The statement from Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg echoed Monday’s, saying the department expects success.
“Ultimately, we know we can better serve our students and families with new options and a new start,” Sternberg said.
The D.O.E. is seeking to eliminate the middle school grades at both The Academy for Social Action: A College Board School and P.S. 156 Laurelton.
The second-day list for phase-out schools includes:
Jackie Robinson Middle School
P.S. 230 Dr Roland N. Patterson
Business, Computer Applications & Entrepreneurship High School
The list of the other 17 schools is here.
The Panel for Educational Policy will vote on all the proposals in March. Dmytro Fedkowskyj is the panel’s Queens representative. He said he’d prefer it if the department explored other options before shuttering a school.
“Our school communities deserve every opportunity to excel and it shouldn’t come at the expense of students, teachers and principals because of faulty policy or politics,” he said. “Our dedicated teachers and principals give of themselves everyday. The D.O.E. should first implement a proven intervention plan and give it time to work before making any drastic decision to phase-out a school.”