Teachers, parents and students of eight struggling Queens high schools slated for closure are gearing up for a fight to stay open.
Public hearings on the school closures began Monday and teachers and students are coming out in full force to rally around their schools in a last ditch attempt to save them from being shuttered.
Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas is organizing a rally outside of William Cullen Bryant High School, in Long Island City, before the school’s Tuesday hearing.
“We are trying to show the mayor … and the Department of Education the light, so they can see what these closures will do to our community,” said Simotas (D-Astoria), a Bryant alum.
The influential Panel for Educational Policy is to vote on April 26 on closing 33 schools citywide and opening new ones under different names in the same buildings.
Up to half of the staff at these schools would also be replaced.
Dmytro Fedkowskyj, a Queens representative on the panel, said he will introduce a resolution opposing the city’s proposals at the meeting.
“I’m hopeful to get some support on it,” he said. “The turn-around model is flawed and it lacks long-term vision.”
Ari Steinfeld, a special education teacher at Richmond Hill High School, said staffers have already begun distributing information on the situation along Jamaica Ave. The school has also been rallying and circulating petitions.
“September is going to roll around and the schools are going to be in a disaster,” he said. “The stability of the school, the teachers, the structure will be gone.”
Brian Gavin, the teachers union rep at Grover Cleveland High School, in Ridgewood, pointed out that the replacement school will be using many of the recommendations designed to improve Grover.
“It’s disgusting what they’re doing,” he said of the city’s plan. “It’s tearing the community apart.”
The Education Department defended its decision — and reiterated that every child attending a closing school is to be guaranteed a spot in the replacement school.
“A number of schools will be replaced by new schools next fall, keeping their very best teachers and bringing in strong new educators,” Education Department spokesman Matt Mittenthal said in a statement.
Education officials said the city lost significant federal funding after the city and the teachers union didn’t come to an agreement on teacher evaluations quick enough.
The turn-around model allows the city to apply for up to $60 million in federal funding. It doesn’t require teacher evaluations.
Ken Achiron, a physical education teacher at Long Island City High School, called the proposal to close his school “terrible” — especially since the institution has boosted graduation rates.
“A school is more than just a building,” he said. “There are live people here, there are programs.”
Other Queens schools up for closure are Flushing High School; August Martin High School, in Jamaica; John Adams High School, in Ozone Park; and Newtown High School, in Elmhurst.
