Charter ‘space’ war in new round

THE SUCCESS Academy network is expected to take action Monday in a dispute with the city over classroom space in Harlem.

Success Academy charter school officials want the city to fork over more rooms in the Wadleigh High School campus, according to papers to be filed with state Education Commissioner Mary Ellen Elia. The building at 215 W. 114th St. is occupied by Success Academy Harlem West, Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts and Frederick Douglass Academy II Secondary School. Enrollment has been shrinking for years at Wadleigh and Douglass.

The charter school is growing, but the city hasn’t allotted more space, said Success Academy founder Eva Moskowitz (photo). “We’d hoped to resolve these issues without litigation, but the city has been unwilling to do so,” she said. State law requires the city to give publicly funded, privately run charters space or pay their rent. Success Academy demands the city provide its 304 students with another 11 rooms. “Success Academy’s enrollment in the building is expected to remain relatively stable in future years, and our space allocation reflects that projection,” said city Education Department spokesman Michael Aciman.