Success bashes city on space
The city’s largest charter network is locked in another heated dispute with the city Education Department over space for its middle school students.
A one-year temporary co-location for 250 Success Academy middle school students with I.S. 238 in Hollis, Queens, is set to expire at the end of the school year, and Success officials say they’re still waiting for an alternative.
“The mayor can’t allow us another year and four additional rooms at SA Hollis to ensure our kids can continue their education without further disruption,” said Success CEO Eva Moskowitz in a statement.
“Our parents have been waiting four long years to ensure that their children have a first-rate education — and yet the mayor has failed them once again,” she added.
DOE officials counter that the placement was always temporary, and say they will use the extra space at I.S. 238 to accommodate students in the city’s District 75 for kids with significant disabilities.
“The DOE space that Success Academy had temporary access to is slated — by law — to be used for high-needs special education students in Queens. Everyone has been aware of this for the past 12 months — we prioritized in-person learning for our most vulnerable D75 students and we cannot and will not leave these families hanging,” said Education Department spokeswoman Katie O’Hanlon.
The space spat is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute between city and Success officials over space for the charter network — and particularly for middle school students in a crowded part of Queens.
DOE officials floated a vacant Catholic school building in 2019 as a permanent home, but Success officials rejected the building as unfinished and too small.
The temporary placement at I.S. 238 was approved last March.
Under state law, city officials are required to reimburse charter schools for the cost of leasing private space if they can’t accommodate them in public schools.
Success officials say the city has shirked its duty to secure suitable educational space for the charter network’s Queens middle school students. The deadline for city approval of co-located space for next school year is March 12.
City officials say they’ve gone “above and beyond,” and that Success “have had years to develop a viable, fiscally responsible long-term plan for their school community. They have refused to even try where over 100 other charters have succeeded.”