The loudly pushed Jan 5 PEP Special meeting has been postponed ...silently

 After 2 contentious Joint Public Hearings for the proposed co-locations of Success Academy at MS 72 and Springfield Garden Highschool campuses on Monday December 19 and Tuesday December 20 respectively, the heavily bulldozed onto the calendar PEP Special meeting for January 5, 2022 was silently postponed in the wee hours of the morning of Wednesday December 21. 

No matter the "official" rationale given for the postponement of what at the end of the November just seemed like it couldn't wait, is taken as a small win for opponents of the proposals. It is an indication that while ODP and Success Academy thought they could sneakily push through an unwanted proposal while the community was distracted by preparation for and recovery after "the holidays", the reality was different. 

On Monday, the Joint Public Hearing for MS72 included well over 400 attendees and around 150 speakers giving public comments. The community advocated with specifics to the location as to all the reasons this co-location was a bad idea ranging from Magnet Grant expansion, to Special Ed School configuration needs, to shared space over subscription, to transportation and school bussing nightmares. Voices were raised from students, elected Parent and Community bodies all in agreement that there is no space. On the other hand, Success Academy advocates for the proposal gave many generic our curriculum is great, it works in Brooklyn and Manhattan arguments that quite frankly fell short of the issue at hand. The meeting lasted five and a half hours from 6 pm to 11:30 pm.

On Tuesday a similar number of attendees over 400 were present. However, there were over 300 speakers giving public comment. The students from the 4 schools at the Springfield campus represented themselves well with well thought out reasoning based on their current experience as to why a new elementary school on their campus is a bad idea. Elected officials, community bodies, parents and successful past pupils of the high schools also raised their voices in opposition. In contrast, we saw the same Success academy students and parents with the same generic messaging as the night before: our curriculum is great, it works in Brooklyn and Manhattan etc. This really hammered home that Success Academy did not do their homework. They did not seem to understand the location logistics of the space and were simply regurgitating canned responses that they keep stored for these hearings. 

In fact one illogical rant that woke up some of the attendees that may have fallen asleep made while references to Hillary and Trump, like we were in the midst of a 2016 election campaign. in fact it might have been just a poor recycling of a canned response from another 2016 success co-location hearing that the speaker just forgot to pull out of his arsenal. The bottom line, it had nothing to do with the space at hand, the arguments at hand or even Southeast Queens. That meeting lasted seven hours from 6 pm Tuesday to 1 am Wednesday. 

 Either way, the community is taking a short sigh of relief that this is not being shoved down its throat for a vote on January 5. While we await the rescheduling, we continue to urge PEP members, Success Academy, ODP and any other officials to take a school tour before the vote. We are also urging the meeting to be scheduled in person in the community, right in South East Queens. If these locations are not logistically convenient for a PEP meeting, how can their even be brought up as new school space options?

Community, take a breath, but do not lose sight of the goal. This issue is far from over.

"Build another One" or "Let them Eat Cake"

Build another One!        All Schools should be converted over to Success Academy. 

These are just two of the flippant comments Success Academy advocates mentioned in the Joint Public Hearing on the proposed co-location at Middle School 72 campus. When actual students, staff and families of that building and community, including me pointed out the severe space restrictions with Cafeterias, Gymnasiums, Auditoriums and more they scoffed these remarks in a nonchalant "Let them eat cake" style out of touched-ness. Not one of the Success Academy parents or speakers seemed at all familiar with MS72 outside of the blue book fallacy that it was under 50 percent utilized. Very few parents were from Queens, and even those who were just spoke to the need for space and giving their students choice. 

No one is trying to stop Success Academy from getting space, the affected community is saying NOT at MS 72. The community is saying NOT at Springfield Gardens Education Complex. Not at the expense of growing Magnet Programs and D75 collaborations at MS 72. Not at the expense of the Mayor and Chancellor touted CTE programs in Veterinary Science and Pre Nursing that are flourishing and have long term build out plans at Springfield Gardens. 

Should choice only be for Success Academy? No! MS72 campus, just as its sister campus under attack Springfield Garden Education Complex, deserve with their current occupants,  the choice to expand their programming, and provide their students the wonderful immersive experience that Success Academy paraded with their solicited student speakers from almost every corner of NYC besides South East Queens. 

Today Tuesday December 20, the virtual Joint Public Hearing turns to the Springfield Gardens Educational Complex at 6 pm. 

Sign up to comment at 5:30pm https://learndoe.org/districtplanning/

If last night was ANY indication, the local community fully understands that Success Academy is OUT FOR BLOOD by any means necessary. Even if this blood is by parading a long line up of students who are prepped on stand by for the many of these battles that Success Academy partakes in yearly. We applaud the advocacy of the students, and were quite impressed by the debating skills demonstrated by a couple. Yet others demonstratively rushed through what was undoubtedly just an adult prepared speech handed to them without any actual passion or understanding of the issue at hand. One young Success Academy cutie pie adorably ended the parade of students repeating verbatim the words being fed to them by a parent or elder sibling audibly heard in the background. That child did not know why he or she was on that call and a few times nearly gave the wrong answer no matter but we applaud the willingness to step up and speak. 

The community gets it. Success Academy families and students are proud of their school and want their students to have opportunities. That is not in question. What is the point of contention, is that the families and students of MS 72 Catherine and Count Baisie Magnet School of Multimedia and the Arts and MS 332 Redwood Magnet School of Leadership and Exploration and P993Q D75 Middle School and Preparatory Academy for Writers: A College Board School and Excelsior Preparatory High School and George Washington Carver High School for the Sciences and Queens Preparatory Academy are  ALSO proud of their schools and the robust academic and co-curricular development of their students.

  The D28 and D29 community students who spoke on topic against the collocation about the challenges with lunch, the benefits of the programming and the realistic concerns around safety demonstrated just that. These formerly failing school campuses are now flourishing in the type of turn around that the Mayor and the Chancellor are promoting for previously failing buildings. They have maximized the use of the space on their campus to facilitate the achievements of the past few years, and obviously the School Planning Blue Book has not been updated. 

These campuses are also community campuses and have opened their doors countless times during the pandemic and beyond for a myriad of activities jointly benefiting students and community. The Community Partners such as Sheltering Arms that work with the MS 72 campus for example, do have a needed office space in the building as they provide support all through the day and even after hours for community support and programming as late as 9 pm. The blue book numbers do not include them. 

Hopefully tonight, unlike last night Success Academy will do the right thing related to these proposals, and instead of misdirecting the conversation to toot the benefits of a Success Academy Education, will also encourag their leadership to withdraw the proposals and LET THE CURRENT CAMPUSES FLOURISH.

Find all the details of the colocation and upcoming PEP vote at the link:

https://pwsauth.nycenet.edu/about-us/leadership/panel-for-education-policy/2022-2023-pages/january-05-2023-school-utilization-proposals

The fights for MS 72 and Springfield Garden HS vs Success Academy is NOT a World Cup Game

 

Did you watch the World cup finals? What a game! There really were no losers in that final match. Lionel Messi got his illusive victory for his Argentine fans. Kylian Mbappe got his hat trick with his 3 regular and extra time goals. An irony of the game though, was that the at first disappointing Gonzalo Montiel who gave away the penalty that France used to tied the game in extra time, turned around to score the final winning Penalty kick for Argentina. The winning team brings home a whopping $42 million dollars, and the runner up a not too shabby $30 million. This match, will be talked about for ages. What a game!

Unfortunately for us though, the South East Queens match up between MS 72 Campus and Success Academy, and Springfield Gardens Educational Campus and Success Academy in regards to proposed co-locations at both campuses, is not a game. And, unless the right thing happens when these ill researched proposals go to the Panel for Education Policy for a vote, there will be losers. Big losers with tremendous collateral damage. 

Let's look at  the facts by location starting with MS 72. I'll save the details of the Springfield High School Campus for a separate post. Though you will see that they are just as incredibly jarring.

MS 72, the name sake of the middle school campus on the Rochdale Village community grounds recently won a 2.5 million dollar prestigious Magnet school grant. They are one of a handful of schools nationwide to be awarded. MS 72 has since rebranded as the Catherine & Count Baisie Magnet School of Multimedia and the Arts, and are actively engaged in development more robust programming funded by the grant. Of course such an award comes with requirements. One of which is the mandated growth of enrollment by 5% annually in the coming years. The school's firecracker Principal Ativia Sandusky saw that as no challenge, as she has been performing her own hat trick steadily improving test scores, attendance and enrollment annually since joining the school a few years ago. In fact, projected enrollment for the coming year is already up over 40%. 

Not to be outdone, sister school Redwood Middle School MS 332, also won itself a similar Magnet grant. Redwood's fearless leader Principal Tammy Katan-Brown proudly demonstrated her students current and planned expanded Leadership and Exploration programming during a walkthrough with DOE officials, Parents leaders, elected representatives and community members on Thursday December 15. Redwood, like MS 72 is mandated to grow its enrollment by 5% annually, and under Principal Katan Brown's dynamic leadership it is also on track to exceed that. 

Last but not least on the MS 72 campus is the D75 Program site P993 under the empathetic and career focused leadership of Principal Jonathan Lonshein. Like his campus partners, Principal Lonshein has been innovatively creating student leaders within his special education who engage in long term thematic and academic programming towards high school, vocational self sufficiency and success as adults. While many of his scholar have a variety of acute needs ranging from sensory, to physical and emotional support, he has found unique ways to empower them through Art, Music and Business programming to turn instructional support sessions into career stepping stones with skills in retail and other area. Students use art therapy to express themselves then turn their creations into sellable objects such as greeting cards which they retail themselves in the school store, learning math, accounting and customer service skills. P993 also has a well developed inclusion program with MS72 allowing high functioning students who demonstrate readiness to transition to general education to do so in a seamless and well support bridging program. 

Though these programs are all excelling and work well together, this is in spite of building limitations. this is a true credit to the collaborative nature and right fit of the leadership of the MS72 campus.  Indeed there is not enough space, especially for shared locations such as the cafeteria, gymnasium and auditorium. At any given time one or more shared space has multiple classes occupying it with mutual respect demonstrated by students and staff in terms of noise levels, cleanliness and cooperation. An unfortunate side effect however, is that P993 students with the most sensory needs are forced to have Physical Education in the gym locker room to avoid overstimulation in the shared gym if another class is also scheduled. 

Based on this on the ground experience at the school, it was alarming to the entire community to learn that the campus was even considered for a new co-location. The immediate questions were, 

"Where would they put them?" 

"Would lunch which already starts at 10:15 am now start at 8:30 am?"

 If this situation did not involve the well being of children, it would have indeed been deemed hilarious.

However, since it does involve our scholars and was quickly determined not to be a joke, it started to beg the question, did someone drop the ball at DOE? The blue book projections listing the campus at less than 50% utilization is severely erroneous. Granted, the old MS72 of the decade ago before the campus reorganization and the revitalization under new leadership, might have been a failing school bleeding enrollment. However, this has not been the case for the past few years. Instead with a sense of reinvigorated pride, the schools have been growing and bursting at seams in some areas with new instructors needing to be hired to split classes that were growing to sometimes 38 students. This does not happen in schools with excess space. 

Just as troubling was the admission on DOE's part by personnel involved in the selection of new space for programming, that no one physically visited the building before a proposal was made. Now NYC and DOE have some excellent Architects and plan readers, however, as New Yorkers we also know that things are not always as they seem on paper. The age and deterioration of various areas of a building, lack of up to date plan changes as the NYCDOE school system evolved from the more separate school boards and more could have led to this glaring mismatch of floor plans versus actuality. As a city employee for over 15 years and a former DOE employee, believe me, I get it and I am not casting blame - in this respect. Still, a quick trip preproposal to South East Queens could have saved us from where we are now in this fiasco.

But we are here. And unlike Mbappe's hat trick today, saving some face for France in the World Cup Finals and cementing his name as an MVP of the game, we cannot let our scholars futures come down to a penalty kick off type luck of the draw at a January Panel for Education Policy vote. This is not about Success Academy, as the issue of where to put the new students and staff, would remain had it been any other public or charter school. However, it does not help that Success has a history of being a bad neighbor in shared space. It also does not help the nasty narrative being put out to Success Academy families that alternately the DOE/UFT/Liberal Groups or whatever the flavor of the day of a group to divert attention from the issue at hand does not want them to have seats. No. We are at a Maslow's hierarchy of needs stand off. We are too busy trying to keep a seat for each of our children to worry about preventing them from having theirs. 

Likewise, it doesn't help that Success Academy demonstrated bad faith negotiations before the MS72 and Springfield Garden families even knew they were about to be blindsided by horrible proposals. Success Academy, went ahead and not only listed the sites as done deals on their websites before a formal proposal for the locations were even formulated, they also actively enrolled students for the spots. Now as a potential Success Academy parent, I would be appalled to be roped into a Ponzi scheme for education by enrolling for a non existent location. This actions makes it hard to trust that Success Academy would play fair at any hearing, that the needs of our scholars already on location would not be simply bullied aside as collateral damage to achieve Success Academy's aggressive agenda. This is why parents are up in arms. This is why community leaders are up in arms. This is why we need everyone who learns about the travesty to show up and speak at our Joint Public Hearing in protest of this proposed and bullied on us co-location. 

See the full information at the link. Register and SPEAK UP! Don't let us lose like France did on a penalty kick.

 https://pwsauth.nycenet.edu/about-us/leadership/panel-for-education-policy/2022-2023-pages/january-05-2023-school-utilization-proposals

The Predators are coming! - Keep Success Academy Out of MS 72

 

The Predators are Coming

What would you say if I told you Halsey Junior High School music program is being cut, and MELS is cutting one class from its enrollment for the next five years to make space to share their respective buildings with new locations of an existing charter school?

You would be up in arms and ready to remove the mayor and the Governor right? How can we cut well-funded, popular programs to cram an unproven and possibly unneeded alternative into those buildings?? That would be ludicrous and downright alarming. Well hold on to your seats, this particular scenario is not happening … yet, but something just as absurd is happening in the south side of District 28. 

Middle School 72 campus, the home of the Original Catherine Count Basile MS 72, Redwood Middle School MS 332, and District 75 is facing a similarly ridiculous but real scenario. 

The two named middle schools have received Magnet Grants in the 2022 – 2023 school year and have a mandate to increase population by 5 % per year over the next 5 years. Additionally, though the campus became a multiple institution campus under a prior administration due to poor performance back then, the current schools through collaborative and innovative ideas have completely turned around their outlooks. They have a rich plethora of cocurricular, and syllabus based enrichment, a rigorous curriculum well liked by their diverse populations, and very importantly, motivated, qualified and committed leadership impassioned to truly take their various cadres of scholars through a successful and memorable campus experience. Unlike the biased selection under the guise of lottery that is usually done by some charters, the MS 72 school accepts all children and has been working in a differentiated manner to lead every child to their greatest individual success.

Despite this making of a newsworthy campus turn around, the Eva Moskowitz led Success Academy, which is just as well known for its parasitic bad neighbor behavior as for its high test scores based on its skewed and biased score selection and reporting, is now trying to bully its way on to that campus to stifle the life out of its current occupants.

Now an immediate charter leaning argument whenever there is push back on a space they have their eye on is that whatever targeted group of the day wants to “deny” their children space. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Eva and her team can purchase, lease, or find all the space they want, but it must not be at the expense of other truly public students. What is true, is that in truly predatory fashion, Eva and team has been seeking to infiltrate high schools and middle schools in South East Queens with K to 4 placements. This is not a space seeking ask, this is a long term destabilizing attempt to wean students away from what Eva and team’s prior surveys must have shown as low hanging fruit in poor performing parts of the district. However, it seems Eva and team have not updated their research to see the transformation as I already outlined about. However, I digress, lets move back to the actual issue of space. Among other similar stories that debunk Eva and team’s cry of being denied space is the known fact that since 2017  the now closed Rockaway Blvd OLCA campus, less than 10 minutes away from the MS72 site, was offered with very favorable terms to Success Academy as a potential stand alone site. They did later in 2021 take up the other OLCA campus at 128^th Street for the middle school, and it is not at capacity. That Rockaway campus still stands empty.

Don’t let Eva and team pull wool over your eyes with the we need space. They do not need space. They want space that infringes on existing students to frustrate parents to rolling over to their schools.

 

There are numerous other foul motives at hand with this attempt to invade MS72 and none of them are pretty. Here are a couple, and you judge for yourself is Success Academy is indeed fighting fair or bullying themselves into a space they are not wanted.

• ·         Success Academy posted the opening of new K-4 at the MS72 location before the ask for that campus was even formalized as a proposal with Office of District Planning and forwarded for inclusion on the Panel for Education Policy agenda. This was an attempt to create false hope in unsuspecting parents, so that when the proposal is not accepted they can make them think they were being denied. This is no different that a ponzi scheme using our children instead of money claiming spaces that did not exist. This is the kind of scenario Bernie Madoff went to jail for, why would it be ok for Eva to use our children in a similar scheme and be applauded for it?
  
  
  
• ·         Success academy has been backpacking falsehoods with their parents suggesting that any opposition to the space is an attack on them. No, the attacked MS 72, MS 332 and District 75 are panicked and seriously worried about the future of their children’s education if their hard fought developments on campus would be erased by the addition of an unwanted K – 4 school
• ·         Many other charters in the area have very cohesive relationships with the community schools around, and are not protested. Growing up Green, Riverton, Merrick Academy, and more are in easy commute distance, and do not try to embattle their students against DOE students and parasitically invade their space. In fact, the current Chancellor’s own Charter initiative Eagle Academy is one of a model charter neighbor that embodied its mission to provide public education by moving to a full public model keeping it’s charter vision. Eagle has been around since 2004, and Success Academy only two years later in 2006. Yet we see a world of difference in terms of the try embedding into the communities they claim to serve. Eva’s team cares only about Eva’s team and that model will not change.
• ·         Success Academy fronted a female minority representative for its presence at the Community Education Council District 28 townhall meeting on the co-location. She was unable to answer any questions posed those that was the explicit reason their presence was welcomed. That placement falls in line with their modus operandi to play on emotion because they are deeming the area predominantly minority, and much of the vocal opposition has been from minority women. I find deliberate attempts to manipulate public opinion in this way demeaning.    
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• ·         There are well over 25 resolutions and petitions, as well as strong letters and presentations from Parent Teacher Associations, School Leadership Teams, Community Boards, Local Officials, Parents, Principals and individuals all specifically protesting the infiltration of Success Academy at the MS72 campus, not from anti Eva stance, but from the impractically and unavoidable collateral damage it would cause to the existing families in the building. If it is so strongly unwanted why would Eva and team feel the need to pursue it, rather than withdraw the proposal and seek another location such as the vacant Catholic school previously mentioned.
• ·         The timing of the proposals seems to suggest collusion between Office of District Planning and Eva’s team. Public opposition prior to a formal proposal was ignored and the formal matter pushed to have a Joint Public Hearing on the last week of school before break, and the PEP in person meeting on the Wednesday after New Year almost as far away in Queens as possible from the site in Question. All of these seem geared to engineer low turn out and sneak through a passage of an unwanted colocation. Success Academy and Eva are not playing fair.

I could go on for another two pages or more with all the other injustices of this situation, but time is of the essence. Rekindle that alarm and energy generated by my opening fallacy and come out to help District 28 families, schools, parents fight the attempt to be bullied into being pushed out of their own campus. Help us fight our middle school students possibly moving to a 9 am lunch time since 10 is already taken and if early childhood students are brought to campus, it is unlikely that is would be their lunch time that is modified. Come out to the Joint Public Hearing on 12/19. Come out in person to the PEP on January 5 and demand that the vote be moved to a later date, and even that Eva and team do the right thing and drop the proposal.

For me every child deserves a chance to sign and have success, even when their school’s name does not contain  the word success. Help us to keep given the Ms72 students that chance.

Respectfully,

Nathifa Lewis

Nathifa is a mother of middle and high school students, a former high school teacher, an Adjunct Faculty member, Technology professional, former DOE employee, community leader, parent leader, CEC 28 member. 

Back to Office

Hello Desk Hello Chair 

Today January 10, 2022 is my first day back in office in exactly one month. December 10, 2021My last day at my Desk for 2021. I still have unwrapped abandoned Christmas presents that were not brought home under my desk. On December 10, I left rushing as usual to a Girl Scout meeting, thinking whatever left undone there is always next week. My only plans to be out my regular and of year vacation for Christmas, Birthday, New Year. Then by that weekend, my home that avoided all the hoopla of this pandemic so far was now a part of it. 

School exposures, activity decisions, quarantines, testing, isolations, cancellations, vacations and confirmation of the ridiculous bureaucracy were the order of the day. I missed parties and cancelled my own birthday party, but everything happens for a reason. Gifts left, were rethought, and what was actually essential became clearer. There will always be next time to make it up ... hopefully.

As the new year started still in quarantine, I had time to reflect and reset and for once rest. Even today, having a morning Doctor's appointment, I missed the rush hour traffic and strolled in unbothered and excused at 1 pm. I had the chance to reflect on my current read "Your 21 Day Reset" by Dr. Té Bassett, and really muse as to what "Radical Acceptance" means to me as relates to work, career and my plans for the new year.

What does your 2022 Work Year start look like?