Chancellor, why move a school you'll need to evict?

You can send this message to chancellor@schools.nyc.gov, Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg, and any other officials, friends, or media outlets.

• • •

New data: K009 co-location plan should not proceed

Dear Chancellor Black,

I want to alert you to an agonizing backtrack you will need to undertake if you don't act before February 3. The DOE's pending co-location proposal to add Brooklyn East Collegiate Charter School to the building of P.S. 9 (K009) in Prospect Heights vastly underestimates the growth in the neighborhood around P.S. 9. Just 2 weeks into registration, 106 students have enrolled for Sept. 2011 kindergarten. District 13 will send at least 10 out-of-zone students to P.S. 9's gifted-and-talented K class. So: the school already has matched last year's K enrollment of 117.

And registration is open for SIX MORE WEEKS.

Yet Portfolio Planning's proposal doesn't project any growth in kindergarten next year, let alone adding another class—or 3! If only one class is added, by 2015, at least 15 general-education classes—375 students—at P.S. 9 will not have classrooms. (I have attached charts.)

As an experienced top-level manager, you surely have experience launching initiatives that make sense at the outset—only to run into conditions that indicate that they no longer make sense. In the past two weeks, data has emerged proving that DOE has severely underestimated the demand for seats at P.S. 9. Previously unexamined data indicates the proposal can be postponed easily. The co-location proposal for Brooklyn East Collegiate no longer is supportable for 2011-2012.

On Jan. 21, the Department of Portfolio Planning put you on alert, Chancellor. The amended Educational Impact Statement vowed that "if there is an increase in student enrollment resulting from demand greater than current projections for the zoned elementary school....the Chancellor reserves the right to relocate Brooklyn East Collegiate to an alternate location." As Chancellor, why proceed with this wasteful and risky plan that will disrupt unnecessarily the lives of hundreds of families at 3 schools?

How pleasant will you find it to reverse this move and evict a well-regarded school for the second time? Why squander time, effort and public money when the foreseeable problems are clear? Please think about it, for this amendment has opened you up to a court order requiring you to undo the move.

Fortunately, Brooklyn East Collegiate does not need to move yet — a scenario that Portfolio Planning’s proposal did not examine. Right now, this small charter school is in a six-story, 184,000 sq. ft. building (K343, built 2008) sharing space with two schools that opened in 2009. Should BEC stay, next year the building will have 610 students. One school is a sister school (Uncommon Charter High School, with class sizes of 13-18 students), with which BEC can easily share some resources. In contrast, if BEC moves, it will enter a tense situation in a 930-student, 116,000 sq ft. 3-story building. Honestly, this is one charter school you don't have to move for another year, or two (when 800 students would share K343).

To confirm the situation at the building, please call the 2 other principals at K343: Principal Paul Adler, Achievement First HS 718-922-1581, and Co-director Minnie Setty, Uncommon Charter HS, 347-296-8322 (mobile).

Please be a wise manager, Chancellor. Avoid heartache and distraction for you and DOE staff. Please withdraw the K009 co-location proposal immediately!

Sincerely,

• • •

Click here to download PDF of the charts projecting classroom space needs at P.S. 9. Go to File menu, then click on "Download original." For email, best to send as attachment.

[Here's what charts look like:]

P.S. 9’S SPACE NEEDS AT FULL SCALE,

ACCORDING TO DOE’S PROJECTIONS

DOES NOT COUNT ADDITIONAL GROWTH BEYOND DOE’S PREDICTIONS

(Please see next chart also)

Year	# of Gen-Ed Classes (K,1,2,3,4,5)	new gen-ed classes	Total classes (+Pre-K and SpEd)	All classes +5 (full-size cluster+ admin)	Classrooms allocated to P.S. 9 (full/half)	Missing full-size classrooms
2010-11	6,5,4,3,2,2 =22	•	29	34	37/6	•
2011-2012	6,6,5,4,3,2 =26	+4	33	38	35/5	-3
2012-2013	6,6,6,5,4,3 =30	+4	37	42	37/5	-5
2013-2014	6,6,6,6,5,4 =33	+3	40	45	38/2	-7
2014-2015	6,6,6,6,6,5 =35	+2	42	47	? (if 38)	-9
2015-2016	6,6,6,6,6,6 =36	+1	43	48	? (if 38)	-10

IF a 7^th KINDERGARTEN IS ADDED THIS YEAR

Last year’s enrollment = 117 students, 6 classes

This year, after 2 weeks of registration = 106

In June, DOE will assign District 13 G&T students (~10-18)

BUT registration open 6 more weeks!

Year	# of Gen-Ed Classes (K,1,2,3,4,5)	New Gen-ed classes	Total classes +7 (Pre-k and sp. ed.)	All classrms +5 (full-size cluster+ admin)	Classrooms allocated to P.S. 9 by DOE (full/half)	Missing full-size classrms
2010-11	6,5,4,3,2,2 =22	•	29	34	37/6	•
2011-2012	7,6,5,4,3,2 =27	+5	34	39	35/5	-4
2012-2013	7,7,6,5,4,3 =32	+5	39	44	37/5	-7
2013-2014	7,7,7,6,5,4 =36	+4	43	48	38/2	-10
2014-2015	7,7,7,7,6,5 =39	+3	46	51	? (if 38)	-13
2015-2016	7,7,7,7,7,6 =41	+2	48	53	? (if 38)	-15
2016-2017	7,7,7,7,7,7 =42	+1	49	54	? (if 38)	-16

IF 2 KINDERGARTENS NEED TO BE ADDED THIS YEAR

Year	# of Gen-Ed Classes (K,1,2,3,4,5)	New Gen-ed classes	Total classes +7 (Pre-k and sp. ed.)	All classrms +5 (full-size cluster+ admin)	Classrooms allocated to P.S. 9 by DOE (full/half)	Missing full-size classrms
2010-11	6,5,4,3,2,2 =22	•	29	34	37/6	•
2011-2012	8,6,5,4,3,2 =28	+6	35	40	35/5	-5
2012-2013	8,8,6,5,4,3 =34	+6	40	46	37/5	-9
2013-2014	8,8,8,6,5,4 =39	+5	46	51	38/2	-13
2014-2015	8,8,8,8,6,5 =43	+4	50	55	? (if 38)	-17
2015-2016	8,8,8,8,8,6 =46	+3	53	58	? (if 38)	-20
2016-2017	8,8,8,8,8,8 =48	+2	55	60	? (if 38)	-22