Parents believe New Visions is going to destroy their school

Oh, and New Visions is the organization opening the school which replaces mine!

See below:


Mon Apr 9, 2007 10:56 am

The Parents of P.S. 282K take their continuing battle to Save Quality Education at P.S. 282 tothe steps of the Department of Education!For Information
Please Contact:Kaitlin Byrd 347-563-5319
Susana Kufuor 917-355-1599

The parents and children of P.S. 282 will protest at the headquartersof the Department of Education (DOE) at 52 Chambers Street on Tuesday,April 10, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. Parents continue to protest the DOE'sill-advised decision to place a Middle School within the walls ofDistrict 13's number one elementary school in student achievement. TheP.S. 282 community has the full support of its local elected officialsin this fight. They, like we, understand that the plan will destroy:v Space – DOE and New Visions representatives have suggested thatP.S. 282 max out its class sizes to 35 to make room for the MiddleSchool in direct opposition to the Bloomberg Administration'soft-repeated objective of minimizing class sizes.v Loss of cluster classes – DOE and New Visions have suggestedthat science, art, and technology be removed from individual roomssuch as art rooms, science labs and computer labs that are an integralpart of instruction at P.S. 282K, instead being relegated to "carts,"which would limit time for learning and interaction.v Safety – Statistics show that Middle School children placedwith elementary school children leads to numerous social andbehavioral problems.P.S. 282 is located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The principal and schoolcommunity encourages a multicultural learning environment.Administrators, school personnel and parents work together to create arich atmosphere conducive to learning. The PTA is outraged that theDOE could be so negligent as to introduce a course of action thatwould minimize and inhibit the effectiveness of successful programs.The school has an active PTA, a dedicated school leadership team,cooperative faculty and helpful staff who enthusiastically embraceinvolvement from the community at large. P.S. 282 interacts withseveral organizations offering a wide breadth of expertise andopportunity from banking to the arts. The DOE's plans to move forwardwith a Middle School will undermine student and administrativeadvancement and threaten the school's further achievement and success.PTA President, Xiomara Fraser says, "My son entered the school fiveyears ago when enrollment was low. Through committed parents, hardworking administrators and teachers, the school has managed tomaintain its academic integrity as it continues to increase itsenrollment."Assembly Member Joan Millman, in supporting the parents, stated:"Governor Spitzer's Contract for Excellence, which was recently passedin this year's budget, requires New York City to submit a plan toreduce class size," said Assemblywoman Millman. "To propose addingstudents to P.S. 282, a school where enrollment increases every year,is both short-sighted and subverts the important measure in theGovernor's plan. I urge the Department of Education to re-evaluatethis proposal find a more suitable location for the proposed new school."Council Member David Yassky, a long time supporter of P.S. 282 and theKahili Gibran Academy, said in a March 16th letter to ChancellorKlein, "…introducing older children into an elementary school will bedisruptive to current students…. Older students will certainly changethe dynamic of P.S. 282—and the addition of a new school will limitP.S. 282's ability to grow and offer more students a top-rate education."Susana Kufuor, PTA Co-president, said: "We are in the process ofconducting our own space utilization study to counter the DOE'ssuggestion regarding room at our school (P.S. 282). With every effort,the school community of P.S. 282 will continue to pursue an end tothis scheme."Copies of Council Member Yassky's letter will be made available tomedia at Tuesday morning's rally.A protest is scheduled to take place on Tuesday April 10 from 9-10amat the Department of Education, the Tweed building at 52 ChambersStreet in Manhattan.