In March, Community Roots, a sought-after elementary charter school in Fort Greene, won approval to expand and start a middle school next September. On Thursday, faced with opposition to the plan from community members and parents in PS 67 with which it shares a building, the co-principals decided not to open the middle school after all. At least not now.

GothamSchools reports that co-principals Allison Keil and Sara Stone sent a letter to parents letting them know of the change in plans. Their "painful decision" came after some community members protested the expansion at a morning rally outside the school on March 29 and at a meeting called by City Council member Letitia James on April 4. Parents from PS 67 and P369, a special education school in the building, expressed concerns about losing classrooms, including therapy rooms used by the disabled students, if Community Roots were to expand. The Panel for Educational Policy was slated to vote on the proposed expansion later this month, but last week the DOE postponed the vote.

In the letter, published on GothamSchools, the principals described some of the factors that influenced their decision:

  • "Space allocations did not correspond to the needs of our growing institution
  • Community response and perception surrounding our expansion, often fueled by incorrect and inflammatory information, forced extended and delayed timeframes of our public hearing and PEP vote
  • Anti-charter/anti-school choice entities banded together to work against us to influence political and community leaders"

They said they were "particularly saddened" for the 50 fifth grade families, many of whom hoped to stay at Community Roots, and who are now faced with having to seek a different middle school option, four months after applications were due. But they held open the option that they may look again to expand in the future. Their letter concludes: "We do not know yet how we will proceed on possible expansion for Community Roots, but we clearly have a much better idea as to what it will take to overcome the obstacles we faced this year.  We will work hard to determine if there is a way to move forward."

Charter and co-location uncertainty continue elsewhere in the city with many space-sharing proposals being revised as the last few months of the school year approach. The PEP is set to vote on these on April 28 at Prospect Heights High School and on May 18 at Long Island City High School.