Back in November 2009, Insideschools reported on the controversy surrounding the expansion of Girls Prep Charter School to include grades 5 to 8 inside a building it shares with PS 188 and PS 94 on the Lower East Side.

At the time, the Department of Education proposed three options -- one involved relocating PS 94, a small program for autistic students in grades 4 to 8; the other two involved moving Girls Prep to another location within District 1. The DOE settled on the first option, saying it would reduce the grades served by PS 94 at PS 188 by assigning all incoming 4th and 5th graders to other PS 94 sites throughout the city.

With only two weeks to spare before the start of middle school for Girls Prep students on August 16, State Education Commissioner David M. Steiner ruled last week that the DOE  violated state law. Steiner held that the DOE's Educational Impact Statement (EIS), addressing the impact of Girls Prep's expansion on the community and students did not specifically take into account the effect on PS 94 students.

For PS 188 and 94 families, who filed the formal challenge to the Girls Prep expansion with the support of Advocates for Children(AFC), the victory was short-lived.  <!--more-->Two days later, Chancellor Joel I. Klein invoked his emergency powers authorized by state law, to override Steiner's decision and proceed with the Girls Prep expansion, as planned.

Commissioner Steiner may not have been surprised by the Chancellor's move as he expressly referred to the emergency powers in the concluding paragraph of his decision:  "...nothing herein shall be construed as preventing the Chancellor from determining that DOE's proposal is immediately necessary for the preservation of student health, safety or general welfare; and from invoking the emergency provisions..."

What's next?

Next Monday, Girls Prep middle grade students are due to report to school, a full three weeks before most of the city's public school students begin classes on September 8. Whether an earlier release of the decision would have avoided the Chancellor's justification for using emergency powers is unclear.  Had the decision stood, Girls Prep would have had little time to find alternate space for its middle school students.

The DOE defended its decision in a statement: "Not a single autistic child in this program would be moved from their current location under our proposal. The emergency declaration would solely be to provide space for 84 middle school girls who start school in one week and, without our immediate action, would not have a place to learn."

But families of rising 4th-graders at PS 94 have yet to be told where their children will attend school in September. Also unclear is whether the DOE's long term plan for PS 94 is to phase out its presence completely at PS 188 or have its students attend 4th and 5th grade at other sites and return to the 188 building for 6th grade.

"The DOE's disregard of the Commissioner's decision shows that it continues to regard students with disabilities as second class citizens," said Advocates for Children director, Kim Sweet.  "AFC is working with the parents at PS 94 to consider their options."

Public officials, including Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, are urging Chancellor Klein to reconsider.

As it stands now, Girls Prep will start school next week with an additional grade inside PS 188.  Emergency powers aside, the DOE still has to comply with state law by issuing an EIS that addresses the impact of Girls Prep's expansion on PS 94 students and accounts for community input. If procedure is followed, there's nothing to prevent Girls Prep from expanding to a K to 8 school at PS 188, as planned.

For more on this topic, see coverage here:

State Education Department ruling; New York Times, NY1, Daily News, Gothamschools, New York City Public School Parents Blog, and The Lo-Down.

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