January 21 Update: Red Hook community members gathered before last night's public hearing atPS 15 to voice their discontent with the extension of PAVE Academy's co-location within PS 15. They dispute the accuracy of PAVE'sEducational Impact Statement -- a document outlining the charter school's plans for development.

"Expanding PAVE within our school is unfair and detrimental. It does not promote “choice” or “reform,” stated John Battis, a PS 15 parent, at the hearing. "The EIS is a “cut and paste” job void of any meaningful information about the real impact on our community."

A group of PS 15 parents released an open letter to Chancellor Klein, Mayor Bloomberg, and members of the PEP yesterday arguing that the EIS does not accurately reflect the school's capacity. "This document simply does not represent the true educational impact of the change in utilization the document supports," it stated. "Cutting our building in half will set back all of our efforts which have resulted in the only successful public school serving Red Hook."

PAVE plans to move into a $26 million facility which is not slated for completion until 2015. PS 15 originally agreed to a two-year, co-location agreement with PAVE to end in 2010. The Panel for Educational Policy will vote on an extension of PAVE's co-location on Jan. 26 at Brooklyn Tech High School at 6 p.m. A second rally is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., across the street from Brooklyn Tech.

Norm Scott of Education Notes Online captured the views of PS 15 parents and PAVE faculty at the January 19th hearing. (Correction: The video of Spencer Robertson speaking on behalf of PAVE Academy was captured at a September 2009 meeting at PS 15. Thank you to Jim Devor for setting us straight!) :







January 20: As the debate over increasing New York's charter school cap enters its final hours in Albany, Brooklyn parents are protesting the sharing of public school space with charter schools in Red Hook.

The PAVE Academy charter school opened in the PS 15 building in 2008 with 44 kindergartners and 44 1st-graders. After initial protests, PS 15 agreed to incubate PAVE until 2010 when it was scheduled to relocate to a new building. In December the Department of Education informed PS 15 that PAVE would remain in their building through the 2010/2011 school year because the new building would not be completed until 2015. (This, despite the $20 million allocated for its construction by the DOE and $6 million raised by the school.)<!--more-->

The Panel on Education Policy will vote on the extension of PAVE's co-location with PS 15 at their Jan. 26 meeting. Parents and teachers at PS 15 are protesting the extension, citing the negative impact of space constraints on their children's education.

PAVE is set to add one grade each year until its reaches the 8th grade. PS 15's special services have already been forced to relocate to hallways and auxiliary rooms.

In an e-mail conversation with PEP member Patrick Sullivan and Chancellor Joel Klein, one concerned PS 15 parent wrote: "There is not going to be enough space for teachers and programs. I'm concerned about the cuts and how the teachers will do their jobs."

Patrick Sullivan said he received numerous such messages from concerned PS 15 parents. "The Panel is charged with oversight of Board of Ed facilities and your child must not suffer because the mayor has committed our facilities to his wealthy friends," Sullivan wrote.

Chancellor Klein responded to the thread of e-mails stating that the focus of this discussion should remain on the students and avoid political diversions. "When people start talking about rich friends, they lose sight of children," Klein wrote. "My obligation is to all children, every one of them."

Klein failed to comment on complaints regarding the space constraints that forced PS 15 students with special needs into auxiliary spaces for therapy, or parental concerns that the original agreement to house PAVE for just two years is not being honored.

A public hearing on the issue will begin tonight at 6 p.m. at PS 15 at 71 Sullivan Street. Parents, teachers, and supporters will gather for a rally on the corner of Sullivan and Richards Street at 4:30 p.m.