7 Boro High Schools Face Uncertain Future
By Jessica Ablamsky
The fate of seven large high schools in Queens is in question as City Dept. of Education officials decide how to reform the struggling schools using funds from a federal grant.
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| Newtown High School is one of seven on the list of schools that could be gone by next year.
Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
Their options are limited. Each school must have a plan that follows one of four models, only two of which DOE officials say they will use.
Turnaround and Transformation are the models in question. Turnaround allows for the phase-out of the school, replacing it with a new school, or completely redesigning the school, including replacing the principal and at least half the staff. The Transformation model is similar, but requires that the principal and at least half the teachers would be replaced. Subsequent hiring would be based on teacher evaluations, including data on student growth, multiple observation-based assessments and portfolios of professional activities.
The seven schools, August Martin HS, Beach Channel HS, Grover Cleveland HS, Jamaica HS, John Adams HS, Newtown HS and Richmond Hill HS, are in no danger of immediate closure, according to DOE officials.
“We phase out one year at a time,” said DOE spokesman Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld. “That’s close to what the federal turnaround model is. I think it is safe to say we will be using the federal turnaround model.”
Although the DOE will also use transformation in some schools, those slots are limited. Among the schools that will be transformed are three in Queens, Flushing HS, Long Island City HS and Queens Vocational and Technical HS.
Those schools, and eight others across the city, will receive assistance from “master teachers” who will be paid a higher salary to assist other teachers and cover the cost of what could be a longer school day.
“We are in the process right now of crafting models for the individual schools,” Zarin-Rosenfeld said. “We’re not ready yet to go into specifics.”
Some changes will take effect this fall, but the timeline will vary by school.
Even closure or redesign is not a certain outcome for August Martin and its Turnaround compatriots. The DOE has six transformation slots left for 23 schools across the city that are eligible. Which schools will make that list is a decision that will be based in part on graduation rates and other scores.
The rigidity of the reform models is part of the problem, said James Vasquez, the Queens High School District Representative for the UFT.
“I certainly understand the notion of wanting to shake things up,” he said. “I think the [federal] Secretary of Education has sat down and not used the best model.”
On a local level, the challenge is figuring out how to best support the schools, he said.
Every city school that is eligible for the grant was identified by the New York State Dept. of Education as persistently low-achieving. These schools meet several requirements, including low English and math scores and the failure to improve those by at least 25 points between the 2006 and 2009 school years.
The cookie cutter approach to reform does not take into account the student population of individual schools, said UFT Chapter Leader for Beach Channel, David Pecoraro. Their students are 5 percent English Language Learners and 25 percent special education students.
“You’re looking at a budgetary nightmare coming,” he said.
If at least half the teachers at Beach Channel and other persistently low achieving schools were let go, due to contractual obligations they could not be fired. They would be placed on the Absent Teacher Reserve list and be paid full salary to substitute or perform clerical work.
After nearly 30 years as a teacher, if Pecoraro were relegated to the ATR list he does not think that any smaller school would hire him.
“They want to take advantage of untenured teachers,” he said.
Reach Reporter Jessica Ablamsky at jablamsky@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 124.