Though the news was hardly surprising—J.H.S. 44 received a D on its recent progress report—some thought the announcement should have been revealed weeks, or even months ago, when the district was undergoing a lengthy and contentious rezoning process to address crowding at P.S. 199. The crowding plan endorsed last month by the District 3 Community Education Council entailed moving The Anderson School, a K-8 gifted program currently at P.S. 9, into J.H.S. 44’s building to make room for The Center School, which is currently at P.S. 199. The debate drew parents, elected officials and even a reported police presence to parent council meetings.

The West 77th Street building that is home to J.H.S. 44. Photo By: Andrew Schwartz

Borough President Scott Stringer released a statement on Dec. 4 criticizing the department for not announcing the J.H.S. 44 closure during the rezoning process.
“I had an expectation that whatever the result [of the rezoning] would be, the DOE would be up front, honest, transparent and truthful, even if at the end of the day not everyone was satisfied,” Stringer said in an interview. “It just makes it more difficult to take them at their word on other issues.”

The department maintains that the middle school’s closure won’t alter the rezoning process; over the next few years, a new middle school will be phased in as J.H.S. 44 is phased out, leaving the same space configuration. Though the department’s general counsel is reviewing an appeal to the rezoning plan, according to education officials, the school moves have been approved and will move forward.

Asked why J.H.S. 44’s closure wasn’t announced during the rezoning process, Melody Meyer, a spokesperson for the department, explained that closing a school is “an incredibly difficult decision.”

“We are very careful that the people who hear about it first hear about it as tactfully and sensitively as they can, and then we communicate to a broader audience,” Meyer said.

But Jennifer Freeman, secretary of the District 3 parent council and chair of the space committee, thought it would have been appropriate to share the information.
“I think that the Department of Education did engage with the community in the overcrowding issue in a positive way, but this is an indication that there maybe needs to be more guidelines so that they’re not just picking and choosing when they work with the community,” Freeman said.

Still, she agreed that J.H.S. 44’s closure doesn’t seem to have an effect on the proposed rezoning since another middle school is planned for the space.
“In fact, it could help if the new school is fully enrolled, where the old school was not fully enrolled, and there could be more students filling the seats at this school,” she said.

The District Leadership Team will have a say in what type of new school takes shape.

“We need a whole mix of schools,” said Bijou Miller, co-president of the District 3 Presidents’ Council and a member of the team. “I personally am very fearful of a charter school being put in there and I don’t think that’s the way to go. There’s a great demand for middle school seats in District 3.”

Asked about the possibility of a charter school, Meyer, the department spokesperson, said, “We just don’t know yet what kind of school will open up there…anything could be on the table.” The department is slated to announce new schools early in the year.

Meanwhile, the District Leadership Team is will discuss the new middle school at a Dec. 18 meeting scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at 154 W. 93rd St. For more information, email CEC3@schools.nyc.gov or call 212-678-2782.

The plan, approved by a 7-1 margin at a Nov. 19 meeting, is intended to alleviate crowding in the district, particularly at P.S. 199 on West 70th Street. The Center School middle school will move from P.S. 199’s building to the P.S. 9 building on West 84th Street. And The Anderson School will move from P.S. 9 into the building on West 77th Street shared by M.S. 44 and The Computer School. The exact timeframe for the schools moving over the summer remains unclear, the department says.

During the public comment section of the Nov. 19 meeting, P.S. 199 parents praised the proposal, while Center School parents continued their staunch opposition. Meanwhile, a few parents from The Computer School expressed concern that The Anderson School, a gifted school, would take precedence in their building. These parents, along with Center School parents and other diversity advocates, had staged a rally before the meeting. According to the group’s press release, they were protesting “a proposal that primarily benefits the district’s wealthiest school at the expense of several other schools with much greater racial, social and economic diversity.”

State Sen. Tom Duane made an emotional speech at the meeting as well, saying the conflict had been “wrenching” and that he hoped the various parties could come together.

Another group of parents upset by the changes were residents of three buildings at the bottom of Riverside Boulevard, which were zoned out of P.S. 199 and into the P.S. 191 building in the final draft of the proposal. Many residents of those buildings spoke at the meeting. Jennifer Freeman, the point person for the rezoning issue on the Community Education Council, said it was technically impossible to amend the proposal at the meeting, but urged these parents to appeal the specific zoning lines within 10 days of the vote, in accordance with the Chancellor’s regulations.

As for whether P.S. 199’s building will be ready to for the influx of students, “We’re confident the school will be able to accommodate all the students without any facilities work being done,” said Will Havemann, a department spokesperson.